Difficult but easy ?

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fatboy · #16 Post by **fatboy** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 7:45 pm

Yes Katie you are bloody right and why do I imagine you have a " grinning at the idiot' look on your face?
Actually, don't answer that and stop smirking

spiderwheels · #17 Post by **spiderwheels** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 9:05 pm

It's how KTMs work 😂

katie1 · #18 Post by **katie1** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 9:19 pm

fatboy wrote:Yes Katie you are bloody right and why do I imagine you have a " grinning at the idiot' look on your face?
Actually, don't answer that and stop smirking

Ok, I was smirking at that!

However, your post pretty much described every single transaction I have with a bike!

And I really hope it's not a KTM thing, I've just bought one...

#19 Post by **mangocrazy** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:30 pm

katie1 wrote:And I really hope it's not a KTM thing, I've just bought one...

Tell more. Need to know...

So we now have 4 KTM owners on the forum. I like.

Greg · #20 Post by **Greg** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 11:47 pm

mangocrazy wrote:
katie1 wrote:And I really hope it's not a KTM thing, I've just bought one...
Tell more. Need to know...

So we now have 4 KTM owners on the forum. I like.

Did you include me?

katie1 · #21 Post by **katie1** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 8:32 am

mangocrazy wrote:
katie1 wrote:And I really hope it's not a KTM thing, I've just bought one...
Tell more. Need to know...

So we now have 4 KTM owners on the forum. I like.

Trading in the VFR for a 1290 Superduke GT. Used, with 13k miles on, picking it up from On Yer Bike on Friday after they've fitted the rear rack

#22 Post by **mangocrazy** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 11:54 am

Greg wrote:
mangocrazy wrote:
katie1 wrote:And I really hope it's not a KTM thing, I've just bought one...
Tell more. Need to know...

So we now have 4 KTM owners on the forum. I like.

Did you include me?

I did, but I think I may have mis-counted. Are we now 5?

#23 Post by **mangocrazy** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 11:55 am

katie1 wrote:
mangocrazy wrote:
katie1 wrote:And I really hope it's not a KTM thing, I've just bought one...
Tell more. Need to know...

So we now have 4 KTM owners on the forum. I like.
Trading in the VFR for a 1290 Superduke GT. Used, with 13k miles on, picking it up from On Yer Bike on Friday after they've fitted the rear rack

Hmmmm - verrryy niiiice... How to go bonkers, in comfort over long distances...

fatboy · #24 Post by **fatboy** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:14 pm

katie,,I think user error was a significant feature my post.....
However all the Jap bike owners at work keep telling me KTM, Keep Tightening Me !
Hope you love the new ride !

fatboy · #25 Post by **fatboy** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:22 pm

fatboy wrote:katie,,I think user error was a significant feature my post.....
However all the Jap bike owners at work keep telling me KTM, Keep Tightening Me !
Hope you love the new ride !

PS fuse blowing issue was down to HID ballast box igniter dead short problem so if any of you are thinking in of a lighting upgrade Led is the new way forward

katie1 · #26 Post by **katie1** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 9:04 pm

fatboy wrote:katie,,I think user error was a significant feature my post.....
However all the Jap bike owners at work keep telling me KTM, Keep Tightening Me !
Hope you love the new ride !

As someone who is trading in Honda's super-duper, long-term, high mileage wunderkind, please let all your Jap-bike loving friends that they're talking out of their collective arses!

Every Aprilia I've owned has faired better with real world conditions than any Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki or Yamaha and I'm kinda hoping the KTM comes under the European standard!

Sorry, spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone getting new multibike insurance sorted out so may not be at my best...

#27 Post by **mangocrazy** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 11:59 pm

katie1 wrote: As someone who is trading in Honda's super-duper, long-term, high mileage wunderkind, please let all your Jap-bike loving friends that they're talking out of their collective arses!

