PMC

Just thought I'd post an alternative experience with my Black Rain Evo boots. They have been ridden through the last two winters, including some seriously wet motorway riding and have never let in so much as a drop. Excellent boots, though not exactly what you'd call breathable - the only time I have wet feet is in the fine, hot weather!

My girlfriend wears glasses (Shoei Raid II as well), but mostly only as a pillion. When riding she finds contacts are better for two reasons. Taking your lid on and off is a hassle with glasses and she says she needs to move her head to see the clocks when wearing glasses, but with contacts you can just glance down - this will probably vary with the design of you specs though - she is pretty short sighted though, if you're not quite so blind you might be fine.

Looks awesome! Touring was probably the attraction in biking for me. Can't wait till my trip to France in 6 weeks... I'll try and do as good of a story as you.

I have some Hood jeans, which are significantly hotter than normal jeans off the bike. They have an unbroken, woven inner layer of kevlar right down to the top of your boots. Great for protection and keeping the wind out when you're riding, but it a) makes them heavy, and b) means they do not breath when you start to sweat trying to wheel the bike around on fine gravel like I was yesterday! I also have knox armour fitted - again great for protection, but not so good off the bike. I wouldn't wear mine all day in the office. I can't speak for the sort which have the more breathable, knitted, kevlar on the ass and knees

I want one of those helmet shelves... I just need to buy my own house first! In the mean time our helmets are on a normal shelf out of the way http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/8227180199/helmet_shelf_780001503.jpg Our flat is way too small though... mostly we have panniers, jackets and boots cluttering up the whole house! http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/8227180199/lounge.jpg

She tried a shorter one - the Lady Strada we think. It fit, but she wanted a longer jacket. It was pretty warm out today (23degC according to my dash) and even hotter during our training. When on the move (with the lining out) it's OK, but can get pretty hot if you're in traffic (or doing countless U-turns in a car park!). To be honest it's a great winter jacket, and certainly good for spring/autumn too, but we haven't ridden in any serious heat yet. We're going to France in July, and she thinks it'll be fine, but we expect to be on the autoroutes for a lot of the time. Not much use for you I expect... but we'll let you known in August! How hot do you expect it to be in Canada?

My girlfriend has a Bering Breva Lady jacket and trousers which she loves. The main reason she chose it was because it had the best fit (and isn't pink!) but we have ridden in some fairly bad rain and she's never been wet. She says the thermal lining is really good too. It came with CE approved Knox armour, including back protector. All in all, very happy. You can see some pics on my old thread from when we bought it.

Never ridden either of these, but I have a VFR and its great. If you are off touring the full set of luggage and SatNav which come with the 1250GT are worth a fair bit (Givi luggage, £700 ish and Garmin Zumo, £400 ish).

When I phoned the shop (to complain that they hadn't been delivered - again) I asked how long they would take to fit. The chap reckoned 3-4 hours, which I thought was rather a long time to fit a couple of racks. It wasn't as difficult as he lead me to believe, but when you add in time spent deciphering the instructions and sorting out hundreds of bolts/washers, it did take around 3 hours Anyway, here's a pic I found through Google of the Honda kit, so you can see how the Givi compares http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/Wargibbon/Darth1.jpg?t=1242544474

A few weeks ago you lot helped me choose which VFR to buy. I'm very happy with it, but I was rather shocked at the OEM luggage being nearly £1K. I had my heart set on matching kit, but as they weren't prepared to offer me much of discount if I bought it with the bike I decided to wait and check out what Givi could offer. The full set of Givi kit came in at £680 ish online - about 2/3 the price. I still prefer the look of the Honda stuff, but seriously a thousand quid for 3 plastic boxes! So with out trip to France fast approaching I took the plunge and ordered the Givi kit: V46 topbox and V35 panniers. After being messed about a little by the website, the gear finally arrived this week (too late for our trip cornwall, much to my annoyance) and I've spent the afternoon fitting it today. When I tried to undo one of the bolts on my bike with the allen key in the bike tool kit I realised I needed to make a sharpish trip to halfords for a socket set! http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/8227180199/IMG_2891.JPG You have no idea how much I want a garage... we are thinking of moving in the next year or so and its on the must have list! http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/8227180199/IMG_2898.JPG http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/8227180199/IMG_2899.JPG The silver ER6F is Catherine's new bike - we part ex'd the GS500 for this one I think they look pretty good. All I need now is a SatNav and a tent and we'll be fully ready to tour!

I wouldn't worry - they've got a page encouraging owners clubs to come and stay, so they must be used groups of bikers. Anyway, this is the most inclusive forum I have ever seen, so I'm sure you'll get pretty much every demographic represented! Sounds like a wicked week, I'd love to spend some time riding round Scotland. Can't commit this far in advance though, but ask me again early next year!

I'm just jealous. I would love nothing more than an R6 and time to play in North Wales... Bring on July and my trip to France.

