It's been a long long long long winter here... Today is April 22nd and the snow still hasn't melted. It snowed about a foot last week but it's now starting to finally warm up. It was 10 degrees today and the roads are fairly dry so I decided to go for a quick spin on the VFR.
Over the winter I made a couple of changes and I was eager to test their effects. My new Helibars would alter the riding position of the bike, and my new Leo Vince slip-on exhaust would alter the sound and maybe increase the power a little bit. (not that the VFR1200 really needs more)
After only a short ride, I'm very pleased with the Helibars. They only move the handlebars 2 inches up and an inch back but the difference for me is very noticeable. I can now ride it sitting fully back in the seat and have my elbows at a comfortable natural bend. I also have less weight on my wrists, and I didn't find my hands getting "tingly" like they used to. I'm very happy with the Helibars. One negative thing I noticed when parking the bike back in the garage was that my knuckes will now touch the mirrors when the bars are turned to full lock. It's a very small price to pay for the improvement in comfort.
I'm also very pleased with the Leo Vince pipe... but the price I paid factors into that pleasure. If I had paid retail price I would probably be a little disappointed. But for 250 bucks, I'm really happy with what I've got. The sound from the Leo isn't much louder than the stock pipe, which is a good thing. It gives the bike a nice snarl, but what it's missing is the deeper rumbling tone that I'd expect with a big V4. The biggest improvement it offers is in the looks department. It really makes the VFR look a lot more aggressive.
I wanted to get a clip of the sound of the bike at wide open throttle from a bystander perspective so I put my camera up on a fencepost and took this little video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=mwJqdwYlt80
Over the winter I made a couple of changes and I was eager to test their effects. My new Helibars would alter the riding position of the bike, and my new Leo Vince slip-on exhaust would alter the sound and maybe increase the power a little bit. (not that the VFR1200 really needs more)
After only a short ride, I'm very pleased with the Helibars. They only move the handlebars 2 inches up and an inch back but the difference for me is very noticeable. I can now ride it sitting fully back in the seat and have my elbows at a comfortable natural bend. I also have less weight on my wrists, and I didn't find my hands getting "tingly" like they used to. I'm very happy with the Helibars. One negative thing I noticed when parking the bike back in the garage was that my knuckes will now touch the mirrors when the bars are turned to full lock. It's a very small price to pay for the improvement in comfort.
I'm also very pleased with the Leo Vince pipe... but the price I paid factors into that pleasure. If I had paid retail price I would probably be a little disappointed. But for 250 bucks, I'm really happy with what I've got. The sound from the Leo isn't much louder than the stock pipe, which is a good thing. It gives the bike a nice snarl, but what it's missing is the deeper rumbling tone that I'd expect with a big V4. The biggest improvement it offers is in the looks department. It really makes the VFR look a lot more aggressive.
I wanted to get a clip of the sound of the bike at wide open throttle from a bystander perspective so I put my camera up on a fencepost and took this little video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=mwJqdwYlt80
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