VFRDiscussion

Hello to everyone.

I'm fairly new to motorcycling, the better-half referring to it as my mid-life crisis.
I used to ride dirt-bikes when I was young and I always wanted to get a Street-Bike.
I've always loved the VFR's (RC30 & RC45) and RVT's (RC51's) from the World Superbike days and wanted to get a VFR of my own.
Lack of funds, time and responsibilities in life kept me from it.
Spring of '25 came around and I got the yearly itch to finally get a bike,.. almost 47 year old and closing in on 50,..I realised it was now or never.

Hit FB marketplace and found a 8th gen 2014 in white with 2700 miles about an hour from me,...2 days before my birthday.
Decided it was fate, and broke the news to the misses,... "I'm getting a bike".

The next day it I was bringing it home.

Put a a little over 3k miles on it in the past year. It is a wonderful bike.
She's stock except for a Two Brothers SC1 muffler.
Not too crazy about that pipe's looks, and this past week I ordered a SC project to replace it.
Smiles every time I ride,.. Especially when the revs get above 7k... the sound is Glorious.
I put on a set of Michelin Road 6's about 3 months ago as the original Dunlop’s had given up.

Still I have a lot to learn and was on the old VFRD lurking and looking for as much information as I could.

I hope this place becomes the same well of knowledge

silvr_RC79

Welcome to the site.

Nice looking bike!

That is a great looking bike. Gator, from the old VFRD, put an SC Project outlet on his and thought it sounded great. I like the look of them too but worry about the neighbours. If you fit one I'd be very interested to hear if your neighbours decide it's obnoxious!

BTW, at 50ish, you are probably one of the younger members of the band. I can't speak for everyone but I reckon the average age now must be around 65. Consequently, we look to you for knee down advice

Welcome to the site, nice looking bike

I've got an SC Projects coming sometime, I've only been waiting 11 weeks, they seem to work at a different pace to everyone else

Agree about the end can--the angle was all wrong.

The best thing to invest in now is probably some advanced training. You started too late to be fast (as did I, at the ripe old age of 24), so you may as well be safe!

Ciao,

JZH

Welcome silvr_RC79!

Beautiful bike and nice low milage.
I agree it was fate.
If grew up with rode dirt-bikes, street bikes must be a breeze, right?

Most useful tips I learned and apply are (since someone brought up training):
- counter steering for turning into corners when requiring some additional agility
- allow you tires to heat up before becoming 'playful'
- always assume oncoming traffic in blind corners on narrow roads

You seem to place your own tires.
Is that difficult and/or which tools do you use?

Thumbs wrote: Mon Jul 13, 2026 3:26 pm Welcome to the site, nice looking bike

I've got an SC Projects coming sometime, I've only been waiting 11 weeks, they seem to work at a different pace to everyone else

My rudimentary(American) understanding of Italy is,.. if you don't have it by the first of August, You won't have it before mid-September.
Apparently the whole country shuts down for summer holiday in August.
My hope is to have mine before the weather turns cold.

Worfje wrote: Fri Jul 17, 2026 2:53 pm Welcome silvr_RC79!

Beautiful bike and nice low milage.
I agree it was fate.
If grew up with rode dirt-bikes, street bikes must be a breeze, right?

Most useful tips I learned and apply are (since someone brought up training):
- counter steering for turning into corners when requiring some additional agility
- allow you tires to heat up before becoming 'playful'
- always assume oncoming traffic in blind corners on narrow roads

You seem to place your own tires.
Is that difficult and/or which tools do you use?

I used a Set or Motion Pro BeadPro tire irons:
https://www.motionpro.com/product/08-0536.

I cut up some HDPE containers (Laundry detergent bottles) into about hand sized rectangles and forced them between the tire and the rim to prevent scratches. I saw that in a you tube video

I placed the wheels onto the spare tire from my jeep when I was breaking the bead and removing the tire from the rim.
The spare tire had enough depth in the middle that brake rotors wouldn’t get damaged form resting on the ground.

I balanced the wheels with a wheel balancer form Marc Parnes
http://www.marcparnes.com/Honda_Motorcy ... .htm#HOV14

Changing the tires& balancing them took some time.
Including removing the wheels form the bike and reinstalling them it was about 3 hours.
I didn’t think it was all that hard, but it was a little tedious. (Especially breaking the bead off the rim).
The most important thing was to not be in a hurry.

To my complete surprise the SC Project turned up yesterday, it looks well worth the wait tho

Thumbs wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2026 2:00 pm To my complete surprise the SC Project turned up yesterday, it looks well worth the wait tho

Photos, photos!