VTR - First ride

[PaulG]

Today was the day that I picked up my Teal / Turquoise / Blue VTR and rode the machine for the first time. Before today my previous bikes were a FZ6 Fazer (written off in March) and a GPX 600 which I had 20 years ago.
Here are my thoughts, but note I am no expert rider and no technical wizard. As I looked at my newly purchased VTR I I thought this is a lovely looking bike and I was quite purring as the dealer handed me the keys. As I started it up, I glanced for the first time at my two mirrors, how scary are they? Talk about crap visibility behind you, I was worried about straining my neck I’d have to turn so hard as the mirrors reveal nothing. But start the VTR up and the sound is to die far, the Fazer is so quiet in comparison and quite dull, I quickly forgot about the mirrors.

To ride the VTR is awesome, well for me anyway. I have heard about this legendary torque, but nothing compares to riding the thing. In the FZ6 I always knew what gear I was in, what speed I was doing and how many revs I was making, I could almost feel it. This thing – well at times it feels like you can just keep it in the same high gear there is so much power. I was cruising towards Haywards Heath and thought I was doing about 60, I was doing 80, yes I know this is not excessively fast, but my point is how well the VTR handles on the twistys and so few gear changes...or am I just lazy?

One thing I couldn’t quite get used to was the seat, it felt like I was sitting on a polished laminate floor my butt was sliding up and down so much – is this normal?

Overall I rode 175 miles today, West Sussex – East Sussex, lunch with parents in Hastings – Kent and M20 and then M25 and A2 to home. Bike is awesome on the motorway, in the Fazer I found prolonged riding at 85 plus quite hard work, so I’d do the tonne plus blast and slow down again. Today on VTR, it felt so comfortable cruising at 90. Major accident on the M25 just before A21 Bromley, was great to ride to the front and be amongst about 100+ bikers waiting for the emergency services to clear up the mess, looked for a fellow VTR rider, but no joy.
Overall – What a bike, I love it, even if it does drink the fuel.
pp - My dad likes the colour of my bike, bit worrying, should have bought the yellow

[benny hedges]

nice one bud, glad you like it
re the mirrors, ive got some extenders on mine and they are spot on - no vibration through them - i'm wide up top & i've got a clear view left & right.
a good investment imo.
they sell them on ebay or just shop around - got mine from here - forget who off but thx anyway!!!

wait til you get used to winding it 7k - the redline - they fkin fly lol 70-140 in a blink of an eye.
surprised me to see they are 5th in the 0-100 test, ahead of gsxr600, zx14 gsx1400 and gsx1300r!!!
and the roll on figures in top are even better. a very understated bike.
[youtube][/youtube]
that's the top ten bikes these guys have tested - some of them are older models - obviously there are far quicker bikes out there now, but still....

[sirch345]

Cheers for the write-up Paul, it almost brought a tear to my eye It took me back to when I first rode my Storm

Mirror extenders (as Benny says) are really a good investment IMHO too,

Chris.

[benny hedges]

even if it does drink the fuel.

tbh they really aren't all that bad on fuel - it's just the 19L tank that makes it appear so.
for example i put 1 1/2 gallons in mine, approx 7L and gave it a good mix of urban and high rev caning and ran out after 55.5 miles - thats average 37mpg for some really torturous riding..
bear in mind that's with a race filter and bigger main / pilot jets and not dyno'd yet, so yours will probably be even better.
if you see one for the right price, pick up a 21L tank if the range bothers you, but they dont come in your colour (afaik) so you'd need a tank cover or sprayjob to match it up...

i paid 90 quid for mine but it was unmarked with all the furniture on... looks better too imo

[tony.mon]

Good write-up, and re the seat- no, they're normally grippy enough.

Probably the selling dealer gave it some polish, after all, they don't have to ride the things themselves, do they?

Dunno what you were wearing, but whenever I treat my leather trousers they always fell slippy for a couple of days.
If that's the case hang them in the airing cupboard overnight.

Otherwise you might want to think about some stomp-grip on the tank.

[Jbrebel]

Sounds like you're enjoying the bike nice one-remeber riding mine for the first time. They do give you a grin

[PaulG]

Thanks for some cracking advice, I'll get those mirrors asap. Re the seat, it probably is just polish making it slippery, but taking the seat off is a bugger too....don't get my started re my crap DIY on bikes or anything!!!!
Like the idea of the bigger fuel tank, but to be honest that's more of a luxury than a necessity, will get one in the future, great idea...cheers.
But the most important thing is riding the bike and I just love it. Yes it's a bit beyond my capabilities at present, but I prefer that, it means I respect it more and try to improve my riding.

