Sold a Suzuki and bought a Honda

[trevor]

So after getting all this crap taken care of I decided to take it up island this weekend. Saturday was me and Janice's 15th anniversary of the day we met. The day that my life changed forever for the better. Everything good in my life is because of meeting Janice.
Our plan was to take the RV up the Quadra Island (300kms) Friday....and she said "why don't you ride your bike and I'll drive the RV, that way we'll have the bike if we want to go somewhere"....I love her so much.
On the way up I still didn't feel confident until I had gone about 100kms up island....still freaking out about the tire issues.
Anyway once I felt comfortable that nothing else was going to happen I sat back enjoyed the awesomeness underneath me...wow, this is an amazing motorcycle. So smooth, tons of power and torque. And it sounds amazing. The clip ons were actually not that bad on the highway.
It's safe to say that this is a keeper.

Ferry to Quadra Island....AKA hippyville lol



On the island. I have never been there and was glad we went.



Awesome campground too





And our Oreo is still kicking and quite enjoys camping





Life does not get any better

 

[Cipher]

The best way to tour on a bike. Three guys three bikes and a modified ford econoline van. rotate van drivers stowing bike in the van. Beautiful in case of a breakdown of any one bike.
Yes sleep in the van to save money.

yours is a bit higher end though. BC is beautiful. It causes Jurassic Park fears in me. I expect a dinosaur to jump out and bit me in half.

 

[trevor]

Ha, ha. That's the way to motorcycle tour! What a weird shakedown though, strange to have that happen just as you start riding it. Did he just change the tires? Oh never mind, I reread it, probably fatigue finally caught up to the stems being beat by the valve caps. I bet the original owner hadn't ridden it in a few years.

Yeah he had not rode it much at all...last year he bought a 3rd generation Busa....I just got unlucky...or lucky depending on how you look at it

 

[Grimly]

That dog looks resigned to sharing his garage with yet another m'bike.

 

[trevor]

Little update on my Honda...that still sounds weird..lol
The clip on bar riding position is not for me...to much on my wrists and I need a bit more upright riding position. So I ordered a bar conversion kit from LSL in the Netherlands....a kit recommended by several vfr1200 owners.
Got it installed and a huge difference. Added factory Honda VFR1200 grips still in the box I found on facebook market place.
Also installed the frame slider kit that came with the bike. Not crazy about it but can't imagine trying to replace that fairing.
Also installed a givi top case plate....the Honda one is too small for big trips and I'd like to keep it looking nice.
Hooked up the heated Corbin seat...wow does it get hot!
Reinstalled the carbin fibre rear hugger...it was crooked when I got it.
I'm really loving this bike...

 

[trevor]

Update on the vfr
Decided to do a valve inspection (dealer wanted $2500 just to do the valve inspection),,,Honda says to be done at 28,000kms and mine on has 23,000kms but I wanted a baseline on this bike...as thought the valves were in spec...moved a couple to get them in the middle of spec....wow what a job and thankfully I had a good friend that I trust help me....
Fairings on this bike are something...they are beautiful for sure...one reason for that is because they hid the fasteners so well...took lots of before pics.
Also did a full coolant flush. New plugs and thermostat even though neither was needed but I figured why not while I'm in there.
Also new brake pads all around....and new gear oil
And you'll get a kick out of what I found in the air filter,,,,lol....bike was kept in a barn and not ridden much for a couple years....mice! Thank god I don't have to worry about that in my garage.....can't believe the bike ran as well as it did..









Cleaned up that beautiful exhaust while there





Also installed a taller Givi windscreen



First ride

 

[rphillips]

OOOhhhh, Love the last Picture, you thought about this weeks Pic of the week?... Sure glad for the air filter !!!

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Trevor, I’m at the same place with valve inspection on the Tiger. Dealer told me $900+ for the service which also includes air filter, plugs, coils, etc. And I thought that was too much. I bought the service kit for $174 and will do it my self. Last night I bookmarked the various areas in the service manual that I’ll need to reference and there are some good videos about. There is so much to remove just to get to the valve cover. Then, if any shims need changed, it’s cams out. A whole other can of worms. I’ve been procrastinating. I really have to get on it.

thanks for sharing the great pics.

 

[trevor]

Ha, ha: Nothing makes me appreciate working on an old Suzuki like working on my Honda does either.

Lol.....I must have said that a dozen times while doing this job! I'll never complain about working on my old bikes again... LOL

 

[Baatfam]

Trevor, I’m at the same place with valve inspection on the Tiger. Dealer told me $900+ for the service which also includes air filter, plugs, coils, etc. And I thought that was too much. I bought the service kit for $174 and will do it my self. Last night I bookmarked the various areas in the service manual that I’ll need to reference and there are some good videos about. There is so much to remove just to get to the valve cover. Then, if any shims need changed, it’s cams out. A whole other can of worms. I’ve been procrastinating. I really have to get on it.

thanks for sharing the great pics.

