Bought this in July 2017 following selling my 1993 VT600c chop (First Bike)
I wanted to jump up a powerband a bit, but avoiding sports bikes and anything huge and heavy. As much as I'd love a sports bike, a combination of other drivers being half asleep at times and the temptation to go a bit nuts leads me to keep to something a bit more sensible. This lead me in to looking into the Muscle-Bike and Power-Cruiser categories, along side the Yamaha V-Max, Yamaha XJR1300, Kawasaki ZRX1200 etc. In the end I started looking into the Honda Magna. Good all-rounder.
Initially I found a nice example in black with 8,000 miles for sale in Newton Abbot south of Exeter. I booked a flight, flew in to Exeter and made my way down to see the bike. Unfortunately on getting there, the bike was a bit scabbier than described, the clocks were not original, the mileage could not be verified and it overheated and spat all it's coolant out on a test ride. I had to buy a 2l bottle of water and even stop to refill it to get back. 4 liters of water in a few miles! Unfortunately I could not make my ferry back given I did not buy the bike, and there were no more flights that day.
I got the bus back to Exeter, found a hotel that had 2 rooms left, booked in, proceeded to my room, found the window open and a Pidgeon in the room ****ting on the bed, and proceeded to go back to reception and swapped to the other room. Had a decent stay despite this and a nice walk around Exeter, after buying a change of clothes I did not expect to need. I then went back on to gumtree to contact a guy I had spoken to back in NI who had a VN900, so I arranged to be there to view it the next day. The next morning I flew back and once I landed I let the guy know, who then told me he took a deposit on it the night before, yet didn't let me know. I wouldn't have rushed home if I'd knew this. So back on to eBay, found another Magna which other than being covered in flames looked pretty clean, with around 28k miles from memory.
Contacted the seller, made a deal and went from Belfast City Airport to the docks to get onto the overnight Stena Line to Liverpool, then on to a train to Wigan. This time the bike was as described and I was even offered a cup of tea and everything before I left with it. Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the Magna, this is a Gen 3 VF750c, manufactured 1994-2004. They're equipped with a slightly detuned V-Four 748cc engine from the Honda VFR, mainly due to under-jetting and a slightly lesser compression ration (10.8 vs 11)
Since owning this, I have removed the OEM baffles, installed a K&N filter, and re-jetted with appropriate jets to match the improved airflow. This also gets rid of the flat spot/slight hesitation half-way through the rev range. They're notoriously under jetted from new to meet USA emissions standards (This is a US import) and similar bikes with these changes generally make around 90-95hp. Still a little under a VFR, but a noticeable difference to factory performance.
I wouldn't personally have painted this with the flames, but the paint is too good to justify repainting, and it gets away with it. Hopefully.
I wanted to jump up a powerband a bit, but avoiding sports bikes and anything huge and heavy. As much as I'd love a sports bike, a combination of other drivers being half asleep at times and the temptation to go a bit nuts leads me to keep to something a bit more sensible. This lead me in to looking into the Muscle-Bike and Power-Cruiser categories, along side the Yamaha V-Max, Yamaha XJR1300, Kawasaki ZRX1200 etc. In the end I started looking into the Honda Magna. Good all-rounder.
Initially I found a nice example in black with 8,000 miles for sale in Newton Abbot south of Exeter. I booked a flight, flew in to Exeter and made my way down to see the bike. Unfortunately on getting there, the bike was a bit scabbier than described, the clocks were not original, the mileage could not be verified and it overheated and spat all it's coolant out on a test ride. I had to buy a 2l bottle of water and even stop to refill it to get back. 4 liters of water in a few miles! Unfortunately I could not make my ferry back given I did not buy the bike, and there were no more flights that day.
I got the bus back to Exeter, found a hotel that had 2 rooms left, booked in, proceeded to my room, found the window open and a Pidgeon in the room ****ting on the bed, and proceeded to go back to reception and swapped to the other room. Had a decent stay despite this and a nice walk around Exeter, after buying a change of clothes I did not expect to need. I then went back on to gumtree to contact a guy I had spoken to back in NI who had a VN900, so I arranged to be there to view it the next day. The next morning I flew back and once I landed I let the guy know, who then told me he took a deposit on it the night before, yet didn't let me know. I wouldn't have rushed home if I'd knew this. So back on to eBay, found another Magna which other than being covered in flames looked pretty clean, with around 28k miles from memory.
Contacted the seller, made a deal and went from Belfast City Airport to the docks to get onto the overnight Stena Line to Liverpool, then on to a train to Wigan. This time the bike was as described and I was even offered a cup of tea and everything before I left with it. Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the Magna, this is a Gen 3 VF750c, manufactured 1994-2004. They're equipped with a slightly detuned V-Four 748cc engine from the Honda VFR, mainly due to under-jetting and a slightly lesser compression ration (10.8 vs 11)
Since owning this, I have removed the OEM baffles, installed a K&N filter, and re-jetted with appropriate jets to match the improved airflow. This also gets rid of the flat spot/slight hesitation half-way through the rev range. They're notoriously under jetted from new to meet USA emissions standards (This is a US import) and similar bikes with these changes generally make around 90-95hp. Still a little under a VFR, but a noticeable difference to factory performance.
I wouldn't personally have painted this with the flames, but the paint is too good to justify repainting, and it gets away with it. Hopefully.
, silver 