4Th Honda. 1St Vfr. 2014

Hello VFRD peeps. I'm new the the forum, but not new to motorcycles. 1st post! I have had a few Sport/ Supersport bikes over my 23 years of riding.

This is my 4th Honda and my first VFR. In short ownership of a '14 Ducati 796, I traded it back in to the dealer with 500 miles on it. I picked up a new '14 DLX in Pearl White on Sat.

1st ride: Pulling out of the dealer parking lot, I thought to myself: "This bike feels like a boat anchor in comparison"....at first. :mellow: The factory settings were also too "sloppy" for me at 170lbs. It felt more like my last ZX10R in size, but with better comfort. I was locked in traffic for half the ride. I felt comfortable on it for the most part.

2nd Ride: SO, when I got home, I dialed in the suspension a little. I went for a short 10 mile ride just as is was getting dark out. Much better!!!!! I also had the let air out of both tires and they were wayyyy over inflated. I set them per the manual's specifications. The suspension settings from the factory must have been at it's softest?! Not Sure. I am going to keep working in setting the suspension throughout my commuting this week. Oh, and these headlights are the best I have ever had on a bike!!!! Hand's down!!! After roughly 100 miles now, I am really enjoying this bike. I'm looking forward to opening it up and jumping into that power band through a few gears.

3rd Ride and Two Up: I road a mixture of stop/ go traffic, open hwy, and country roads today. I only had a couple winding roads, but from scrubbing those tires in, I felt this bike tracked well and provided a nice balance of comfort and sporty feel. This bike inspires confidence out of the gate imho.

Riding two up: There is just enough room for the both of us. No helmet clunks. We only have one bike at this time. My wife has 5 years of riding experience. Her last bike was a CBR600RR and also my last ZX10R. Her skill set on those two bikes ranged from moderate to slightly aggressive riding styles. The Ducati she road once and hated it. The lack of wind protection and clutch were her biggest gripes. We were getting ready for our ride this morning. I went back in the house to switch out shields from last night's ride. I come back out to the garage and the bike is gone. WTH?! She went for a short ride. :cool: 1st comment when she got back. This thing rides great! I have a feeling this may become her bike in the near future. ...or we'll add another one. I'm going to ride M-W. Than she'll take it Thurs/ Friday and see how she likes it.

I'll keep this thread updated as I get this bike broken in and starting modding it. I have not found much for accessories available for it yet. As I find non-factory parts, I'll update with part #'s, prices, etc.

1st up I would like to add a different smoked windscreen, exhaust, and tank bag are on the top three list. I have to figure out what is available. If anyone has done mods to theirs, I'd be interested to see what you have.

I'll get some pics up soon.

Welcome!

Pics ARE required as part of your initiation~

Ride safe, ATGATT, & enjoy!

While Red is known to be the "fast" color in Hondas (rumoured to add 3-5HP at the rear wheel), but for the 8th gen VFR, pearl white is my favourite and everytime i go to my honda dealer to pick up parts i pass by that white vfr and just think to myself "one day,... One day you'll be mine" not too soon though.

Welcome to the forum and VFR community, enjoy your bike, ride safe, have fun, and watch out for the wife not to take over your bike(i too went from CBR600RR to a VFR800 so i know it) :P

Hey Tim,

Nice opening post! Thanks for the report on your new VF experience. I haven't ridden one yet, just sat on them. :sad: So far it sounds like a keeper, and I think Honda did a good job with keeping the "does everything well" theme of the VFR. I put a girl on a CBR600RR once, too, and her confidence on a local canyon road exploded! I had to put the camera away and actually work to keep up with her on the Blackbird. Couldn't stay close enough to get good pics anyway. She was already riding well, but that was just exciting to see. :ohmy:

Welcome to the Forum, and like Rabbit said, we need some pics! Good luck with the new VFR. (And get one for your wife, she's the real keeper! ) :fing02:

Ded

OK, got a couple pics tonight. I didn't ride the bike to work today. I had to bring some Jeep parts home from work, so the bike wasn't an option. Went out for a quick ride tonight though.

I know there are already quite a few pics out there. If anyone wants a particular pic/ part of the bike, let me know.

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Looks great! Glad to hear your thoughts about it, especially the two up experience.

Nice and WELCOME !!!

Nice new VFR! I currently own a Monster 796, looking to add a VFR. What exactly made you take it back?

