This whole climate change thing is causing havoc to many parts of the U.S. this winter season, but here in the upper midwest it's having more of a calming effect. There hasn't been a flake of snow on the ground since late December and right now we're experiencing an unbelievable run of warm weather, so naturally I thought it appropriate to get a bike out.

So, while waiting for the paintwork to be returned from the paint shop, I dressed Project 14 up in a spare suit of clothes and hit the road. I've never actually had this bike on the road — running, but not ridden. So this would be a shakedown run for all the mechanical refurbishments in addition to running the shorty mufflers for their first outing. I was also curious to see if I could find any difference with the 17-inch front wheel mounted to this bike.

I'm happy to report after today's 60-mile local ride that we have another beautifully running VFR. I'll be tweaking the carb's main jetting a bit, but everything else was flawless. The bike tracks straight and feels perfectly neutral in handling. I don't have the best twisty roads nearby so I'm not able to determine any differences with the larger front wheel/tire, but nothing obvious stood out. The pipes sound great — a very satisfying bass growl without being raspy or sharp-edged. As I was riding along, it occurred to me to try an experiment; why not set the iPhone in the tank bag (out of the wind) and see if I could capture some of the sound. So that's what I did. The scenery's not much, but maybe you can get an idea of the sound.
NOTE: The first run I'm shifting at ~6500 rpm and the second at ~4000 rpm.

What: 2010 VFR1200F
Where: Mansfield, Texas
Why: A 7th-gen with attitude
Price: Auction with reserve

No, there was no such model as a "black edition" 1200F. But our seller had a vision and did a meticulous job making it a reality. All of the factory silver was blacked out through a combination of paint, powder coat and vinyl wrap. There's performance upgrades too, along with convenience and cosmetic farkles. This is a "standard" transmission version; no DCT.

All that attention and dollars lavished on this premium sport-touring bike...and only 2200 miles. Original parts are included and there's even an extended factory warranty till April of 2019!

If you're a fan of the unique "black edition" then this is your bike.
Click on the image below for the eBay link.

A few years ago the Motley Fool (fool.com) published an article on motorcycle ownership ranked by state. I'm not sure why folks keep track of such things...but there it is. Statistics are a funny business, and in this case the rankings account for population, or "people per motorcycle" in each state. This explains why a low-population/cold weather state like Wyoming is ranked #5 and high-population/mild weather California is way down the list at #43.

In any case, the total number of registered bikes is listed at 8,410,255 (2011) or one motorcycle for every 36 people. I'm doing my part with eight (currently).  Here's a link to the article.

As my work takes me more and more into refinishing bodywork on my VFRs, I have the need to remove lots of decals. The red/white/blue bikes, in particular, are full of 'em. There's a few approaches to removal.

Sanding. An orbital or dual-action sander will take off anything in its way, including decals.
Scraping. The combination of a heat gun, razor and adhesive remover (and a lot of tedious work) will eventually get the decal off.
3M Stripe Off Wheel: I stumbled upon this gadget while browsing Amazon one day. It's essentially a giant rotary eraser wheel that promises to take off pinstriping, vinyl, tape, adhesive residue...and decals. Works great on metal without damage to the paint. Unfortunately, it can't be used on plastic — it will gouge it. I ordered one up for $25 and gave it a try. Here's the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00063VT0G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Patti and I made our way to the Chicago International Motorcycle Show last week. We always go on Friday afternoon to avoid the crowds and that tactic worked well this year. Minimal crowds made it much easier to see and touch whatever caught our eye. It seemed to me that the manufacturers were in force this year, unlike some years past. Honda, BMW and Piaggio had impressive displays. Even Royal Enfield did a nice job. Lots of over-the-top customs and some really great vintage bikes were shown with plenty of room to drool. The only Interceptors in the joint were a pair of VFR1200X.

One of the more interesting "motorcycles" being shown was a 3-wheeler which I'd never heard of, the Vanderhall (vanderhallusa.com). Based in Provo, Utah, the company produces four models powered by a 1.4 litre turbocharged 4-cylinder with a 6-speed automatic and front wheel drive which weighs in at about 1400 pounds. It's a great-looking "bike" and Patti and I had to try it on for size — a little...ahh...tight. And with prices ranging from $30,000-$80,000 it may be a bit out of the budget.

