From seller edinburough in Ontario, Canada we have an eclectic collection of VFR bits up for auction with Buy-It-Now prices provided.

For the upgraded forks crowd, here's a complete billet steering stem setup for 41mm forks. The seller refers to these as replicas of the HRC parts from the VFR racing glory days. Adaptable to clip-ons or handlebars. These appear to be used items, but the seller doesn't specify.

The auction begins at $601 (USD) or $864 Buy-It-Now plus unspecified shipping costs (the seller cautions that his shipping costs are kinda high). I don't profess to know the value of something like this, but that looks like a chuck of money to me.

Clicking on "See Other Items" in the listing, we find that our seller has several more 2d-gen items listed, also at premium prices...a nice-looking set of side fairings (BIN $244+), an average seat cowl ($244+), a set of turn signals ($83+) and a set of NOS brake/shift pedals ($150+) plus a few additional items......

​.....like this set of petcocks listed as "Joey Dunlop RVF magnesium petcock set" from HRC. I have no idea how these would be authenticated, but they can be yours for $526+.

Project 11 is in the reassembly stage, but along the way I decided to up its game....

The biggest challenge I faced with this bike was an impressive 3-inch dent on the right side of the fuel tank.

The rest of the bodywork on this 1986 VFR700 is in very nice original condition, so I really wanted to save the existing tank as opposed to a full repaint. I began with my paintless dent expert who was able to get the metal back to about 90%, with most of the remaining blemish in the white area of this dent. There still remained chipped white paint and some surface unevenness.

My next stop was a visit with Bill, my painter. This was a tricky fix. We needed to attack only the white (the red is actually a decal) so to accomplish filler, sanding and paint adjacent to the red stripe wouldn't be a simple task. During the work, some original clearcoat began to separate on a section of the red, so that would need to be addressed as well.

In the end, Bill really come through. There's still some imperfection due to a scratch on the red stripe, but the white was blended perfectly and the final clearcoat brought it all together. Most importantly, the original fuel tank was rescued.

Next up was the defaced swingarm, where a liquid, most likely battery acid, had stripped the anodizing from the metal and left this ugly mess (right).

I discovered the fix a couple of years ago, which requires removal of the anodizing using oven cleaner, a very caustic foaming agent. I apply a first coat, let it set 20 minutes, wipe clean, and then apply a second coat for about 10 minutes to clean up any remaining spots.

This is followed by wet-sanding, in this case beginning with a relatively rough 220-grit (to sand down through the damaged aluminum) and working my way up to 800-grit. The final step is hand polishing with aluminum polish to whatever level of shine I'm happy with. Looks much better.
(click on an image to enlarge)

With the swingarm out of the way, I took the opportunity to remove the shock absorber for a detailing.

Next up is a brake line upgrade. I've always used Galfer brand stainless steel lines in the past, but decided to try a set of Venhill "Powerhouse Plus" lines in black.

What else? Well, the carburetors have been treated to modern seals, cleaned and sync'd, along with fresh fuel lines and filter. The fork has been flushed, steering bearings installed, an OEM rear fender extension refitted, brake calipers cleaned, inspected and assembled and a full set of OEM turn signals have been restored, mounted with new, shorter stems. I'm also in the process of doing repairs to the headlight fairing in order to hide four small holes used to mount aftermarket turn signals, but that's a separate post.

This project began as a very nice Interceptor and is only getting better.

What: 1987 VFR700 F2
Where: Ridgecrest, California
Why: Original, low miles
Price: $4200

For the 1987 model year, Honda offered only the 700cc "tariff beater" VFR in the U.S. market. Some running changes were made to the 700s during the '86 model year and these were officially known as the F2, available in "limited quantities" in Pearl Crescent White, which became a standard color option for 1987.

Today we have this very complete and original-condition F2 showing only 7450 miles. The seller indicates that he acquired this bike from the original owner, also in southern California, and after bringing the mechanicals up-to-date, has doubled the mileage over the past year. The bike is showing a bit of sun damage from its life in the California desert and the lower part of the fuel tank seems to be a few shades off paintwise, but that could just be the photo. One of the pics shows the rear seat cowl in place and a service manual and OEM tool kit are also included. The seller's price of $4200 reflects the low miles and originality, though I'd want to see more detailed photos, particularly of the mufflers and any possible cosmetic flaws. Unmolested, original second-gen VFRs are becoming fewer and farther, so here's a chance at what looks to be a nice one.

A few weeks back I posted about the horrible concept of an Interceptor trike conversion. Here's another example from the RC24/26 Facebook page. So I guess it's a thing...but I still don't get it.

​That exhaust appears to be unmuffled, so the sound must be, ah, impressive. But it's the mirrors that take today's design award.

Sitting in my dentist's waiting room a few days ago, I happened to pick up the Sept/Oct issue of Midwest Living and found this feature article. It's written by Alicia Underlee Nelson, and it's about a group of women riders loosely based in the upper midwest, who put together their own version of interesting rides.

In this case they're riding a 300-mile loop to the southwest of St. Louis, but what really caught my attention is the writer's comment on an aspect of our sport we don't talk much about — danger.

Our daughter-in-law once commented that Patti & I take part in two recreational activities which reside near the top of the "most dangerous" list; motorcycling and horseback riding. I checked, turns out she's done her homework. We definitely don't see ourselves as daredevil adventurers, quite the opposite, as it seems to me that things like base jumping and rock climbing have more pain potential, but apparently not.

