What: 1990 VFR750F
Where: Tucson, AZ
Why: Beautiful, original condition, fair price
Price: BIN of $2850

Entering its third generation, the 1990 remake of the VFR signaled the repositioning of the series away from its sport bike beginnings and into a sport touring role. Re-marketed as a thinking man's motorbike, the model gained some cool updates along with a few pounds, and lost the "Interceptor" tag.

The '90 was available only in the Italian Red seen here with light grey seat and still-fashionable white wheels. Other markets had integrated rear turn signals to match the fronts, but the U.S. made do with old-school signals on stalks (easily converted).

Our seller has owned this bike for ten years, is the second owner and claims "immaculate" condition. Showing under 19,000 miles it has a center stand, fresh tires, owners & shop manuals and tool kit. He assured me that it's never been repainted, which is relevant because the body panels for the third generation bikes are extremely difficult to come by so original ones in nice condition should be valued.

While not high on the collectibility scale, nice examples of the 1990-93s are getting rare. I admit to being partial to this model (my personal VFR is a 1990), but the reality is that any exceptional example of an early VFR makes for a satisfying, engaging motorcycle which will maintain its value for as long as you care to own it.

What: 1984 VF1000F Interceptor
Where: South Beloit, WI
Why: Gorgeous, low-miles, original
Price: $5000

Sometimes it seems the dark alleys of Craigslist are home to as many ghastly creatures as a 90-minute finale of The Walking Dead. This, however, is not one of the undead.

The "F" model VF1000 was a one-year effort to build upon the success of the VF750 and 500 and was to be an important ingredient of the V4 invasion by Honda. But with no racing pedigree and being bested on the street by lighter and faster inline fours from the competition, the 1000F failed to produce the necessary sales numbers and was quickly replaced by the European 1000R in '86. Still, the "F" was no slouch, boasting 113 HP (slightly more in Euro tune), competent suspension and comfortable ergonomics. A sophisticated and handsome gran turismo machine.

Our seller describes this bike as "mint" condition and "runs and drives perfectly." The photos provided do indeed show an exceptionally clean and original example, probably the best I've seen outside of the Barber museum. At only 6300 claimed miles this one checks most of the boxes, with the exception of being an historically relevant model. The VF1000s were a natural progression of the V4 series, but were never competitive in factory racing efforts nor on the showroom floor. But while the collectibility factor may not be there, the unique and fun-to-own quotient certainly is...and this one's a beauty.

Some time ago I featured a piece for Bike-urious.com on the Japanese domestic model CBR400 from the early '90s. One of the details from that model that caught my eye were the sleek turn signals. An eBay search turned up a seller in China (rcfollow) offering a reproduction LED version with clear or amber lens. The mounting looked like it might adapt to the '86-87 VFR rear mounts, so I ordered up a pair for $17.99. Two weeks later they were in my mailbox.

Sure enough, the rubber mount fit like it was made for the bigger VFR (well, it is a Honda part). The wire leads are the correct length and even the bullet connectors plugged right in. I was fully prepared to wire in resistors to compensate for the low amperage draw of the the LEDs, but the flash rate is just fine. Not sure how to explain that one. BTW, to get your signals to align horizontally, gently bend the tang with a pair of padded slip-joint pliers. (click on an image to enlarge)

Here's a before and after. Even with the shorter mounting stalks, the original signals tend to make a bold statement.

The new look is certainly much cleaner, though the verdict is still out on the clear lens. I suspect the amber lens might better fit the classic character of the bike. In any case, the eventual new owner of Project 19 can have his or her choice.

Down in beautiful Austin, Texas, a new rider by the name of Gamble was gifted his uncle's dusty, non-running 1986 VFR700F and set about to put it back on the road. He's a car guy but couldn't resist this project. With some assistance from the guys on VFRdisscussion.com (click on the photo below for a link to his thead) he has progressed to what you see below — a great-looking refurbished Interceptor ready for some fun Sunday mornings out in the Texas Hill Country. Thanks for rescuing another 'Ceptor, Gamble.

While the '86 project was in the works, Gamble had use of his uncle's '96. Sweet deal, huh? With a Corbin seat and BeetleBags fitted it looks ready for its sport-touring duties.

Project 15 is progressing and I just finished up the brake caliper work. With only 11,000 lifetime miles the calipers were in good condition, just needing some light cleaning and new pads and pins fitted.

I usually fit EBC Double-H pads to my projects. These are high-performance sintered alloy pads — but what does that mean?

