My 6Th Gen, Review And Simple Mods.

I had a 97 VFR750 back in 1998 and loved that bike but do to being poor at that time in my life, I was not able to keep her for very long. But she was always a favorite of mine and when I saw a 6th Gen for the first time, I always told myself that I would own one at some point in the future. Well that point came in January, 2014. I came across this 2006, non ABS VFR 800 at a local dealer. The sales guys is someone that I knew when I was a teenager so he helped me out with the purchase and my little girl and I picked her up early on a cold Saturday morning before her music lesson. 

The bike was bone stock! it appeared that the bike had been well taken care of by the PO and only had a few simple things done to it like red wheel stripe, a fender eliminator kit, an ugly red tank protector and some red bar ends.

It was almost scratch free and really clean. It had just rolled over 16,000 miles. The dealer had done an oil change and put a new set of tires on it. They put Shinko Tires on it and I know some people say they suck but they were already on it and honestly, they have been just fine for the way I ride the bike.

Well it was too cold to ride other than a couple of quick blast around the neighborhood so I started to take her apart and continue reading about things to do to her on the forums. I did some of the quick electrical fixes, replaced a couple of fuse holders and just went through the bike top to bottom. 

Here is a picture of the VFR the morning we loaded her up and then headed to music class.  

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When it warmed up some, I got to get a better feel for the bike and decided to start doing some things to the VFR. 

I did not like the red stripes so off they came. I did not like the red tank protector so off it came. Went ahead and did a good service on her since I did not know what oil was in her. Changed air filter, flushed the brake and clutch lines and coolant. 

A handful of before and after pics.

I also needed power and and a RAM mount for my GPS and cell. 

I ran a nice cable from the battery up to the front of the bike for a 12v plug and actually mounted it low on the fork tube with some large tie wraps and and a thick rubber pad. Next was a  mirror RAM mount that at the time I had mounted to a pinch bolt on one clip on. It positioned the GPS in a good spot so I rolled with it.  

I dont have a pic of the 12v plug but it is under the RAM mount. 

Next up was some sort of luggage. Had to have something for our next weekend trip to the mountains. I decided on a Cortech 2.0 18L bag. I liked that fact that it was expandable, not too big but if I needed it to be bigger I could simply expand it to the full 18L size. I really like the bag and it has worked great for me. Only thing I can complain about is the shape of the map pocket. Its a little difficult to get a map in it but a razor blade can fix it. I just have not done it yet. The bag fits the bike great and does not get in the way.

Here are a couple of pics of it.  

I thought some saddle bags would come in handy too so I picked up a set of Sedici Toscana bags from my local Cycle Gear. I loved the bags but was not a big fan of how they hung down so low on the bike. So I felt a project coming on!  I made a frame that would bolt on to the bike to hold the bags out level and off the pipes. it really was not needed, i just wanted to do it. It actually worked great and was very simple. 

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Looks great.   I really like the black on the '06's - it has some metallic in it so it sparkles in the sunlight.   Half the fun will be modding the bike.  And it looks like you have a very capable co-pilot!  Give us some more pics as you go along.

Cheers

Just noticed as I am writing this that the pictures and what I am writing are not laying out like I wanted them to so if the post looks a little confusing, I apologize ahead of time. It is suppose to be short separate post with pics related to that but it is just all blending together.  

So, back to my little write up.

After a doing a charity ride with a bunch of other bikes one day, I decided my bike was way to quiet!  So after a bunch of research, I decided to do the stage two free exhaust mod. Well mine is more like a Stage 2.5 because of some issues I had with removing one pipe but that is another story. I love the way she sounds now! I have had a couple of people that could hear me coming in the neighborhood mistake my bike for a V-8 Mustang but then see me coming around the corner. What I really like about that mod is that the bike is still quiet at high speed. 

It was well worth the effort put into it! 

Last fall my wonderful girlfriend and I took the VFR up to NC for a long weekend trip. We had a great ride and the bike worked very well for us but I then saw I needed to make some more changes. 

