After 8 months since my accident I'm back with a (new to me) 2001 VFR 800. I picked it up for $3K, had only 10,000 miles on it and other than needing a bath, looked like it came off the showroom floor. I have to say that the 2001 is superior to the 2004 V-Tech. In my opion it looks better and the gear driven cams are awesome. I was never a big fan of the V-Tech and am glad I was able to get the 2001. For some reason, it actually seems to accelerate better than the V-Tech. The only negative I have found is a slight flat spot around 5000 RPM. Anyone else notice this? Anyway I have attach a pic to prove it.
I have owned two 5th gens (both 01s) and two 6th gens (both 07s) and overall I prefer the 6th gen for its better ride/suspension. The 5th Gen has the better motor for sport riding because of no VTEC hump in its delivery but the 6th gen has a slightly smoother engine and transmission.
I miss the 5th gen under seat storage but rear tire changes on the 6th gen are easier unless the 5th gen has a high mount exhaust.
Not a big enough difference between them to say one is significantly better than the other...I would take either one and ride the pi$$ out of it.
Nice 5th gen! -- I wonder if there are suble differences between the MK1('98s and '99s) and MKII ('00s and '01s) in power delivery. I have a '98. Flat spot at 5k? Um - nope. Could be the header diameters and cat vs non- cat.
Back in December I had some idiot make a U-Turn right in front of a pack of cars that I was behind. They all had to lock up the brakes, I put the brakes on, had an out to my left in an open lane, problem was that the car in front of me had the same idea and he took that spot to avoid hitting the car in front him. As I applied more front brake and countersteered into that lane, the front tucked under and I went face first to the pavement. We were only going about 40mph at the time. I had to roll out of the way of another oncoming car. Other than having my bell rung, and a tear in my pants ( with a little scrape to my knee and a sore wrist, everything on me was OK. The Interceptor had a broken mirror, scrapes all down the left side, a dented tank on the right side (not sure how that happened as I went down on the left) the only thing I can think of is that my knee did it.....wierd. The other strange thing is that I completely ripped out the laces on my boot. Boot was still on my foot, but laces split right down the center...wierd.
Anyway I have been looking for a replacement since then, not sure if I wanted another VFR. Went looking at some 919's but when this thing popped up on Craigslist, I had to go check it out. I still have my '77 CB550 (which I'm selling by the way) and have been occupied building a '75 CB550. Here's a pic of the progress on that one so far. I'm just waiting on the seat to be completed and have to sort out a couple of issues with the carbs. I have ridden it short distances, and it is a fun bike. I highly recommend everyone getting an old Honda.
Consider a PCIII USB and a dyno session for smoothing the torque/hp curves overall. Not cheap at $600 or so all in, but really improved the bike. Some of the flat spot remains, however, as I believe it's function of the exhaust design (mostly), combined with the cam profile. If you look at a lot of dyno charts for different bikes (not just vfrs), you'll see a similar dip for, I believe, similar reasons.
End of thread · 9 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 26 Oct 2014