Well, sintering is just an engineering word for fusing elements through the use of heat and pressure, in this case copper-based metallics and other stuff. The "H" is for friction level rating. The "HH" pads carry the highest "H" rating in two ways, hence the "Double-H," as they are H-rated cold and hot. These brake pads offer high friction, good feel, progressive bite, fade resistance, long life, and they're easy on the rotors. All good things.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/mcy/5598927991.html

What: 1997 VFR750F
Where: Carpentersville IL
Why: Low miles, one owner
Price: $2700

Another red Interceptor for sale? Yes, but this one is worth a second look. Our seller states that he's the original owner and sole rider...ever. Showing only 7800 miles and a recent full service at a local shop, including fluids, tires, chain and "full tune up" (I'm never sure just what that means). There's no details regarding cosmetics, other than to say it's never been down.

The '97 was the final iteration of the 750 series and is often considered to be the best of the early Interceptors. In 1998 the fuel injected VFR800 fifth generation appeared and the model took a turn in a slightly different direction — but that's really personal preference, as they're all great rides. This one appears to be a rare unmolested example, ready to ride, and priced right. Someone's going to get nice bike for little money.

UPDATE: Quickly sold for $2500.

The July issue of Motorcyclist Magazine sports a five-page feature about the day in 1986 that Honda proved the speed and mettle of its redesigned V4 sport bike. Facing fierce performance competition from other manufacturers and needing to overcome the bad juju of the VF's reliability issues, the factory teamed their own riders with a few magazine types in a 24-hour speed and endurance test at a track in Laredo, Texas. The article's author, long-time journalist Mitch Boehm, was one of those riders.

With two 700s and two 750s, the idea was to run one of each and use the others as backup bikes. Early on, the 750 experienced a piston failure (caused by a casting flaw) and blew its engine. The backup bike started a fresh 24-hour run and ended up with the five new records, including the Big One, a 24-hour average speed of 143 mph, blasting the previous year's record set by a Suzuki GSX-R750 at 128 mph. As icing on the cake, the record-setting 750 was then ridden back to California by a Cycle World staffer. Honda had succeeded in winning back some lost credibility by showing, once again, its place as a preeminent engineering company.

Recommended reading.

Here's a great T-shirt design from the nutjobs at BlipShift.com.

The reference is, of course, Hwy 129, AKA the "Tail of The Dragon." Blipshift prints a limited number of designs submitted to them and then sells them for only a few days, never to be seen again. This one ends Thursday, the 26th, so better hurry! $18.45 includes shipping. Also available in a poster! Here's the link:

https://www.blipshift.com

While searching for an anniversary destination recently, Patti and I found that bad weather dominated most of the country except for the upper midwest, so we decided to keep it local and trailered the ST1300 to southwest Wisconsin's driftless area to spend the week motorcycle and horseback riding. We based ourselves in the midst of the state's best road and horse country at Justin Trails Resort in Monroe County and enjoyed four days of perfect riding weather, awesome roads and great scenery.

How is this relevant? Well, this is farm country and that means bugs...and lots of 'em. When we got back home I had a bike and truck coated in dead bugs. In case you don't know this trick, here's a magic potion to melt those critters away with minimal effort.

It's called hydrogen peroxide and it's about $1 a quart at Wally World. This stuff really is magic — at 90% solution it's used as an oxygen source in rocket fuel while at 3.5% it can bleach your teeth, marinate your meat or melt bugs off your fairing.

One of its interesting properties is that it oxidizes dead tissue, like bug splats, but doesn't hurt live, like our skin. Just spray it on any surface, let sit for a few minutes and wash your bike as usual with soapy water. As far as I know it doesn't affect plastic, metal or acrylic surfaces in any way so it's safe to use anywhere there's bug remains. Now you know.

After a few hours of garage therapy Project 15 is stripped and ready for its make-over. No surprises — a few valve clearances had to be adjusted and the compression check is normal. Turns out the steering head bearings need replacing along with fork seals, and that's not uncommon with any bike of this age, even with low miles. The steering bearings are being upgraded to All Balls tapered style. I've completed the carburetor cleaning and inspection, again, no surprises. Fresh fuel lines/filter, and the fuel tube o-rings replaced with new VITON. The low-speed jets were bumped to #40, otherwise the carbs will remain as from the factory. Because I'm keeping the original exhaust system, even the air filter will be OEM. This bike will remain as stock as possible, right down to the hand grips.

One change I will make, in the interest of safety and better performance, are upgraded braided brake lines front and rear. They're black, so they won't be too obvious. Oh, and fresh tires of course — Bridgestone BT-45 in OEM sizes.

This bike is a pleasure to work on. It's obviously been well-kept in a dry environment. There's no stuck bolts, nothing's been stripped, man-handled or modified. Let's get this thing back together.