First thing was some much needed comfort!   Again, back to the forums and doing a lot of research, I decided to do the LSL handlebar conversion. This mods was great!  After doing it, the bike felt completely different. Not in a bad way at all, just different. It was not a hard install at all, just some simple re-routing of cables was all.  I also opted for new grips and new bar ends too. This bar swap took all of my hand and wrist issues away. Made the bike feel better to me a low speed too. I also feel a little safer with it as well because it is easier to see over my shoulder to check for cars. 

I did also have to do a set of mirror extenders because after doing the bar swap, the extra width made my mirrors reflect almost nothing but my my arms. So I ordered a set of 1" aluminum mirror spacers and they pretty much fixed that problem. 

Not seen in this picture, is the relocated RAM mount. It just got moved to the other side and mounted in a different spot. 

Also not seen in the pictures is some of the clear tank skins on the sides of the tank. After that mountain trip, my Kevlar pants seemed to scratch up the sides of the tank so I buffed out about 95% of the scratches and installed the skins. 

After doing the bar swap, I noticed how much sooner my ass would start hurting!  It got bad enough that I decided I had to do something with the seat. I thought really hard about getting my stock seat rebuilt but in the end I chose to get a new Sargent seat for the bike. So far I really love the seat. It also seems to improve comfort for my passenger as well but she has not had the the chance to spend any real length of time on the back to confirm that one for me. 

I also noticed that this seat seems to sit me in a slightly different position than the stock seat did too. Between the bar swap and seat, the bike feels completely different than it did stock. But it is a different that I like. 

Here is my riding partner trying out the seat the day I got it on the bike. 

At some point during this, I decided to shoot the inside of the wind screen with black plasti-dip. I just like the way it looks on the bike and since I don't look through the screen anyway, I did not see a reason not to do it. 

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As much as I liked my soft bags, I still wanted hard luggage for my bike. I kept my eyes open and thought of many possible options but OEM bags were still my top choice. Well one day I took a look at the classified listings on this site, which I do not normally do, and saw a fellow member on here had a set of brand new OEM bags in in the matching color for my VFR. I had to get them and so I did. 

I have only had them on the bike for a short while and have only had the opportunity to use them a couple of times but I am already in love with them. I really see no reason to even take them off the bike so I do think they will probably stay on all the time. 

I did not have the factory fender but it still worked out well. All l had to do was make a new way to remount the plate, it was really no big deal at all. I was even able to remount my little additional LED brake lights on there. 

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I forgot to mention my levers! I wanted to change out my levers just for something different and found these cheap ones on eBay. I know they are cheap Chinese levers but for the money, they are great. More adjustable than stock and they look pretty good on the bike. I have no complaints about them at all!  

And that is pretty much my bike! One cool thing about my mods is that other than buying the bike, all of my changes have not cost me anything out of my pocket. I have gotten cash from selling used boat parts on eBay over the last year or so and those free and used parts have funded all of my mods. 

I have really enjoyed this bike so far. My girlfriend loves it too and she loves riding with me. This is the first street bike that I have owned that I have not sold after a year and switched up to something different. I can honestly see it staying in my garage for a good while too. Maybe adding another bike to the garage if funds were to allow it but I do think she will stay with me for a while. 

Here are some pictures as she sits today. 

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Very nice example!

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Very nice example!

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Thank you.

Gorgeous!!

She's a beauty!!!!
C

Looks  Good   !

Beautiful bike and congrats!  yes once you have had the locking panniers you will not want to go back to the soft bags.

Very nice--the picture with your little girl really shows how awesome that black paint is on the tank.
Another happy customer.

Very nice--the picture with your little girl really shows how awesome that black paint is on the tank.
Another happy customer.

When I first found this bike, I was kind of thinking I would not care for the black all that much. But once I saw it in the sun, all of that metal flake popped and I liked it a lot more! 

Thanks for for the complements guys. 

Thats what the new 14 white looks like, beautiful metal flake .

