my new Vara the story so far

[Davech42]

Hi All
It Ended up i had to have my new toy delivered due to the kak weather. She arrived on a grey Saturday morning. My greatest treasure and i took her out for her first run, a grand total of 50 miles. Kids came home from school and introductions were made Put the bike into the garage till later then as i put her on the mainstand my foot slipped off. The bike began to fall away from me and despite my best efforts to hold her she toppled serenely to the floor. I called my wife in a panic and between us we got the bike upright phew no damage to the fairing then OH MY GOD a great chunk of paint missing from the right hand side panel. As she had toppled the pannel had dropped onto the corner of my open toolbox it had cracked the panel low down and taken a great chunk of paint out, and worse there was another chunk hanging on for grim death, I was gutted -mortified less than 4 hrs old and my first ever new bike was already wounded. after several stiff drinks i priced a new panel £275 thank you very much. well that wasnt going to happen so in a fit of logic i sealed the loose bubble with clear nail varnish before putting another 100 miles on her that night. for the next three weeks we started getting to know each other and the bonding is going great. We named her Valerie and waited for the first service.
The dealer suggested using a bit of carbon print sticky stuff to cover the big paint hole in the panel. My wife went one better and suggested a sign specialist. so last saturday off we went and he said no problem pop her back on monday and ill have it done in a jiffy. went back on monday the guy dropped me off at the local cafe 2hrs later he picked me up and there she was arse end covered with a shiny sticker set and me chuffed to bits best 20quid ive ever spent and now i have an exclusive varadero like no other. fitted engine guards yesterday hugger and fender extender on order things just keep getting better

[Lord Vader]

[StumpyFingers]

Well said pete.

[Davech42]

put one in the first you can see where the paint came away on the first image but hey thats probably only the first of many scars

[nelly]

hi Davech42,
sorry to hear about your mis-hap with your bike i think i would have cried, i know how i felt when i got a little chip on my front fairing, i went to my local honda dealer and got a couple of PGM-FI stickers and they dont look out of place any way your bike look great with the engine bars, what make are they and were they dealer fitted as i think they are torque tightened , nelly

[Davech42]

Hi Nelly
The Engine bars are Givi and yes the finish is as naff as people say but i think they are the best looking and (if i am not mistaken) the cheapest (probably the finish) when i can afford it i will whip them off and have them powder coated. as for fitting them i did the job myself. I would have done the dealer thing but even for them to look at something costs £50 these days so i did it myself and just really gave them bolts a good heave ho i reckon they are in there nice and solid