Having an older bike is always a bit of an adventure. Finding good upgrades is always a bonus. You are lucky that the PO didn't remove the risers to sell on, most do.
Vfr screen looks nice, black goes well with the silver, maybe those bar risers are doing more harm than good with the new screen, maybe should have tested wind issues with the original bar height, or just adopt a racing crouch !, you got lucky with the performance boost after the service, the only time I ever really noticed a performance gain was on my 95 Yamaha yzf 750r, dyno jetted it and picked up good 10 bhp if I remember rightly, and a nice carbon race pipe capped it off, after a while the emulsion tubes caused fueling issues, so I gave to well known dyno man and tuner RLR used to tune McGuiness TT bikes, it was like a completely different bike when I got it back, around 125 bhp to, emulsion tubes on yzf were a big issue when they were worn,.
I have wondered if the raised bars exacerbates the wind over the screen. I will probably give it a try later in they year. The performance gain was all at the lower end of the rev range. Before the new plugs and service it felt rough below 5000, now it runs clean from 2.5k revs.
@SPANNERRASH I eventually dropped the double bubble for the standard. It was just creating turbulence at head level. I'd still like to try the risers though.
Cheers, I went back to the standard for a while, TBH, I think there are issues with either. However the PUIG is much easier for me to mount a camera to, so I have swapped again so that I can use that. I was thinking of getting one of the extenders, but I am not sure, and knowing me, and my roving eye, how long will I be keeping it. It is hard to justify a change though, as it is almost a perfect motorcycle. :)
Nice review as you are obviously passionate about the VFR800. Just a note though - All the 800's are fuel injected (Fi) and have single sided swing arms! It was the 750's that were carbed with earlier versions having traditional swing arms. 2001 onwards they made the 800 with the VTEC and dumped the gear driven cams. I have a 2000 model in blue with low miles and has won me over. Now the best bike i ever owned (28+)
Great info and they are a great bike. I have had a couple of the earlier bikes. 25 years ago I had one of the first ones, a VF750F, that had the problem with the cams originally. Then around 15 years ago or so I had one of the next generation ones, the VF750FG. Only problem I had with either was a puncture, but I didn't have either for more than a year. It is a really good bike, but I can't say the best I have ever owned, 30+, but I may have rose tinted glasses. It is really great in person, great to ride, great reliability, but not one that lives in my imagination when I am away from the bike. I don't know why, maybe its me! Maybe when it has gone, it will elevate in my memory :)
Bar risers offer a 1.5inch rise. It's an improvement but defo no miracle for improved comfort. Fitting peg lowering mounts works well too if get hip pain, can be awkward to get gear lever & rear brake lever in a suitable position though. Renthal 755 bars on FZS1000 bar mounts are a huge improvement, just need to drill top yoke, used yokes are cheap on ebay.
After fitting one like this from Puig (it was callled z-race due to its profile) I did notice more wind noise around the helmet, more buffeting / cavitation of disturbed air, vs it being a lot smoother with a lower oe screen. I'll be trryin a flip up type to see if it reduces helmet buffeting wind noise.
I am curious to hear your experience with the Moto CNC bar raisers after you have tried them for some time. On the subject of the windshield, I have been using the MRA Vario Touring adjustable windshield on my VFR for some time now and am very happy with it. You might want to give it a try.
You might get to see a video about this soon. I am thinking of going back to a standard screen and then maybe removing the bar risers to see if I notice the difference. I have already swapped the screen from my PUIG one, so I might take the risers off as well in a little while. Trouble is the weather here in England has been so poor I really get consecutive riding days, to do proper comparisons. Thanks for the tip on the other screen, I will take a look at it.
Seems an odd one of our videos to ask this one, but.. If you can't find a metal stockist on Google, then look at garages that repair HGVs, or specifically do bodywork repair, frequently they will sell on some metal.
I’m having a nightmare with my vfr. Iv tried 2 different screens, 3 different helmets, bar risers, and 3 different styles of ear plugs and really struggling with wind noise. That much I’m starting to not enjoy riding at the mo
I've just re-fitted the standard screen to see if the replacement screen really made any difference. I'm not really convinced that it is any worse than most other bikes, obviously I will have to buy a couple more to see ;)
Good video. I just bought a gen 5 vfr800 & I think I'm getting bar risers and possibly a new screen. Do the bar risers affect handling in a negative way?
![Honda VFR 800 Service Guide [Oil, Filters, Spark Plugs] 2003 VFR800 VTEC Rough Running Solved | 02](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/65WyKaPKdls/mqdefault.jpg)
After watching this video I went to check my VFR which I’ve owned for 3 years , to my surprise I have bar risers fitted , I didn’t even know!!!
Having an older bike is always a bit of an adventure. Finding good upgrades is always a bonus. You are lucky that the PO didn't remove the risers to sell on, most do.
