Just picked up Julys copy of Practical Sportsbikes and its front cover features the VF1000R. The article is a bit lame, about some guy with "Loads of Money" who bought one to go with his other CBX1000s etc and decided to spend a bloody fortune getting it pristine (allegedly )
I`m only jealous of course.
yep… saw that article too, looked a really nice bike, it did make me wince a little when the reporter said something about enjoying the power at 10,000 revs…
I agree guys…10,000 rpm on a 30 year old engine! Though if money was no object…
My 86 FF that i have just sold loved to rev,it would go to 11500rpm no problem.Straight line performance was the same as my mates modern CBR600
but without the brakes or handling.Mine had done 44000 miles and the motor was sweet.
Funny how some engines are so much sweeter than others. Ive encounted loads of bikes where the engine ran like a Swiss watch and yet even though Id spent good money on rebuilding another one the same - never quite had the same smoothness. I guess that says more about my engine building capabilities than anything else !
Mind you, when you consider all the hundreds of bits that go to make up a running piston engine, its not so surprising that some will have 80% of those parts out of kilter and other will have 80% in kilter and therefore working much more harmoniously.
Martin
With 86 000 miles on the clock, my VF1000F G still loves to rev up to the red zone! And high speed commuting up to 140mph at 3AM(I already know,I’m a geriatric hooligan)on the A89 motorway between Périgueux and Brive is a delight!
yes martin i think your right, i think the really sweet engines are the one which have been serviced regularly by some one who knows what they are doing, used regularly (not used this year, then stood for 3 years) and only thrashed occasionally
Six years ago my bike was running its best, second gear excelleration would see the front wheel go light and get a little air at 6500 to 8000rpm’s and would easily go to the red line if i wanted,
At the moment im running my spare engine in the bike, it sounds and runs brill upt 5/6 thousand revs,but it will only pull flatly to the red line but no power band at 6.5/8000rpms. but it just dosent feel right, i have discovered since using the honda valve setting tool that the rear exhaust cam has wear in the journels which is allowing the cam to float about making it impossible to set the tappets correctly…The original engine is going back in either after the vf meet or end of year.
The problem with rebuilding these engins is the availability of parts, you just cant get new parts, even crank and con rod bearings are hard to come by, you end up using spares from broken engines which were broken for a reason, thats the thing which made me wince in the artical, the reporter giving it large, like it was a fireblade…if it breaks it will be hard to rebuild with the same performance…
So if youve got a sweet vf, keep it well serviced, get the sump off and clean the oil strainer out, fit one of crookys oil mods, and enjoy