I am a 52 year old lifelong motorcyclist but new to the VFR and the forum. I have been lurking a couple of weeks. Live in North Metro Atlantnd bought a 2008 VFR800 ABS about 5 weeks ago. Pic at the bottom! I hadn't owned a street bike in several years but had been looking at a lot of bikes over the last couple of years. Everything I looked at, I kept comparing to the VFR800. So I finally realized that I need to go ahead and buy a VFR since I compare everything else to the VFR. I found the 2008 ABS model with 11k miles, pulled the trigger, and bought it. Love the bike. It's not the BEST at anything but it does EVERYTHING very, very well. It came with nearly new Pilot Road 2's but is otherwise stock. My plan is to add Heli risers, a taller windscreen (I'm 6'3"), Honda OEM saddlebags, and call it done. Maybe a ThrottleMeister. It's fast enough and handles well enough for my purposes. I also own a 2004 VTX1300C and a 2011 YZ250 2-stroke.l
The left low beam went out on the VFR. I have large hands so I pulled the bodywork off to make it easier to swap the bulb. Changing the oil and filter and replacing all the bulbs with SilverStar zXe's while I have it apart. There were two black electrical boxes attached to the fairing with Velcro that I have no idea what they are and am hoping one of you may recognize them and can help identify what purpose they serve. I Googled all the numbers on the larger one but came up blank.
Sorry I can't see those images at the mo... don't know if it's my PC or the way you uploaded them.
But as far as I know and I have completely stripped down two 6th gen VFRs and rebuilt one from the other two donor bikes... and there were no black boxes held on with velcro. I hazard a guess they are some sort of aftermarket accessory installation but until I can visualize those potos I couldn't say...
I initially linked to them from one of my web servers and they didn't seem to want to load on here. I have uploaded them using the tool in the editor now.
Welcome. Nice photo (and color too . . . ! ). I have my '08 in pieces right now and I can definitely say those are not OEM components. Can you trace the wiring to see what they are connected to? I think Recaltronics is on to it - an alarm.
One thing I added (I am similar height to you) are peg lowering blocks. They drop the pegs by 1 inch. I was skeptical at first, but on long haul trips they're a lifesaver. The really allow for more leg room and comfort. If you are interested, do a search on "Peg Lowering Block" or "lowering block", or PM BusyLittleShop - he makes them.
Maybe an alarm? Look up the FCC number on the fcc.gov web site.
Good catch! I don't believe I forgot about the FCC ID lookup. I've had to use it countless times trying to identify no-name computer hardware.
LoJack unit
[image: lojack.JPG]
Welcome. Nice photo (and color too . . . ! ). I have my '08 in pieces right now and I can definitely say those are not OEM components. Can you trace the wiring to see what they are connected to? I think Recaltronics is on to it - an alarm.
One thing I added (I am similar height to you) are peg lowering blocks. They drop the pegs by 1 inch. I was skeptical at first, but on long haul trips they're a lifesaver. The really allow for more leg room and comfort. If you are interested, do a search on "Peg Lowering Block" or "lowering block", or PM BusyLittleShop - he makes them.
You guys were spot on.
Do the lowering blocks have a negative impact on cornering lean angle? Also, I'm 6'3" with a 35' inseam. Any suggestions for windscreens for use with the Heli risers? The wind hits me in the upper chest and neck with the stock windscreen and I'm getting a fair amount of wind noise in my RF-1200.
I just called LoJack and was told I can fax or email a copy of the registration for the bike and my drivers license and they will contact me to activate the LoJack in my name for free. No annual fees, nothing.
So I removed the pic of the unit with the numbers on it.
Maybe an alarm? Look up the FCC number on the fcc.gov web site.
Good catch! I don't believe I forgot about the FCC ID lookup. I've had to use it countless times trying to identify no-name computer hardware.
LoJack unit
[image: attachicon.gif]lojack.JPG
Welcome. Nice photo (and color too . . . ! ). I have my '08 in pieces right now and I can definitely say those are not OEM components. Can you trace the wiring to see what they are connected to? I think Recaltronics is on to it - an alarm.
One thing I added (I am similar height to you) are peg lowering blocks. They drop the pegs by 1 inch. I was skeptical at first, but on long haul trips they're a lifesaver. The really allow for more leg room and comfort. If you are interested, do a search on "Peg Lowering Block" or "lowering block", or PM BusyLittleShop - he makes them.
You guys were spot on.
Do the lowering blocks have a negative impact on cornering lean angle? Also, I'm 6'3" with a 35' inseam. Any suggestions for windscreens for use with the Heli risers? The wind hits me in the upper chest and neck with the stock windscreen and I'm getting a fair amount of wind noise in my RF-1200.
Nice deal on the LoJack. Maybe it will save some money on insurance.
My rear tire is scrubbed nearly all the way to the edge and I have not touched the pegs. I did though, remove the stock peg feelers and replace them with socket head bolts, so it's not a direct comparison. You will have a couple of issues installing them. One is the side stand. It will hit the peg - so I drilled and tapped a hole in the side stand stop and threaded a bolt in, filing it down so that it spaces the sidestand out just enough so that it doesn't hit anything when retracted. The other is the rear brake pedal. That will need to be adjusted down to accommodate the lower peg. The rod on the rear master cylinder needs to be shortened by about 1 1/2 threads - I used a Dremel with a cutoff wheel. Once that's done, the rear brake light will always be on, so I used a split ring through the spring to make it just a bit longer so the brake light operates normally. It all sounds worse than it is - it was an afternoon's tinkering to get it sorted. I've done about 15,000 miles with them and love 'em.
I use a Zero Gravity touring windscreen - I had to replace mine and got it on ebay from ZG's ebay store. It fits me just about right. I don't notice any objectionable buffeting at speed. There are photos in my gallery if you want to have a look.
A sound choice of rides, if a dubious colour but then no-one is perfect. :goofy:
I was about to suggest the black boxes were after-market headlamp bulb replacement (HiD or LED) but it seems I would have been wrong (again!).
As to mods to your bike, with every owner you'll likely get a different answer but a few to consider from me:
Rear hugger & Fender Extender - minimises spray in the wet and helps keep the bike cleaner - my engine looks almost new despite 50k miles.
Mirror Extenders - invaluable IMHO.
You may wish to consider some minor engine mods to help smooth out low rev fuelling but this may not be necessary; depends upon your particular bike and how much money you want to spend but there are a few things you can do for no or minimal cost such as removing the snorkel, disabling the flapper valve, blocking or removing the PAIR system, O2 eliminators and all the way up to a Power Commander and the like.
More major/expensive engine mods are available too.
Power socket if you plan to use Sat Nag - there are plenty of mounting & routing options.
Replacement seat - the stock one is a little hard after a few hours but again depends upon your riding intentions.
A set of vacuum gauges - servicing is quite easy on the 6th Gen and they definitely benefit from balancing the Starter Valves every 4k. Over here, that is not included in any of the Honda service schedules.
Hope you continue to enjoy the bike - after 50k miles on mine, it's still fantastic. :beer:
End of thread · 10 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 4 Mar 2015