Honda had an interesting rig to allow folks to "sample" their DCT transmission. The rear wheel was on rollers and a cute attendant walked you through the automatic and manual modes. What impressed me is that I couldn't hear or see any indication as the transmission shifted. I would really like to try one on the open road.

Overall a good show and, as always, a chance to shake the winter blues, at least for an afternoon.

With the newly refurbished engine side covers installed, Project 14 is ready to fire up for a sound test of the shortened mufflers — Shortys.

The mufflers are stock VFR units that suffered from assorted road rash, so with nothing to lose, I cut off the rearmost chamber (of four), smoothed the dents and scuffs, and painted the finished product.

The goal here was to create my own version of a custom exhaust while recycling a set of nasty mufflers. In the process of eliminating the last chamber in the canister, the exhaust gasses are no longer forced to make a 360-degree turn before exiting. This should really free up the exhaust pressure and, of course, free up some decibels too. I suspect they'll end up in silver paint...we'll see.

It really sounds great in the garage — can't wait to get it out on the open road. Give a listen:

While the bodywork for Project 14 is away for paint, I'm catching up on some finishing touches, one of which is refurbishing the engine side covers. This bike has some mild custom touches so I decided to add a subtle touch of color and had the covers power coated in "Bronze Texture."

Once they were mounted up I wished I'd had the lower fork legs done the same. I think the covers will look great peaking out from behind the pearl white side fairings.

Along the way to redoing the engine covers I stumbled upon a bit of VFR mechanical trivia. This bike is an F2 model, and one of the changes from the earlier F affects the pulse generator coils, which trigger the coils to fire the spark plugs. These two coils are located under the clutch side cover and the F2 uses coils which are slightly larger than the F's. There's small bump-outs in the cover (red arrows) to accommodate the two coils and Honda had to enlarge the bump-outs for the larger coils.

Bottom line: The "larger" F2 cover will fit either model but the "smaller" F cover will only fit the F model. I was planning to mix-n-match the covers but fortunately figured this out before painting the wrong covers.

If you've never seen a naked VFR clutch, here it is. The smooth disc in the middle is the starter clutch with the two pulse generator coils mounted above. Timing marks are visible on its surface.

At the lower right is the starter gearing. Under the clutch you can just see a geared chain which runs the oil pump.

There's a lot going on here.

I came across this, ahh, interesting custom build last year on VFRdiscussion.com. It's in the Netherlands, and someone has gone to some trouble to put together their vision of a streetfighter/ADV Interceptor.

Beginning with an '86 or '87 VFR, the builder has grafted on a different fork, wheel and fender combination, along with some bodacious headlights and an aftermarket windscreen. The side bags show some real imagination while the tiger appliqué on the tank is just, well, a bit visually confusing. Finished off in babys**t brown and we're good to go!

I'm a fan of individualism and this guy's got it in spades.

What: 1992 VFR750F
Where: Seattle, Washington
Why: Clean & ready to ride
Price: $2750

I often preach the point that classic VFRs make for the best used bike choices out there, and here's another example. This 3d-generation model appears to be a well-preserved original VFR. Yes, it shows 36,600 miles but in the right hands that's not a concern to the next owner. Our seller claims "fully serviced" and fresh tires.

Finished in Granite Blue Metallic, the 92's appear as black till you get the sun just right wherein the blueish/purple metallic comes through. Very 90's. You can't go wrong here.

People magazine dubbed him "the Japanese Henry Ford ." They were referring to Soichiro Honda, and he was that and more. An engineer first, and a world-class visionary and industrialist, he founded Honda Motor Company in 1948. As president, Soichiro Honda turned the company into a billion-dollar multinational that produced the best-selling motorcycles in the world. Honda's engineering and marketing skills resulted in Honda motorcycles outselling Triumph and Harley-Davidson in their respective home markets.

Mr. Honda passed away in 1991 at the age of 84. Some of his philosophy:

"In the long run, there is no waste in life."

"Since I found pleasure in the fact that a thing of my own contrivance was proving useful and was appreciated by people, I was not paying much attention to profits."

"To me, success can be achieved only through repeated failure and introspection."

"Looking back, in my work, I feel that I have made nothing but mistakes, a series of regrets. But I also am proof of an accomplishment. Although I made one mistake after another,...I never made the same mistake and I always tried my hardest and succeeded in improving my efforts."

" What insures the future...is the philosophy of manufacturing things in the interest of people."