Vfr screen looks nice, black goes well with the silver, maybe those bar risers are doing more harm than good with the new screen, maybe should have tested wind issues with the original bar height, or just adopt a racing crouch !, you got lucky with the performance boost after the service, the only time I ever really noticed a performance gain was on my 95 Yamaha yzf 750r, dyno jetted it and picked up good 10 bhp if I remember rightly, and a nice carbon race pipe capped it off, after a while the emulsion tubes caused fueling issues, so I gave to well known dyno man and tuner RLR used to tune McGuiness TT bikes, it was like a completely different bike when I got it back, around 125 bhp to, emulsion tubes on yzf were a big issue when they were worn,.
I have wondered if the raised bars exacerbates the wind over the screen. I will probably give it a try later in they year. The performance gain was all at the lower end of the rev range. Before the new plugs and service it felt rough below 5000, now it runs clean from 2.5k revs.
Vfr mirror extenders also useful low cost improvement.
You need to look at my comments about the mirrors on my Cafe Racer :) The mirrors on the VFR are panoramic!
@SPANNERRASH I eventually dropped the double bubble for the standard. It was just creating turbulence at head level. I'd still like to try the risers though.
Cheers, I went back to the standard for a while, TBH, I think there are issues with either. However the PUIG is much easier for me to mount a camera to, so I have swapped again so that I can use that. I was thinking of getting one of the extenders, but I am not sure, and knowing me, and my roving eye, how long will I be keeping it. It is hard to justify a change though, as it is almost a perfect motorcycle. :)
Nice review as you are obviously passionate about the VFR800. Just a note though - All the 800's are fuel injected (Fi) and have single sided swing arms! It was the 750's that were carbed with earlier versions having traditional swing arms. 2001 onwards they made the 800 with the VTEC and dumped the gear driven cams. I have a 2000 model in blue with low miles and has won me over. Now the best bike i ever owned (28+)
Great info and they are a great bike. I have had a couple of the earlier bikes. 25 years ago I had one of the first ones, a VF750F, that had the problem with the cams originally. Then around 15 years ago or so I had one of the next generation ones, the VF750FG. Only problem I had with either was a puncture, but I didn't have either for more than a year. It is a really good bike, but I can't say the best I have ever owned, 30+, but I may have rose tinted glasses. It is really great in person, great to ride, great reliability, but not one that lives in my imagination when I am away from the bike. I don't know why, maybe its me! Maybe when it has gone, it will elevate in my memory :)
Bar risers offer a 1.5inch rise.
It's an improvement but defo no miracle for improved comfort.
Fitting peg lowering mounts works well too if get hip pain, can be awkward to get gear lever & rear brake lever in a suitable position though.
Renthal 755 bars on FZS1000 bar mounts are a huge improvement, just need to drill top yoke, used yokes are cheap on ebay.
That actually sounds like a really good idea, but would you not need longer cables/hoses to make that work?
After fitting one like this from Puig (it was callled z-race due to its profile) I did notice more wind noise around the helmet, more buffeting / cavitation of disturbed air, vs it being a lot smoother with a lower oe screen. I'll be trryin a flip up type to see if it reduces helmet buffeting wind noise.
TBH, I think the standard screen is slightly better. But the mount for my camera fits on the PUIG better. :)
I am curious to hear your experience with the Moto CNC bar raisers after you have tried them for some time. On the subject of the windshield, I have been using the MRA Vario Touring adjustable windshield on my VFR for some time now and am very happy with it. You might want to give it a try.
You might get to see a video about this soon. I am thinking of going back to a standard screen and then maybe removing the bar risers to see if I notice the difference. I have already swapped the screen from my PUIG one, so I might take the risers off as well in a little while. Trouble is the weather here in England has been so poor I really get consecutive riding days, to do proper comparisons. Thanks for the tip on the other screen, I will take a look at it.
Moto content cool to see!
Thanks
hey dude, please can you tell me where the cheapest places are to buy some body metal to do repair work on the sills and archs etc thank you
Seems an odd one of our videos to ask this one, but.. If you can't find a metal stockist on Google, then look at garages that repair HGVs, or specifically do bodywork repair, frequently they will sell on some metal.
I’m having a nightmare with my vfr. Iv tried 2 different screens, 3 different helmets, bar risers, and 3 different styles of ear plugs and really struggling with wind noise. That much I’m starting to not enjoy riding at the mo
I've just re-fitted the standard screen to see if the replacement screen really made any difference. I'm not really convinced that it is any worse than most other bikes, obviously I will have to buy a couple more to see ;)
Try the MRA vario screen - it worked for me after trying a number of others...
Have you a link to the MRA Vario screen you got?
Good video. I just bought a gen 5 vfr800 & I think I'm getting bar risers and possibly a new screen.
Do the bar risers affect handling in a negative way?
Not that I have noticed. I think they work well, but don't make a dramatic difference.