Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Do they still have those fast drive-on trains in France?

I was wondering if you could get one to cut out the grim North from Calais.?

We used to have a neighbour who had to take them to get to/from Paris because their battered Renault wasn't able to do the min speed on the autoroutes.

They exist but you have to go from Paris down to Bordeaux or Brive (Brive would probably work for me).

The issue is that they're overnight and they don't carry passengers so you need to get another train (for more money) yourself.

If the 2 things are connected it could be warped/damaged/incorrectly fitted brake disc or similar. Could be the pads/pistons are being pushed back which is why you lose the rear brake.

Trying to think why it would be noticeable when decelerating, except the engine noise might hide it the rest of the time. I assume you've checked the rear wheel nut torque/wheel alignment and basic stuff. If it's chain drive the tension on the rear wheel changes when it's not being driven by the chain so could be something loose.

It's back in Monday - have reported the knock/vibration from pegs - seems I'm not alone

http://www.street-triple.co.uk/index.php?topic=26401.40

I was having downshift noise, turns out the chain was pretty slack and slapping about.
All good now.
Not on a stripple though.

Wouldn't start this morning and now MOT'd for another year, very relieved with the weather picking up. Will be taking my battery off the bike in future when left on the oximiser.

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Nice bike.

Thanks, just glad it's firing up and rideable. So many bikes out today...

Had to run an errard too, took the long way home.

Not very photogenic.

Looks a beast! A very practical beast... How easy is it to replace a clutch cable? Mine snapped on Friday, right at the lever...

Yeah, but the places it'll take sure as shit will be.

Yeah, going touring later this year. Ferry to Santander, then ride pyrenees, alps, tuscany, dolomites, switzerland, eifel.

VFR800 Vtec

Talk to me...

Good / bad / ugly

ABS malfunction??

I've thought that all along but dealer says no

Great bikes in their time, then the adventure bike craze arrived and everyone wanted to sit upright! Complicated engines to service but most Honda stuff is well engineered to begin with. Wouldn't buy a high mileage one, early ones probably don't have abs.

Very easy, just check the routing when you remove the old one. Buy the whole cable and housing of course, the featherlight ones make a little difference to clutch feel. You could do it by the roadside with pliers on a lot of bikes, of course you never have a spare clutch cable to hand!

Ta.

Tempted by this one: http://www.rite-bike.co.uk/used-HONDA-VFR800-Bradford-West-Yorkshire-787181#tabs-here

Lovely bike, that mileage at 10 years old is a sweet spot. Going to be top money from a dealer but you have the 30 day warranty if anything goes wrong.

Like pillion cover as well, strip the luggage off and you've got a sports look.

Make sure it has had a valve clearance check.

Ride one and see how you get on with the vtec 'kick'

Apparently they fixed the really strong kick in 2005 so I'm looking for 07 / 08 models at the moment.

If was over dramtized IMO, have you ridden one?

Briefly. Didn't notice anything myself...

VFRs are great bikes. I've never ridden an 800 but the last of the 750s was creamy smooth, Uber comfy and surprisingly quick, especially on bumpy backroads. They sound great with a loud end can too.

The 750 is a great engine, valve clearances are a paint and need special tools to check the clearances on the vtec valves. Pity the electrics are shite (generators, reg/rec and circuit boards)