hi colin,
i’m pretty sure that’s crooky’s old bike, did you buy it from nottingham/derbyshire area, i last saw the bike in july 2013 when it turned up at our first vf meet up, a guy called Ian had just bought it, if its the same bike it has 2 steel bands fitted half way down the exhaust silencers where they were opened up to modify the baffles, its also fitted with one of crooky’s stainless steel exhaust collector boxes, and a top end oiling kit,
when i last saw it, it had a good motor, i know crooky always said who ever bought it would have a good bike as it was well sorted,
crooky does pop on here from time to time so he will be the best person to ask,
Taxed yesterday, insured, tyres pumped, day off and errands to run, so first run out on the Viffer.
First impressions are, it’s very long, a stretch to the bars, gearbox less precise than expected, brakes from a bygone age. Great sound, good pull from low down, you can’t and mustn’t compare to modern machinery, you have to ride accordingly, it’s different from the homogenous majority out there. Very pleased with the look and feel of it
I think you’ve summed them up pretty well there Colin. A sort of quaint long legg’ed ride relaxing but at the same time brisk ( eventually) if you want. The opposite to frenetic whatever that word might be.
Thanks for the welcome( not sure if I like you or not ;D ;D)
Handling still lazy, checked pressures and tyre condition again, I don’t suppose the 2" number8 nail in the centre of the nearly new tyre has been helping things. I have attempted my first ever puncture repair, I’ll let you know tomorrow if it held
I loved it when i had it.I just ended up with 12 bikes so had to move some on.I like the reach to the bars,Handling is lazy but i dont ride fast so it was never a problem.Brakes are rubbish and always will be,I went right through them and it made bugger all difference.Straight line performance was the same as my mates modern CBR600 which i was quite impressed with.Cams were fine,Gearbox is typical 80’s Honda,Big clonk into first and not the easiest shift but if you dont rush the change its perfect.Lovely sound from the modded pipes and its a good looking bike.I still miss it and would have bought it back if i was not doing a 3 wheeler kit car.It was just bad timing when it came up for sale again.The only thing i never got used to was the top heavy feel when pushing it around the workshop,always felt like i was going to drop it.Enjoy it and if you need to know anything just call me on 07872 936436.
Thanks for info, you are right about the gear shift, not helped by the play in the gear lever ( not the linkage) it looks like there should be some sort of bush/washer between the gear lever and the pivot? I will investigate further once I can access a manual/microfiche.
Getting spooky looking at your bike list!! I had a Puch M50 sport when I was 16, the big red one with the cradle frame NOT the GP which was the dainty black and gold JPS copy. I also have a 2009 GTR 1400
The weather is perfect here today, so make the most of it and take the backroad to the Copdock Show. Got there at 1pm, had a poke around the show bikes in the main hall, some lovely bikes from when I started riding. The usual Z900, couple of nice H2 750’s an S3 KH400, a lovely CB250 G5 etc.
Nick Sanders was there doing some book signing, John Reynolds doing some promo stuff for Suzuki, lots of other stuff going on. All in all I think a good show, always made better by good weather.
The ride there and back? Well the tyre repair held but the addition of 30 psi hasn’t made much difference to the handling! My 1980 GSX1100ET was similar but felt more “planted” whether that was down to the increased weight or lower C of G( the Viffer is very top heavy). Good strong engine when I got the chance to open it up, no worrying sounds or misfires, it pulls very cleanly, runs wide on corners, whether that’s my initial reluctance to lean it further or just a trait?
So, still very pleased. I shall use it to get to work if the weather is good, once the weather turns I will start to clean,polish, repair, replace as necessary. It will never be a show bike, but so long as it looks good and runs well I shall keep it
Colin, I know little about getting bikes to handle but have accumulated a few experiences along the years. When the VF’s were 16" front wheels that would have obviously reduced the rake of the forks to the road and made them more sharp in the steering department - SO did they change the rake on the later frames when they went back to 17" / 18" ? ( can’t remember which ) because if they didn’t then that would cause a straight line bias wouldn’t it ?
Also, I bought an RZV 500 Yam off my brother in Aus many years ago and was really disappointed with its slow handling i.e. understeer. However, I found ( and use this technique on all bikes with this trait) if I put my weight right forward when approaching a bend at speed and lean out - right / left shoulder into the bend, this seems to work and gets the front to go much more definitely where I want it to go. The other way of getting this effect is to jack the back end up if you can somehow.
Martin
hi colin,
martins not kidding, i spent all day on the 2013 vf meet up following him around Derbyshire, he was hung off the bike like randy mamola ;D, every time i went round one corner he was disappearing round the next…
he’d calmed down a little by the 2014 meet.
i was going to have a ride through to the copdock show myself but overlaid, made the fatal mistake of going into the garage, thought to myself, " I’ll just have a quick look at that engine then get the bike out"… two hours later i was surrounded by spanners and engine bits ???
last year when i used to ride my vf and zzr equally, i always seemed to run wide in the corners on the vf, this year i’ve been using the vf more and not really noticed it much, new tyre’s front and back has improved the whole feel of the bike,