ZenMoto

I'm on my phone, so short answers, but look here for my "One year review" of the 1200. I have the Bazzaz stuff and love it, but I rarely use the quick shift and have yet to trigger the traction control, so if I were paying for them, I'd skip those two and just do the Z-bomb and Z-Fi (their version of the power commander. IMHO I think the Z-Fi is better than a power commander. I have the hard bags, so my exhaust options were limited, but I went with Akropovic as they have a low mount option as well as the high mount that is so popular. ...with the removable baffle out, it sounds fantastic. I may be wrong, but I believe it is the only aftermarket that keeps the servo flap in the exhaust, I actually prefer the slightly better torque vs the slight top end gain you get by removing it. Once you fix the 1st / 2nd thing and mapping, the bike is pretty fantastic. ...or if you're big, like me, expect to replace the shock and have the forks tuned to make it really great!

Nice bike, congrats on the replacement!  ...I really like the look of the seat.  I wonder if the deeper welting is to prevent the bubbling of the vinyl that my 2010 is already exhibiting.

I've noticed that my left bag will allow water in, at least it did when sitting on the side stand, parked in the rain. If you are traveling in the rain, you may want to pack your gear in a waterproof bag. I've only had leakage in the left bag though, never in the top box or right bag, which makes me think it is an issue with water draining in when left on the side stand!

Agreed.  ...and certainly, if you're looking to wring her out, you will have to shift, that's going to happen on anything short of a farm tractor (Harley).  My point was, for in-town riding, and even for most twisty roads, you aren't going to be doing a hell of a lot of shifting with this kind of power and torque; the engine characteristics may be similar (when overlaid) but the delivery is worlds apart.  

 

...like a previous poster said, "the benefit of displacement".  

 

Anyhow, I stand by my statement, beyond the 1st $ 2nd gear neutering (which is easily fixed) there's nothing surprising about the VFR's performance, and certainly nothing about it that I, personally, regret.

 

If someone had set unrealistic expectations about what a heavy, yet superbly balanced sport-touring bike, would be capable of, it's kinda' on them.

 

And as I mentioned, the OP is a big guy who likes to drag knee a LOT, and he is comparing it directly to a GSXR750.  This bike is simply not the right one for him, and I can see where that is disappointing; you would expect a big bike like the VFR1200, to accommodate a big guy better than it does.  But for my frame (6', 225#) it's perfect!  :)

Power to weight that may be true, the heavier VFR has an additional 43 (ish) hp at the rear wheel, but it has more than twice the amount of torque;  I doubt torque to weight ratio between them is even close.  ...so you really shouldn't have to row the gears as often as an R6.  

Torque/weight ratio or engine displacement are not that important to how often you have to shift. It's mainly the engine characteristics. See, with an engine designed for cruising with the peak torque at low rpm it doesn't matter that much in what gear you are, because when you shift down the torque goes down, so whatever you do you won't get decent acceleration.
But our engine is a somewhat sporty one. I overlayed the acceleration charts of the VFR and the CBR 600 RR, based on torque/weight and gear ratio, and while it's always higher for the VFR mainly due to shorter gear ranges, it's not that high to maintain 2nd gear, especially with the 1st&2nd gear restrictions in place, and most important it shows a very similar characteristic to the sports bike - low low rpm torque, high high rpm torque.

That was one of the reasons for me to buy the VFR, it has the punch where it's needed, as a (comfortable but) sporty bike should - but you have to shift to use that punch, as it is with every sporty bike no matter of engine displacement. It's a common mistake to think large displacement bikes should have high torque in the low rpm range but it's really a matter of characteristics, not size. That often leads to confusion and sometimes to regrets because one didn't get what he wrongly expected.

 

Hmm, maybe we looked at different VFRs then.  lol  No, I thought you were perhaps crazy, so I dug up some dynos, though I can't find a dyno for a 2012 R6, but here's one for a '10, and I'm guessing they aren't dramatically different:

 

And here's the dyno from my bike on the Bazzaz dyno:

 

 

 

Pretty linear torque buildup, and lacking the hump and falloff of the R6.  ...I admit I forget, because I have the Z-Bomb, just how neutered the bike was from the factory.  ...still, by 4000 rpm, my bike is making 10 lb.ft. of torque more the R6 does at peak.  55 lb.ft. of torque may not be a ton, but it's plenty to hustle you around town without having to row the shifter.  ...that said, I generally "cruise" around 5k rpm (about 65 lb.ft.) and rarely have to shift in either direction to get up and out of the way; a vastly different experience from a smaller inline 4 like the R6.

 

If you are out playing, and hover up in the real powerband, say around 7000 rpm, you really don't need to shift very often.  On the tight twisty roads around here I can generally run the entire mountain in 2nd and 3rd gears (maybe dipping up into 4th for some of the straighter sections).

I agree, expectations can ruin an experience, but the VFR isn't exactly a newbie bike, and I would think most VFR buyers would have (should have) realistic expectations of what they're getting into.

 

...but Honda *did* neuter this bike from the factory; I did have buyers remorse before I un-screwed it with the Bazzaz gear.  The good news, is that it's an easy fix.

 

Just my $.02