The author writes: "...the shadow side of a motorcycle's power is vulnerability — to the elements, to road conditions, to rider fatigue, to other drivers. On or off the road, the fragility of life always hangs close, unspoken but respected."

I've been riding for 48 years and learned on my own. I had two rookie single-vehicle bike crashes in my first year and none since, plus my share of close calls, mostly from other drivers. Motorcycle crash statistics are sobering, but a little sticky — they can be manipulated like any statistic. But here's a relevant sample: Motorcyclists in Colorado make up only 1% of miles traveled, but are 16.3% of the fatalities, and 75% of those were the rider's fault (Motorcycle Consumer News). The majority of bike crashes are single-vehicle and most are the result of simply running off the road. When another vehicle is involved, it's most likely an approaching car turning left in front of a bike. Somewhere around 50% of fatal crashes involve alcohol. And this: Most crash testing is done at 30mph and helmet certification is performed at only 24mph. Above those parameters and you've become your own crash test dummy.

You'll note that the word "accident" isn't used here. That's because insurers don't consider crashes to be accidental. There's always one or more contributing factors that might have been mitigated by those involved. In aviation, we learn to recognize and mitigate those factors the best we can, and there's a lesson there. The old saying, "there's old pilots and there's bold pilots, but there's no old, bold pilots" is a pithy way of saying that taking riding seriously should involve regular training, constant awareness and riding sober. All the things you've heard about motorcycle safety apply — speed is fun, but speed kills more effectively, riding above your or your bike's abilities, riding in bad weather, riding at night, riding with no protection, falsely assuming other drivers see you, and so forth.

Whenever someone asks me about taking up the sport, I find myself instinctively discouraging it. When they ask why, I almost always blurt out, "because it's dangerous." I know that I shouldn't discourage new riders, but I think of all the years of experience that help keep me (hopefully) safe on a motorcycle and cringe at the vulnerability of a new rider out in the real world after nothing more than some cursory classroom and parking lot training, especially if it involves a loved one. And that's too bad.

We all ride for our own reasons, every time we do we accept the risks that we know lurk in the shadows of our sport. As Orville Wright noted, "Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks."

...and then there's these guys..........
(skip to 1:15)

What: 1994 RVF750RR (RC45)
​Where: South Africa
Why: Rare, rideable, "Euro power"
Price: $35,000 includes worldwide shipping

Here's a fairly rare opportunity to acquire a genuine factory homologation bike, produced from 1994-99. The U.S. got this model only in '94, a neutered version powered down to 105 HP. This "Euro" version put out a bit more, 118, and this one sports a sexy Yoshimura exhaust. And, you might not feel bad actually riding this RVF, as it's already covered 21,250 miles. Available as a featured listing on RareSportBikesForSale.com. Click on image for a very nice write-up on the RC45.

SOLD: $3850 plus premium
This one is personal. Last weekend Mecum Auctions held a collector car auction in the Chicago area. Among the offerings were cars and bikes from a collector near Hartford, WI., and this bike was a former project of mine, purchased from me three years ago.

The bike is a 1986 VFR 700F. It now shows 25,454 miles, an increase of only 397 miles since I passed it on. This bike is a very clean, mostly original-condition example with one special touch — it sports a set of very rare, in my experience, 4-into-2 Cobra F1 exhaust slip-ons. The mid-fairings were both damaged and repainted. As I noted in the "My VFRs" summary, "Not a garage queen but a perfect example of a rider-grade refurbishment."

I believe Mecum's buyer's premium is 8%, making the total selling price $4158.

Here in the Hinterlands, winter is bearing down. We see it on the calendar and feel it in the air — soon we'll see it in the air in the form of fluffy white stuff. Over this past weekend we were treated to a balmy, sunny day so I took advantage of it to winterize my three bikes. I keep them in riding condition, so for me, that just means making sure they're clean, full of fresh, stabilized fuel, drain the carbs, plus an oil/filter change. Of course, gotta warm that old oil, so out for a final blast on each.

There's a fair number of myths and bad information out there about how best to prep a machine for seasonal storage. For some clarity, here's an article from Revzilla's Common Thread.

A personal plea: The top mistake owners make on this subject is to periodically start their machines during storage. DON'T DO THIS! Unless you're actually riding — on the road! — for at least 20 minutes to fully warm the oil and evaporate the moisture and acids a cold start creates, DON'T DO THIS! I once bought an airplane from a seller who proudly told me that he would regularly start his engine and let it idle for ten minutes during the winter months (he rarely actually flew it). I knew I would soon be in for an engine rebuild and, sure enough, a year later the engine failed its annual inspection resulting in a $14,000 rebuild. I wanted to hot rod it a little anyway, so this was expected. The point is that his practice of running the cold engine resulted in cumulative damage each and every time. Your engine is happy sleeping through the cold — let it sleep in peace.

Recently sold on eBay, this 1983 V45 went for an impressive $6400 after 50 bids. As a first-year Interceptor, the bike has historical provenance and the listing was effectively done.

The bike shows only 4421 miles and our seller claims complete originality. There's lots of hi-res photos included with the listing, so we can get a pretty good indication of condition. Unfortunately, despite the seller's assertions of complete and regular "detailing," those details look pretty scruffy to my eye. The bike does appear original, right down to the sagging turn signals and bits of rust and corrosion in the right places, but the more closely I look at the paintwork, the more it appears to be non-original, though admittedly, I'm looking at photographs. There's also scratches on the right-side engine cases from some small trauma in the past, but again, the paintwork is unblemished. In any case, after lowering his reserve, the bike was well sold. I'm sure the seller is pleased and hope the buyer is also.