2010 Vfr 1200...should I Or Shouldn't I?

[Guest Tonardo]

A littile about me: Bought one year old 2004 Road King Custom and put 15,000 miles on it in seven years. The bulk of those miles were in the first four years of ownership. Truth be told I was bored of the tank. Hurricane Sandy wiped out the bike and I did get reimbursed via insurance. The past month has been spent looking at sport tourers of all brands. My search led me to the 2013 FJR 1300 which I was thisclose to buying. That is until the VFR 1200 hit my radar. The last week has been spent researching the DCT and wondering if it is for me and looking for one to test ride. Yesterday a friend happened to mention that someone he knows is selling a 2010 with a manual tranny and 5400 miles. I reached out to the seller and road the bike today. Suffice it to say the performance was awesome and the brakes like nothing I have ever experienced. Here is my question for this group: Will I ever get used to the riding position (stock bars, seat and pegs)? What can I do to get some weight off my wrists? Does the windshield extension I see advertised actually do anything to get the air off my upper body? By the way I am 5'9" and weigh 180 pounds. Any other info would be helpful.

Thank you in advance.

[dalesvfr]

I don't think that with any amount of modifications will a VFR 1200 ever feel as upright as the FJR or Concours (which you didn't mention). I spent a lot of money to make my 2003 VFR more ergonomically 'correct' for me, and I still get back pain if I ride it for any significant length of time. ANYTHING will be more technologically advanced and perform better than a Road King as you've discovered, but comfort is another thing. I'd look to a Concours, as the newer gen of it feels much more upright to me than the VFR 1200, FJR or even an ST1300. If a cruiser is still your bag I might look to a Victory or even the naked Goldwing.

[midlifeVFR]

Take a look at www.cycle-ergo.com. It will show you the riding positions for your height for most bikes. The site lets you customize the bar height to see how it changes your position.

You can improve your comfort by changing the seat, bar height and peg height. A few sit-ups work wonders also.........so I'm told. I've done 800+ miles in a day on my 6th gen

with Heli's and although my ass hurt the rest of my body was fine. If I was going to tour often, I'd consider the Connie, ST or FJR. Since I don't tour at any great length or frequency,

the VFR1200 has always been on my radar.

Good luck and enjoy the hunt...........buy one..........slap it around a little and sell it if it doesn't make you grin everytime you ride. Which bike would you have as your screen saver??

[dalesvfr]

I have to do sit-ups now? Crap.

[crakerjac]

I moved up from an 04 FJR1300 to a 10 vfr1200. The FJR was very comfortable (with helibars and Sargent seat). I rode the bike 600 miles in a day and other than some stiff legs, I wasn't feeling too bad the next day.

I got rid of the FJR for 3 reasons.

1: (the biggest reason) The bike just never had that grin factor. It did what it needed to but just wasn't that exciting. Sure, if you grabbed a lot of throttle the bike would haul... But the exhaust note always made me feel like I was riding in a Jetson's car.

2: No matter what I did with the power windscreen there was always buffeting with my helmet. I also tried another/taller windshield and that didn't help.

3: I got a lot of flack for riding an 'old man's bike'.

I fell in love with the vfr1200 the first time I saw it at a MC show. After riding it I knew I had to have it (also helps that I got a smoking deal on a leftover 2010). I'm still working out the ergos... I have helibars installed and they help. But you just have to be a little conscious of your riding position. Hug the tank with your knees and use your abs (or lack thereof) to hold you up... Especially when breaking. I find this helps with my comfort more than anything else.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

(edit: Why is Tapatalk removing my nextline characters?)

[Dae]

For me I've always felt more comfortable on sports bike than cruisers, so it suits me well, I feel it distributes weight more evenly across my body. If I rode a cruiser with an upright riding position, I probably will have aches in my lower back. If one only rode cruiser style of bikes, look for one that's has similar seating position. Of course there are those out there, who can find any style of bikes comfortable. If you're uncomfortable with the bike (seating position, weight, height, etc.) you'll think twice before riding. VFR1200 suits me well and I have put over 50,000 Miles (84,000 KM) and can ride with little discomfort for 14 straight hours with occasional breaks for fuel.

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick replies. Cycle-ergo.com is very cool. The proof is in the riding and I will be riding an FJR on Tuesday. I know the Concourse 14 gets great reviews but I cannot get past the looks. Anyone have experience with the ST 1300? Looks are boring but I thought I would ask.

[dalesvfr]

I had one for a year and sold it, it was just too heavy for me. Riding wasn't the issue, it was moving around garage, paddling it out of parking spots etc that was a pain for me (it was the ABS, somewhere around 725 lbs with a full tank). That said it was a great machine. Not the most exciting ride in my mind, but quality all the way. And the electric windscreen is killer.

[rickmick]

I'm 61 years old, 76 pounds and I love my VFR1200 DCT. Do 4 times a week gym. It is best to do with the original position of the motorcycle. Mine is with 19000 km. I love it!

[keepergale]

I'm 61 years old, 76 pounds and I love my VFR1200 DCT. Do 4 times a week gym. It is best to do with the original position of the motorcycle. Mine is with 19000 km. I love it!

So you view Danni Pedrosa as a big guy huh.

[Dae]

It's obvious that Rickmick was using kilogram instead of pounds 76 KG = 167 pounds.