[Stratman]

I've had mine ten years now. I have ot used to the mirrors - its amazing how much more you can see by fiddling with the stalks and angling the mirrors so I've got used to them now. Same goes for the 16l tank - was a pain for touring but I use something different for that now.

I have always said how underrated these bikes are.

Your best ever first mod could be a 15t front sprocket (or a larger rear) - makes the gear ratios more useable.

[Pointblank]

Remember my first ride ,torrential rain on the motorway for 80 miles ,could barely see a thing it was throwing it down so much, and the fuel light came on, so had to pull off the motorway to hunt down a petrol station in the middle of Nowhere . Made for a memorable first journey .

Love the bike now ,enjoying as much as you by the sound of it.

[Anotherbikerbabe]

Today was the day that I picked up my Teal / Turquoise / Blue VTR and rode the machine for the first time. Before today my previous bikes were a FZ6 Fazer (written off in March) and a GPX 600 which I had 20 years ago. Mine was a GSX600F,which Dave is respraying and doing up to be sold on. Then I bought a 08 Honda CBF500-A to regain my confidence on, and quickly outgrew that..

Here are my thoughts, but note I am no expert rider and no technical wizard. That's what the guys on here are all about and we all benefit..
As I looked at my newly purchased VTR I I thought this is a lovely looking bike and I was quite purring as the dealer handed me the keys. As I started it up, I glanced for the first time at my two mirrors, how scary are they? Talk about crap visibility behind you, I was worried about straining my neck I’d have to turn so hard as the mirrors reveal nothing.Get yourself some R1's on it or similar, I bought some off trigerri on here and the vis is 100% more/better.. But start the VTR up and the sound is to die far, the Fazer is so quiet in comparison and quite dull, I quickly forgot about the mirrors.

To ride the VTR is awesome, well for me anyway. It was for me too I have heard about this legendary torque, but nothing compares to riding the thing. In the FZ6 I always knew what gear I was in, what speed I was doing and how many revs I was making, I could almost feel it. This thing – well at times it feels like you can just keep it in the same high gear there is so much power. I was cruising towards Haywards Heath and thought I was doing about 60, I was doing 80, yes I know this is not excessively fast, but my point is how well the VTR handles on the twistys and so few gear changes...or am I just lazy? It does handle well on twisties and runs like a dream, unless like me, you apply too much back brake on a low gear/high gradient downhill and almost lock up the back wheel
One thing I couldn’t quite get used to was the seat, it felt like I was sitting on a polished laminate floor my butt was sliding up and down so much – is this normal? As tony says, prob polished it for ya, but when you have some spare money, get yourself a Corbin type basket weave seat, really comfy and mine has built in gel. One or two of the guys on here have them also

Overall I rode 175 miles today, West Sussex – East Sussex, lunch with parents in Hastings – Kent and M20 and then M25 and A2 to home. Bike is awesome on the motorway, in the Fazer I found prolonged riding at 85 plus quite hard work, so I’d do the tonne plus blast and slow down again. Today on VTR, it felt so comfortable cruising at 90. Major accident on the M25 just before A21 Bromley, was great to ride to the front and be amongst about 100+ bikers waiting for the emergency services to clear up the mess, looked for a fellow VTR rider, but no joy.
Overall – What a bike, I love it, even if it does drink the fuel.
pp - My dad likes the colour of my bike, bit worrying, should have bought the yellow

The yellow ones polish up lovely and look cleaner longer than the black glad you're having fun it. We love ours.

[PaulG]

Thanks all of you - some really good advice.

[benny hedges]

you not fell off it yet then?
shitty weather for biking today tbh - seen loads packed up on the mway heading for heysham ferry. bastids.

[marlbororman]

shitty weather for biking today tbh:

I aint been out on mine since last thursday. Its been peeing it down ever since forcast to last till weekend too

[keepy]

Great write up!

I'm in the same boat as you, picked up my 1st VTR a week ago, and am loving every minute of it!

V-Twin all the way from now!

[PaulG]

Actually my bike is not running as well as I'd like. Met the brilliant 'V2 Professor' Tony Mon and MacV2 on Sunday for a bit of bike tuition and a quick ride. Basically gotta get my Headstock Bearings, Carbs and Brakes done - which until Tony explained was like Quantum Mechanics to me. But a least I have a reg rec in my bike that does not need replacing, one small positive.
But - still love the thing though.