I’ve been quietly falling out of love with the Bonnie for a while. Well, no. I’ve been pining for something else. The Bonnie is really good for what it is, compared to, say, a Kawasaki W650. That’s a beautiful retro looking bike, like the Bonnie, but absolutely gutless. You twist the throttle in anger and … that’s it. An angry twist and a lethargic plod forward. So, the Bonnie is fun, and comparatively lightning quick, but it’s still a naked bike in winter. And I don’t like the feel of it if you try and throw it into corners with gusto. And it’s going rusty. Winter is cruel on a naked bike.
I’ve been torturing myself looking at SV650s’, then changing my mind and thinking about a VFR750 again. We’ve not really had the money to buy one though.
I bid on a SV650 that was going cheap. I put my maximum bid at £750, but I put it in early, someone bid £770, which I thought was the start of a bidding war, so left it. It sold for £770! Dammit.
Then I saw someone selling a 1994 VFR750. He’d started the bidding at £500 and it had only gone to £711. I put a bid sniper in for £1,011. Again, I was expecting a last minute bidding war, and thought I’d beat the person who put in a £1,000 bid. I won.
£733!
Hahahaha!
Seven hundred and thirty three pounds sterling!
Incredible. I was waiting for him to say ‘nah, I have cancelled the sale, sorry’. But no.
I went to Boston on the train today and rode it home for about 4 hours. What a bike! I’d forgotten just how good VFRs are.
There were a few instances where I got a bit giddy and ended up with the back end locked up and fishtailing as I tried to avoid ploughing into cars. I got a grip after a big moment. I really thought I was piling into the back of the car in front. That would have been less than ideal on my first ride out.
As you can see the pictures are watermarked from 2016, which is cheeky, but to be fair it is indicative of the condition of the bike. The advert said one of the bolts that hold the exhaust header to the cylinder head wasn’t tightening, so it was blowing a bit. I understood that to mean he’d stripped the thread on the bolt, an easy fix, a replacement bolt is about a quid. When I got there he slipped it in that actually it was the thread in the cylinder head that had been stripped. That’s less good. I’ll try a helicoil insert and some liquid metal, but if that fails, I’ve priced a replacement cylinder head. £30! That’s not going to break the bank. I’ll have to get gaskets as well, and it would be a pain of a job, but very doable. For a £733, 41k miles, full stainless exhaust, 4 owners from new, (last owner had it for 14 years) VFR750. Yeah, I’m willing to fix that. Also it has a Givi rack and plate, so I’ve ordered a second hand top box. That’s me sorted. I can tootle back and to to work forever now. I’ve ordered (yet another) workshop manual, and a double bubble screen. I have a custom seat from other VFRs that I can pop on. I’ve checked, it comes with the tool kit under the seat (you need a special C spanner to adjust the chain tension) so I’m good to go. Maybe get heated grips for next winter. I’m not going to bother now for this one. The fairing isn’t perfect. Somebody has inexplicable drilled a big hole on the back left upper fairing, and the top screw holes on the front top fairings have both split. But all the screws seem to be in the fairings, it rode beautifully today, it’s rock steady if you take your hands off the bars, and it goes like stink. Brilliant.
£733.
I’m not going to get that kind of bargain ever again. VFRs are a premium bike. They hold their value because they are such high quality.
So chuffed.
Next day…
I had a look online and watched an idiots guide to fitting helicoils. It’s as I’ve done previously, but one important tip I’d overlooked, once you’ve fitted the coil you have to snap of the tail part (tang). I worked out the size and pitch of the helicoil kit I’d need and looked in my shed. I actually had the right one. I pulled out the old helicoil (fool had left the tang on. No wonder it didn’t work. Noob!) and popped in a new one. I clarted it in loctite and squeezed a little metal putty in for good measure. It screwed in really solid. I forgot to say, you could waggle it about before I took it out. I tightened it up and really cut down on the leak. There is still a slight leak, but I think that could be a knackered gasket. The new one should have arrived two days ago, so hopefully it will get here tomorrow, in which case it’s just a matter of undoing two 10mm nuts (don’t even have to take the fairings off), popping the old gasket out, putting the new one in and tightening it up again. That should be that. Sorted bike. For a £4.95 gasket!
That’s assuming I can tighten the nuts down without the stud spinning, which is to say if the helicoil holds. But it felt so solid today I definitely think I can do it at a second attempt if this one doesn’t hold. Make a good job of tapping the hole, slap a load of metal putty in, then tighten the stud right the way in and leave it overnight to harden. I may never get the stud out again, but I don’t want to, so that’s not a problem.
I’m a very happy bunny.
Not so chuffed with the goddamn Royal Mail though. They said that gasket was out for delivery yesterday, still not got it, then ParcelForce (the paramilitary wing of the Royal Mail) said my top box was coming tonight between 16.45 and 19.30. I was made up. Get that on and I’m sorted for work. Waited. Waited. Waited. Then got an email saying they couldn’t make it today, followed by a salt in the wounds message saying “delivery attempted at 19.41” LIARS!
Hopefully my gasket and box will arrive tomorrow and I can fit them both and everything will be peachy. I’ve also ordered a double bubble screen to deflect the air over my head, that’s arriving by Friday by Herpes. Huzzah! That’s how crap the Royal Mail are, I’d prefer the Herpes delivery because at least they will deliver it. I’m trying not to let a few days of inconvenience sour my joy at a bargain epic bike.
I was looking, it has braided brake lines, stainless exhaust system, an upgraded reg/rec (known weakness), upgraded lights, a tidy looking chain and good tyres. I’ve got a fancy seat in the shed. With the double bubble screen, gasket and top box that I’ve already ordered, it’s about sorted. I’m actually looking forward to the ride to work!
Oh, here’s an actual shot of it from today, not 2016. It’s good to have a Viffer on the front again!
I have three bids on the Bonnie, so that should sell. All is well.