[rickmick]

old're even integer. Of course with 176 pounds ... uhh! Dani does not fly a DCT with the weight he has.

[Guest]

^{Finally got to ride the 2013 FJR yesterday. Not the long ride I was looking for but a ride non the less. Don't know what I was expecting but it was not love at first ride. The drive train was smooth and the brakes strong. I was uncomfortabe from minute one as the seat placed pressure on my tail bone and I was leaning more forward than I was comfortable with. Of course the adjustable windshield was a great feature. The salesman recommended a Corbin seat and Heli bars (another $1000). The VFR's performance was much more performance pronounced then the FJR. I think I may just buy the VFR from my friend's friend because it is such a great deal and add the things that will make it into what I want out of a bike. I told the seller I will be investing $1000 on OEM bags and he immediately dropped the price $1000. So I can buy a 2010 with 5400 miles for $5200. It has had the fluids changed, new tires and brakes. It also has an 12 in long scratch along the right fairing that cannot be rubbed out.}

[Volfy]

^{Finally got to ride the 2013 FJR yesterday. Not the long ride I was looking for but a ride non the less. Don't know what I was expecting but it was not love at first ride. The drive train was smooth and the brakes strong. I was uncomfortabe from minute one as the seat placed pressure on my tail bone and I was leaning more forward than I was comfortable with. Of course the adjustable windshield was a great feature. The salesman recommended a Corbin seat and Heli bars (another $1000). The VFR's performance was much more performance pronounced then the FJR. I think I may just buy the VFR from my friend's friend because it is such a great deal and add the things that will make it into what I want out of a bike. I told the seller I will be investing $1000 on OEM bags and he immediately dropped the price $1000. So I can buy a 2010 with 5400 miles for $5200. It has had the fluids changed, new tires and brakes. It also has an 12 in long scratch along the right fairing that cannot be rubbed out.}

That is one heck of a deal. I thought I bought mine at a bargain, but $5200 for a '10 VFR1200 is a steal! The fairings are actually fairly (no pun intended) reasonably priced. The main panel is less than $200. I don't bother with frame sliders on the VFR1200 for this reason.

I would jump on that in a heart beat.

[luvtoleanit]

^{So I can buy a 2010 with 5400 miles for $5200. It has had the fluids changed, new tires and brakes. It also has an 12 in long scratch along the right fairing that cannot be rubbed out.}

Dude buy it. Fix the damage first.

You'll need the following gathering from your posts.

Heli bars

Seat modification, I personally like Sargent

Lowering pegs (they are cheap)

With the savings you can buy an exhaust and whatever else you want. Let me know if you don't buy it I might sell mine and buy it ;)

[Guest]

UPDATE: I called the seller today and told him I wanted to buy the bike. I also asked if the title was without a lien and is it in his name. He said yes and no. he said he was partners with his cousin and it is his cousin's name on the title. Something smelled fishy and I said I would be by this afternoon to buy the bike and see the title before passing money. Shock and Surprise! When I arrived he told me the bike was sold and he was sorry. Moral of the story if it is too good to be true it probably is. Looking at a bike with DCT over the weekend. I already grilled the owner and he is the original owner with bill of sale etc.

[Yokel]

UPDATE: I called the seller today and told him I wanted to buy the bike. I also asked if the title was without a lien and is it in his name. He said yes and no. he said he was partners with his cousin and it is his cousin's name on the title. Something smelled fishy and I said I would be by this afternoon to buy the bike and see the title before passing money. Shock and Surprise! When I arrived he told me the bike was sold and he was sorry. Moral of the story if it is too good to be true it probably is. Looking at a bike with DCT over the weekend. I already grilled the owner and he is the original owner with bill of sale etc.

Ah, that's too bad. Good on you for doing your homework though. Keep us posted. :)

I'd agree with the above about the heli bars etc...

[Volfy]

Sounds like that deal would have been literally... a steal. Oh well, there will be others.

I'm on the fence about helibars. I was this close to ordering the helibars when I had the slipperier-than-snot stock '10 seat. The fact that my butt was sliding around so badly forced me a put a lot more weight on the wrists, especially on decel. This was especially bad in the colder months when I wore textile overpants. Then I got the Honda optional low seat. Even though the covering is similar to the stock seat, the softer foam underneath allow my butt to dig in more and get a much better grab. That took a lot of pressure off my hands and I was mostly comfortable on a 300-mile day ride.

Problem though is that I am still more comfortable on my SV1000S, which even with helibars installed has a more aggressive riding position than the stock VFR1200. At least according to Cycle-ergo.com, that is. So something is still not quite right. I measures the bar height off the ground and the VFR1200 is actually higher than my SV1000S. Doesn't make sense.

For now, I'm holding off on further farkling till I get a better feel of which part of the VFR1200's ergos is still causing issues with me.

[luvtoleanit]

For me it's the foot pegs position. I want them up an inch and back a little. I've learned to relax my legs now on it and I'm no longer cramping up but I still prefer a slightly more sporty position. Stock is fine for slabbing but when you get into aggressive corners it leaves a lot to be desired.

As far as the bars.....the stock bars, while high enough, are rotated in towards the tank too much IMO. What the heli bars do is spread them out more towards the front of the bike. This spreads the weight out to the sides while also giving you more leverage with the wider angle. Racers have been doing this kind of thing for decades. Here is a picture of my R1 after I did the same thing with racing clip ons. More comfortable and more leverage.