Explorer gone... I'm off!

[BarnsleyBob]

Well after much indecision, I finally bit the bullet and sold my 2013 Explorer which I'd bought in 2015.

For me its been a great bike with zero issues (vibes in right grip aside) but I've been thinking of something smaller for a while and now seemed a good time. It may have carried on being totally reliable but, as a gen1 that JUST fell into the cylinder head issue serials and hadn't been recalled, I was also getting concerned in case it did go.

Next bike? Probably not Triumph. I love the Scrambler 1200 but it won't carry all my camping gear. I liked the Tiger800 and the new 900 LOOKS good but with so many updates it's essentially a 'gen1' now and we all know first runs can have niggles. Plus, I'm really not over keen on how much tech Triumph are using now.
Sure it's great whilst it works, but it's going to be bloody expensive to fix if it goes wrong once out of warranty...

Likely bike is an Africa Twin (not the brand new one) or the Yamaha T700. Proven engines and will suit the kind of riding I want to do. In the meantime, I picked up a 'stop-gap' bike off Ebay, which I've fallen a bit in love with-

A 1995 Honda VFR750F-S. Cost a grand total of £1035 and is bloody lovely (photos below) a red one of course! I think once the new adv bike arrives I'll do a full refurb/overhaul on the VFR as it's such a great bike, I wish I'd bought one years ago!

Anyway, thanks for all the tips & info whilst I've been on here. It's a great forum and I might still pop on occasionally.

All the best and ride safe, whatever you're on 

[mjab]

almost the perfect replacement. I had a VFR750FN before buying a VFR800Fi-y and doing over 40000 miles on it.
VFR's were the must have bikes of the 90's, best engine layout ever and the triple is the nearest thing to it hence when I parted with the 800 I moved onto a Sprint ST 1050

Enjoy it, there'll be more than a few envious faces when you park up near other bikers 

[isb]

Looks to be in great nick and a hell of a value at that price! Happy trails.

[Jay2]

Fantastic replacement mate, had the 800 and regretted selling it ever since, did everything, touring two up, daily commute and even the odd track-day! 

AND didn't give me a hernia every time I moved it out of the shed. 

[XCaTel]

Enjoy the new wheels, tidy looking looking VFR. Safe riding and may there be many happy miles ahead of you. 

[Icy]

Have a great ride mate. Keep the rubber side down 

[NiK]

The 750 VFR was my first bike ever (well, it was Mrs NiK's actually ;-).
Nothing but huge praise from me on this one.
FWIW, I regularly neglected its servicing and when I resorted to selling it, it was 20 years old with more than 200,000 km. All stock except the exhaust and the carb gaskets were showing signs of wear. That's all.
By far one of the most invicible bikes ever!

Hate to see go though. Ride safe and enjoy!

(as always, we'll be patiently waiting here for your inevitable return ;-)

[BarnsleyBob]

Thanks all for the replies, much appreciated and I'm sure one day I'll be back on a Triumph!

The VFR is decent for the price BUT does need a little TLC. Although it rides really well it has 66k miles on the clock (not excessive for a VFR) but no history except for MOT's. Aside from being a little mucky it does seem to have been looked after but it'll be getting treated to a full service including valve clearances, plus new bearings all round, brakes fettled and probably new suspension too.

I don't mind spending a bit as I've fallen for the V4 and I'd like some peace of mind knowing its sorted. Cosmetically it needed little other than a clean & polish though and as 'stop gaps' go it's not bad at all- happy days!

All the best.

[Graham Keeton]

That's one of the bikes I've owned, mine was an FT, that I wish I'd never sold. Great bikes, good looks, fantastic motor and a great all rounder just ask Ron Haslam as stated in MCN:

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2016/february/mcn-plus---25-years-of-the-vfr-part-1---ride/

"British rider Ron Haslam was contracted to race an Elf Honda in 500cc grands prix that year but, thanks to some behind-the-scenes political wrangling, found himself without a bike for the annual match race series. In what was a huge marketing gamble, Honda UK decided to let Haslam try his luck on their latest machine – the VFR750. According to Haslam, the gamble appeared to backfire straight away. “They supplied me with a tuned version of the VFR but in the first free practice the thing blew up so I was without a bike. I went straight to a local dealers, Granby Motors in Ilkeston, and just picked a VFR straight from the showroom floor, complete with sidestand, indicators, the lot. I took it to Donington and removed as much of the roadgoing equipment as I could, then fitted some tyres from a 250cc race bike because that’s all that would fit. Then I went out and raced.”
Haslam and the plain dark blue VFR, still retaining its pillion seat, were lined up against a grid of full-on racing Superbikes piloted by the likes of future world champions Kevin Schwantz and Fred Merkel. The potential for embarrassment was huge but the gods were on Haslam’s side: it rained and suddenly the playing field, if not quite levelled, at least wasn’t as precipitous as it had been.
“The VFR felt very slow – it wasn’t even meant to be a sportsbike – but when it rained during the first race it was perfect. I had just enough power that I could use it all and the ground clearance wasn’t as big a problem in the wet because we couldn’t lean over so far anyway.”
Haslam took full advantage of the wet conditions and stunned the paddock, and the wider motorcycling world, by putting the VFR on the podium. “I don’t think I would have gone so well in the dry because the Superbike riders would have been able to put all their power down. The second race was dry and I got away quite well in fourth of fifth place but I slowly dropped back down the field purely because I didn’t have the horsepower and I couldn’t make up for that with my riding because I had everything on the floor as it was, so I simply couldn’t corner any quicker.
“While it may have felt slow compared to a full-on Superbike, as a road bike that VFR was incredible. Even in the dry you could ride it so hard and on its limits, and it still felt really nice. It steered really well and was dead smooth under power.  And I could get a good run out of the corners because I could use all the power while the other guys couldn’t. The handling, the grip, and the overall balance of the VFR, for a road bike, was just incredible. It was a great package.”

[NiK]

Definitely one of the best motorcycles ever!