Hiya mate, how’s it going.
I am shamelessly hijacking this latest bike thread for my own purposes. See, I got my eye on a nice second hand VFR800 at the moment. We recentely moved to a place with a garage, and frankly, that Divvy’s been boring me for a while now. Plus, it needs a new distribution chain, and I’ll be damned if I pay for that repair on a 1995 bike that’s been sitting outside for all that time.
Did the test ride. Thing’s got 41K on the clock (metric, yeah), but it feels like a friggin’ Mercedes. No rattles, nothing. Response is fantastic throughout, with the usual V-tec charm. ABS works like a charm.
In short, I can’t fault it for sh*t.
Prices are what they are in the Netherlands, and the VFR is a wanted model. It’s a 2003 with 41K - asking price is about EUR 8800. With a full year’s waranty, since the dealer swears up and down this is a rock solid bike, VFR’s never break down, yadda yadda.
The dude is giving me EUR 1000 on trade in on the Divvy (ironically, with only 30K on it, but boy does it sound old), with the additional comment that it’s going straight to Poland. Gee, thanks.
So, in short, what are the achilles heel things on the VFR? I really can’t find any by myself, the damn thing feels like the Rolls Royce of bikes.
Rode the Yammie FJR 1300 too, for a test ride. Damn impressive, but a bit overkill for my Sunday morning rides. Plus, it felt a lot heavier than the VFR. Granted, it’s probably the better choice for a trip to Monaco or the Polar Circle, but when am I gonna do that - much as I’d want to. In addition, FJR’s are hellishly expensive, even second hand. In that respect, the VFR wins as well.
So, what do I look for, what to be weary of. Surely your VFR must have clocked up the kilom- miles by now. Please enlighten me.