I took my CBT and DAS last summer and was in the same boat, didn't really know anything, had a similar-ish budget and wanted good stuff that I wouldn't need to replace in a year. I went for textiles rather than leather (I intend to get some leathers this year), and they have been fantastic so far - don't really feel like I am wearing waterproofs, but have been out many times in rain over the winter and never been wet at all. I bought decent kit (Dainese, Shoei, Sidi, etc) for me and my girlfriend for £1250, you can see some of it here. It has since expanded to add winter gloves, buffs (brilliant for winter!), kevlar lined armoured jeans, strap-on back protector, chains, disc-locks, tank bag, etc, etc. But you should have no problem getting all you need for under a grand. Other than seriously considering textiles over leather for your first kit, the only real advice I would offer is you must try it on. I originally intended to buy an Arai lid, Daytona boots and Hein Gericke textiles - none of which fitted me at all! Even the first back protector I bought had to go back as it was too uncomfortable (I ended up with a Forcefield one).

Yeah, sorry about that! Great minds...

Well I did it! I bought the black '08 VFR800. I was a little disappointed the shop couldn't do a better deal on the luggage - all they would offer was free fitting. The full set of luggage would have cost £970... I guess I'll be looking on fleabay. Anyway, the bike is great, I love it. Here are a couple of quick snaps... not great, but I've been too busy riding it http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/8227180199/IMG_2719.JPG You've gotta love single-sided swing arms http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/8227180199/IMG_2718.JPG

Slightly off topic, but sort of related. I haven't used ear plugs while on the bike, partly as most of my riding is at less than 30mph through central london. However. I think I should probably get some for longer trips... but... I use an intercom with my pillion/riding partner - would these (or indeed any other ear protectors) still allow me to hear the speakers in my helmet? I have a fairly quiet lid, so normally have no trouble hearing over the wind.

So, I've been for a ride on the '08 bike. What a difference from the 14 year old, two pot, GS500! Today I have learnt two things which are not at all specific to the VFR. First I understand now what people mean when they say 4 cylinders are smoother than 2 - it felt like the bike didn't vibrate at all. Second the GS is far too small for me! Getting back on it to leave the shop, I felt like I had my knees round my ears! Not to mention the generall looseness and sagginess which comes with age. All in all a very positive ride, I like the bike. Dual carrageway riding is a whole new world of comfort compared to a naked bike and boy can it shift. I like the size of the VFR, the Sprint felt too big for me. Also, from what I had read I was expecting a much more noticeable VTEC valve change... I only got it to kick in a couple of times, and all I noticed what an improvement in the sound track I just have to decide whether to buy it or not now... next stop insurance quotes

Glad you like it... got any specific feedback? I guess the things, if any, which you've found not to be ideal are of most use. I've got a test ride booked for Friday. Hope they still have it. I am leaning toward the '08 bike, but I'm seeing the older one tomorrow.

Thought you might be interested in a couple of pics of the blue 2004 bike... it does look in good condition, though I haven't seen it in the flesh yet. http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/1701943252/IMGP0792.JPG http://www.picturebay.net/img/guests/1701943252/IMGP0796.JPG

I am lucky to have the choice (so long as I manage to not get made redundant... note to self, don't spend all day on TMBF!), for me its all about value. I can afford it, but only if its going to be a keeper for a least a few years - I guess that's another argument in favour of the newer option. My original budget last year was £4000 for my first bike, I nearly bought a new ER6-F, but took the sensible option and got a £950 GS500 - glad I did, I dropped it within a couple of weeks and now I can look at getting a better steed.

Thanks for the replies. I am aware many people think the Sprint is a better bike, however I felt more comfortable sitting on the VFR - its smaller. I will try and ride a Sprint too if I can. So no-one thinks I should save £2500 and get the higher mileage bike? That would cover at least the first couple of services on a VFR Might even be able to afford an Autocom and SatNav...

Catherine and I are planning a 2 week summer holiday biking trip to france... and I just don't think the GS500 looks the part! So I am looking for new bike. I love being able to get round London quickly, it cuts my commute in half. I love being able to get away for a weekend too. Commuting and touring being the priorities, I have been looking at VFR800's (as well as Sprint ST, F800ST or even a CBR600F). I have sat on all the above, and prefer the VFR, not taken any for a ride yet, but I'm going out on one in the next week. This is all a round about way to ask, given the choice of two VFR's which would you go for: Guy at work selling an '04 in blue with 35K+ on the clock, apparently good condition for about £3,000... or ... Local dealer has an '08 in black with 2.5K on the clock for £5,500 and willing to do a deal on some accessories I want. Both appear to be decent deals - the newer one is £3,000 of the list price, and seems to be a steal, but the older one is cheaper than similar bikes on Biketrader and I could do a lot with the £2,500 difference. As far as I can tell the only difference between the '04 and '08 models is an improved fuel mapping/VTEC timing (any owner opinions on the improvement or VTEC generally greatly appreciated too) What would you plump for?

I have some Hood jeans. The spaces/velcro for fitting armour is standard, but you have to pay extra for the actual knee/hip pads. They are very well made, but the cut doesn't suit me well (I presume they would fit others better) - the only issue with Hood is that you have to buy them online (cheaper than buying Draggin from a shop though.

Check out my thread on replacing the brake lever on my Suzuki GS 500 E - scroll down for the eventual resolution. I bought a lever from e-bay and it didn't quite fit. It might have been that the lever I broke wasn't standard, but either way double check what you are going to get matches up. p.s. I still have the extra one I bought, so if you think it will fit, we could do a deal...

My GS500 is the same. Mostly I don't bother warming it up much though... once the little b*tch decides to start, I'm off!