Live2Ride

Nice new VFR! I currently own a Monster 796, looking to add a VFR. What exactly made you take it back?

The 796 was a love/ hate relationship! lol.

The clutch kept acting up. You would have to ride the hell out of the clutch to get it moving from a stop. It was an issue that would pop up at the worst times and than go away at the next stop light. The clutch is a different animal all together compared to other bikes i've owned. Not bad, but when it did act up it was like starting off in second gear. It did not inspire confidence for the wife to ride. She took it out once and the clutch acted up pretty bad. I watched her kill the bike 6 times trying to pull into the driveway. I jumped on it and rev'd high and road the clutch to get it back into the garage. Than it was fine after shutting it off and a re-start. With four trips to the dealer and trying different solutions, I had enough of it. I will say it was a very fun bike to ride when it did not act up. I may consider the M821 as a second bike once it's released.

EDIT/ ADD: Also went one tooth down in the front. That really woke that bike up once it got moving and mid range. I was ready to add pipes and re-map, but with the current issues unresolved, I was reluctant to spend the money. I would love a M1200S, but at $16K + mods, that bike would hit $20K fast. Too much $$$ at one time between the VFR and Jeeps. :wink:

I talked with Nicole @ Akrapovic today about heir Titanium slip-on. They are available to ship now, however I really want a carbon pipe on this one. I also talked with 2Bros today. They told me their carbon slip-on will ship out end of next week. I was ready to order...until I stopped into Performance today. 20% off they claimed, but have to wait a couple weeks. I'll give them two weeks to get one. If not, I'll order from 2Bros.

I also had Performance (local shop) pull up the VFR800 today to check how the heated grips were wired up. I want to change them out for some Pro Grips, but was concerned if the heating elements were part of the grip or not. The pic they showed me clarified the grip was separate and can be pulled off and changed out. I have not personally verified this by taking it apart yet. I'll do this over the weekend if I get some time.

Coretech tank bag: I'm looking at tank bags currently. I have checked out some of their products and they look to be made well. I think the magnetic style should be ok???

Anyone else have a suggestion for a well fitted tank bag to this sized tank?

EDIT/ ADD: Just found this setup. locks into the gas tank ring. http://shop.sw-motech.com/en/by+motorbike+or+scooter/HONDA/VFR+800+F/index.htm

This might be the way to go.

Well, I have done my daily commute twice on it now. Love it! I did get caught in the rain on Wed. The traction control and ABS work great!!! These stock tires feel well planted in the rain too.

I really want a smoked windscreen on the front though. This stock one creates some glare for me during the day and at night from headlights that are oncoming.

So it looks like you've had yours 3 weeks longer than me...glad to see you're still happy with it. I've only had mine for 3 days now, and I'm loving it more each time I ride it. I hope we can meet up someday and get together for some canyon carving before the snow flies. BTW, I'm also on the Colorado Sportbike Club forum. (www.cosportbikeclub.org) It's a good place to find rides and meet new people. I'm in the Littleton area, near SW Plaza and try to ride most weekends.

Welcome aboard! great looking bike. I stopped in Chattanooga yesterday and looked at one...mighty tempting.

If you are looking for mods that you didn't even know you needed check this thread http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/78605-eighth-gen-modathon-round-one/

and keep us apprised of your mods as you go.

I would say go for the SW-Motech tank bag and not the magnetic.

DriverDave

So it looks like you've had yours 3 weeks longer than me...glad to see you're still happy with it. I've only had mine for 3 days now, and I'm loving it more each time I ride it. I hope we can meet up someday and get together for some canyon carving before the snow flies. BTW, I'm also on the Colorado Sportbike Club forum. (www.cosportbikeclub.org) It's a good place to find rides and meet new people. I'm in the Littleton area, near SW Plaza and try to ride most weekends.

I'm at E470/ Quincy (half way to Kansas). Thanks for the link. most of my buds have sold their bikes or ventured towards MX only or UTV's. Would love to hook up with a group to ride some time.

CornerCarver

Welcome aboard! great looking bike. I stopped in Chattanooga yesterday and looked at one...mighty tempting.

If you are looking for mods that you didn't even know you needed check this thread http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/78605-eighth-gen-modathon-round-one/

and keep us apprised of your mods as you go.

I would say go for the SW-Motech tank bag and not the magnetic.

I like the looks of the Motech. I just need to find a local shop to fit one on the bike. Thanks for the info.