Just needs an 8 spoker now ;)

I have actually started to keep my eye out for an 8 spoke now. I do like they way they look but I cant see that 8 spoke wheel when I am cruising the back roads so it is not too big of a priority for me. It would be cool to run across one before the bike is due for tires though. 

Yeah they are cool.

Took me about 9months to come across one at a decent price. Theres a few knockin about though. They pop up occasionally.

Nah cant see it when riding, but the while bike looks miles better now IMO.

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Congrats. That is one fabulous looker.

I started looking at tires lately and the more I looked and asked for suggestions, the more I started to not like the Shinko tires that were on it. Not that they have ever done anything really bad but I know there are tires that will be a lot better for the VFR. 

So after a little research, she has received a new set of Pirelli Angel GT's.   My local Cycle Gear price matched them for me and mounted them up yesterday. I just got done putting the wheels back on the bike and giving the VFR a little love with a few simple service items while the wheels were off. 

I was really looking forward to the day I could put a good set of tires on her and that day has come a little sooner than I was originally planning. Now I cant wait till this weekend to go break these in and see how they do!  

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I really like my AGTs. Only a thousand miles on them though. I've heard rumblings they are short-lived though. I like to get 8,000 - 10,000 mi as my Pilot Road 2 tires have in the past.

Most have told me they lasted a good long while. One guy even told me he got over 10,000 miles on his. But I guess it all depends on how you ride, your loads and other conditions as well. 

Weather is looking good here tomorrow so I am going to have a nice ride and break them in. 

Well I got to play on the new tires for a little while yesterday. All I can say is that if I had known the bike would have improved as much as it did, I would have made this change a year ago!  Big improvement in the bikes abilities and overall feeling. 

Love your write up. I have only had my white '06 for about two weeks and I love this machine for just about all the same reasons as you! It's a fantastic machine!

Doc, your avatar pic is totally unacceptable...such an abomination that needs to be removed, AT ONCE!  :D

I wish you could have been with rigger and myself on our ride Saturday...I miss our rides! I miss your face!

After a doing a charity ride with a bunch of other bikes one day, I decided my bike was way to quiet!  So after a bunch of research, I decided to do the stage two free exhaust mod. Well mine is more like a Stage 2.5 because of some issues I had with removing one pipe but that is another story. 

Can you elaborate on what you actually did to the exhaust?  I cut the ends off my cans and removed the baffles several years back, but I don't know what you are referring to by "Stage 2..."

All in all, you've got a great collection of mostly-functional mods going there.  Nice work.

Doc, your avatar pic is totally unacceptable...such an abomination that needs to be removed, AT ONCE!  :D

I wish you could have been with rigger and myself on our ride Saturday...I miss our rides! I miss your face!

Tom, I know you secretly love my avatar! Just like when we used to watch Pit v. Denver- I know you were rooting for the black and gold in your mind!

After a doing a charity ride with a bunch of other bikes one day, I decided my bike was way to quiet!  So after a bunch of research, I decided to do the stage two free exhaust mod. Well mine is more like a Stage 2.5 because of some issues I had with removing one pipe but that is another story. 

Can you elaborate on what you actually did to the exhaust?  I cut the ends off my cans and removed the baffles several years back, but I don't know what you are referring to by "Stage 2..."

All in all, you've got a great collection of mostly-functional mods going there.  Nice work.

I just call it the "free stage 2" because that is what I have seen others refer to it by.  It is the hole saw method of opening up the pipes. Stage 1 is where you only modify the top two pipes. Stage 2 is where you do all four. You dont need to cut open the cans or anything and it sounds pretty cool. I had a problem with one of the lower tubes so mine is a little more open than it would be normally. Thats why I call mine a Stage 2.5, give or take a little. I did a write up on it with pictures but I cant find it now. I am sure you can find plenty of write ups on it but feel free to ask any questions. 

Tom, we did have a pretty good ride on Saturday. Cant wait to do it again.

Now you've got me singing this song: https://www.youtube....h?v=89LRsMkGKQ4