[erikrichard]

I've owned and ridden many bikes, and still don't really understand what people refer to as "soul." Recently I had chances to ride a Ninja 1000 and an F800ST. When I got on the throttles of both I had visions of operating my cordless drill. When I get on my ST2 Steve McQueen's Mustang from Bullet comes to mind, and when I got on my VFR800 absolutely nothing came to mind. Does this have anything to do with "soul"?
The lack of power under 6k rpm is the problem with the VFRs, Honda should have come out with an affordable 1kcc VFR wo/vtec, instead Honda stupidity continues.

 

[erikrichard]

I know you don't want to hear this, but consider swallowing your pride and paying an experienced shop to do it. Not only will there be a better chance of success, you will get a guarantee with the work.
There are very few instances I would suggest paying a shop, this is one of them.

 

[erikrichard]

Personally, I wouldn't touch a vtec VFR. Possibly one of the stupidest ideas Honda ever had. 2 valves/cylinder operates until the other two kick in at around 6k rpm. This is supposed to give better low end power, which it doesn't - unlike the ST2's large valves, they are little bitty valves. Not only did it have no advantage to the previous cam-driven engine, it got worse mileage - it also made valve adjustments a nightmare comparatively. Epic fail all around, imo.
Why not look for a later model ST4s or ST3? or another ST2?

 

[erikrichard]

I owned 2000 VFR for a couple years, which is pretty much the same in power minus the vtec. At anything under 6k rpm the bike has very little thrust, kind of like a 600 sportbike. That's why I ended up selling it, while the ST2 is 20 peak hp less I consider it's 944 engine much stronger overall. I'd look at a Sprint as an alternative.