Ha....A few years after I bought my '01 Triumph TT600, I had a valve gasket leak. Had to unbolt and lower the motor to get the valve cover off. Also needed to make a special tool for the motor mounts. I love Triumphs, but yah...sometimes it's tricky.

 

[trevor]

Trevor, I’m at the same place with valve inspection on the Tiger. Dealer told me $900+ for the service which also includes air filter, plugs, coils, etc. And I thought that was too much. I bought the service kit for $174 and will do it my self. Last night I bookmarked the various areas in the service manual that I’ll need to reference and there are some good videos about. There is so much to remove just to get to the valve cover. Then, if any shims need changed, it’s cams out. A whole other can of worms. I’ve been procrastinating. I really have to get on it.

thanks for sharing the great pics.

You are welcome...yeah I have an actual shop manual which was a big help...and a guy from a vfr1200 forum did a great picture and walk through directions...we messaged back and forth a few times....we avoided some pit falls because he warned us....probably 12 hours straight just to check the valves and nothing else....same here if I needed the front shims adjusted...cams come out. Luckily they were good. A guy on a vfr forum said "heck with it, next time I'll just take the whole engine out"!

 

[trevor]

The other thing we did besides take lots of pics was that I brought out a box of zip lock bags to label and put parts in....mage it way easier come time to put it back together....for the fairing alone lol

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Got it. I’ve taken the GS apart and put it back together a few times now. Big proponent of bagging and tagging parts as I go.

 

[trevor]

OOOhhhh, Love the last Picture, you thought about this weeks Pic of the week?... Sure glad for the air filter !!!

Haha....thanks but no thanks...not for me.
Cheers

 

[niclpnut]

Trevor, as always, a good read. Happy you got the bike sorted and it's a good looking bike. Always appreciate your attention to detail and taking the (to some unnecessary) extra step to get things the way you want them.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Hey Trevor, nice bike.

I've had to remove my tank on the Honda Africa Twin a couple of times (running wiring and cleaning out the fuel pump filter and replacing air filters) and it's a bit nerve racking taking all those plastic panels off hoping I don't break something, most videos I watched they actually took way more off than needed, I think on my third time I had the tank off in under 15 minutes versus about 2 hours the first time.

I just cleaned the carb on my Honda snow blower and the YouTube video I watched on how to remove the carb was in fact similar as the guy pulled way too much stuff off and said it wouldn't go back together if you didn't strip everything off, a little mild tweak of the shroud and I was able to avoid half the work he did, nice that guys are sharing their knowledge and taking the time to post videos but as always it's just a starting point. I'm determined to find a better/faster way.

Valve check, what's that? I'm not looking at mine till 50K at least.

That air filter was nasty, it is a wonder the bike ran well at all, how was it afterwards, did you notice any difference?

Ride on brother, BTW it's getting warm here this week, 15 degrees celsius yesterday, nice riding weather.

David.

 

[Cipher]

man it cleaned up nice. Its a honda best bikes ever made. Best cars too.
Therese a goodly number of those for sale at regular intervals at really good prices.
Alan Millyard did a bearing check on his and in the process it showed little wear but for one main.
The nest in the airbox was hilarious. I found a squirrel nest in my silverado intake last summer after dealing with severed wires due to a malicious rodent bastard.

Had a friend who borrowed his mons car. Not a daily driver sat for weeks at a time.
thing started throwing codes and acting bad. Got towed to a CT rip off auto centre and he got dinged 400 bucks cause they ran through a series of diagnostics when a check of the intake found a nest of dead baby squirrels. Oh the humanity!

 

[Rob S.]

Your first Honda? I know you're a Suzi fan, but I would think with the shear number of bikes you've owned, a Honda or three would have snuck into your garage. I mean, you meet the nicest people...

 

[trevor]

Your first Honda? I know you're a Suzi fan, but I would think with the shear number of bikes you've owned, a Honda or three would have snuck into your garage. I mean, you meet the nicest people...

Lol...well my "first" bike was a Keystone mini bike with a 6hp Briggs and Stratton....then I got a Honda mini 50 monkey bike.....
I guess I should count the Honda ST1100 I bought this past summer to ride to Ontario to sell...My wife has owned a Honda Passport 70 for a number of years

 

[trevor]

man it cleaned up nice. Its a honda best bikes ever made. Best cars too.
Therese a goodly number of those for sale at regular intervals at really good prices.
Alan Millyard did a bearing check on his and in the process it showed little wear but for one main.
The nest in the airbox was hilarious. I found a squirrel nest in my silverado intake last summer after dealing with severed wires due to a malicious rodent bastard.

Had a friend who borrowed his mons car. Not a daily driver sat for weeks at a time.
thing started throwing codes and acting bad. Got towed to a CT rip off auto centre and he got dinged 400 bucks cause they ran through a series of diagnostics when a check of the intake found a nest of dead baby squirrels. Oh the humanity!

Thanks,
I have not seen many....when I was searching there seemed to be only about 6-7 of them for sale across the country....and even less now....not surprising as no many were bought in the first place.....My cousin in Ontario just went through the same thing with his truck....lol