So what prompted your disaffection with the VFR, Katie? The early VFRs had a reputation for build quality, but I think Honda have frankly lost the plot in the last 10-20 years. VFRs went downhill when they dropped the gear-driven cams back in the early 2000s, IMHO.

katie1 · #28 Post by **katie1** » Wed Mar 27, 2019 4:58 pm

mangocrazy wrote:
katie1 wrote: As someone who is trading in Honda's super-duper, long-term, high mileage wunderkind, please let all your Jap-bike loving friends that they're talking out of their collective arses!
So what prompted your disaffection with the VFR, Katie? The early VFRs had a reputation for build quality, but I think Honda have frankly lost the plot in the last 10-20 years. VFRs went downhill when they dropped the gear-driven cams back in the early 2000s, IMHO.

Ah, it's been a slow process.The biggest factor in changing was getting the CBR650 and remembering how much easier it can be to ride a bike!
A couple of test rides on the GT were inconclusive but the 3rd one, on a higher mileage bike, reinforced the idea that it shouldn't be hard to ride. The VFR just feels too heavy at slow speed and doesn't have enough power for it's weight.

The other main factor was the build quality. Frankly, it's shit and the 'quality' reputation is a myth perpetuated by MCN and the like. No fixings are safe from poor weather (and you know I'm daft enough to ride in snow!). The exhaust is rusting everywhere except the end can, and that's only 'cos it's an Arrow can! Metal heat panels are disintegrating and the famed 'invisible panel fit' is only good until you take them off!

Panel pins are one-shot only and most allen heads are made of cheese.

The brake calipers are designed especially so that salt gets trapped inside, unseen, and ensures they won't last two years of winter riding if you don't know the issue (this from a mechanic who hasn't seen such a stupid design on any other bike, including other Hondas)

Oh, and this is without the basic switchgear being upended (reversed horn and indicator buttons) by Mr Honda so that you actually have to stop and think about the most basic functions! Ok, it was the same on the CBR but that was a (slightly) more straightforward swap for another switchgear (made even easier by giving that task to the garage to sort out!)

Apart from that, I love the bike...

#29 Post by **mangocrazy** » Wed Mar 27, 2019 11:40 pm

That's a pretty exhaustive charge sheet, Katie. I definitely understand what you mean about power vs. weight. With the possible exception of the first generation bikes, VFRs have always been lardy compared to their power output. 20-odd years ago that was excusable, but not now.

And I agree about build quality. Modern Hondas are well behind the Europeans these days and everything is built down to a price. Back in the day many VFR fasteners were stainless and the exhaust system (bar the collector box) lasted for 80k of all-season use on my 1989 750 FK and was still in fine nick when I PX-ed it.

VFR calipers have a long and inglorious history of being corrosion traps. Are they still using sliding caliper designs where the pin gets corroded and effectively stops one pad from doing any work? Hopefully they've dumped the reviled linked brake system that needed meters of brake hose and which could never be properly bled.

If Honda had taken the 750cc gear driven cam motor from the early bikes, bored it out to 1000cc and fuel-injected it, stuck in a decent rolling chassis and kept the weight below 200kg it would still sell well today.

Enjoy the KTM, anyway. I'm sure that will make the departed VFR feel even more anaemic...

And don't forget there's a KTM section of the forum!

katie1 · #30 Post by **katie1** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 8:37 pm

And in a completely non-ranty aside, I put the VFR back to as stock as I can be bothered for the trade-in (replaced rear rack with grab rails, took the Arrow can off) and this included taking my Tomtom lead off.

So, as I replaced the battery leads after taking the lead off, the little nut that the terminal bolt screws into dropped out.

That was fine, I could clearly see it and I thought 'aha! The magnet-on-a-stick tool will be perfect!'

As I'm sure you're all aware as I now am, it's not a magnetic nut and said magic tool succeeded in pushing the nut right inside the battery case...

Cue, removing the tightest fitting battery in the history of tight-fitting batteries.

Finally got everything back in place, bolted the seat back on, realised I'd left the battery retaining strap off and had to take the seat back off, remove the daftest-designed battery cover again and replace the strap.

For some strange reason, all this made Fatboy leap to mind