RoystonRocket2 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Good Evening All Having had the chance to spend a few hours, 80-odd miles on a 2014 VFR800F in all road conditions I thought I would give a review, but try to be a little more subjective than RoystonRocket 2 whos review I feel missed the point. I happened upon this post and I thought I would add my 2 penneth. Firstly, I have been riding Motorcycles on the road since July 2008, and since then have owned a number of bikes (listed below), and covered approximately 50-60k Miles on motorcycles. I have owned and ridden: 1999 Honda Hornet 600 2009 FZ1 Fazer 2010 Kawasaki ER6-F 2010 GSX-R600 L1 2011 CBR1000RR Fireblade 2010 VFR800 A10 VTEC As you can see this is a good spread, so gives me the opportunity to compare the new VFR to these and give my opinion. My Initial impressions were that it felt smaller and more compact than my current VFR800 VTEC, and the new riding position suited me very nicely. I came to the VTEC VFR from a Fireblade, which I absolutely loved, but needed something slower, as I would have lost my licence on the 'Blade. Therefore the new, more sporty riding position definitely was to my taste. I didn't have any problems with the new 14 VFR around town, it got on with it so well that part of the journey almost paled into insignificance. The fueling was good, it felt light and easy to maneuver. Much easier than the my 2010 VFR. Once I got onto the dual carriageway/freeway again it felt good, pulled very similar to the 2010 VFR, and never left me feeling like it was lacking. Yes its not got the grunt of a Fireblade or a VFR1200, but if you want this kind of grunt your looking at the wrong bike. The whole point of me getting a VFR8 was so that it HAS GOT a little LESS grunt and is SLIGHTLY MORE work to get it to licence loosing/prison speeds. Therefore, RoystonRockets complaint about the power is largely unfounded, and you would of course find this when comparing it to the VFR1200. (I thought a Hayabusa was lacking when I tested it, compared to my Fireblade, which I thought felt much faster). THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS BIKE...FOR ME Once I got off the freeway and into the twisties, this bike came into its own. I LOVED the sound, I thought it handled brilliantly, was fast and fun, and my thoughts were that it felt like a big, comfy sports 600 that you could stay on all day, and carry hard luggage if you so wished. The induction noise is addictive, and I felt I could really thrash the bike (which I like) without always thinking Id be on my way to prison if I got caught. That said, it will tank along at 100+ all day if you so wish. The main point though i suppose is that I never felt that this bike was lacking in any way. I loved the power delivery, loved the smoothness and loved the handling, although the stock tyres are a little scary!! If you compare it to a VFR1200 it probably will feel flat, but when I got on my 2010 VFR800 VTEC for the first time after owning and riding a fireblade for 2.5 years, the VFR8 felt like a moped. I soon got used to it though, and found that I had more confidence and much more enjoyment thrashing a VFR to within an inch of its life than I ever did tickling a 'Blade and looking down thinking 'f*** i'm going to get locked up here'. Conclusion Is the new VFR a bad bike...NO. In my opinion Its an absolutely FANTASTIC bike. It does everything I want a motorcycle to do, and I can go for a proper thrash on the road, and go touring all in relative comfort whilst retaining an intact licence. If anyone has any questions please ask! OK, you feel I missed the point! What point? My test and subsequent review are based purely on my opinion of the bike and my opinion is that the motor in this bike is very disappointing, it's also a little disappointing that it doesn't even get USD forks but hey ho. If you go back and read it properly you'll see I'm not simply comparing it to the 1200 (which wouldn't really be a fair comparison anyway) but actually to the VFR800 Fi1 that I've owned since 2004. There is no 'point' to miss, I know sports tourers well, I know VFRs well I'd be as bold as to claim I know motorcycles quite well and IMHO the Vtec set up is not a fun motor to ride with and that's the whole reason I ride motorcycles....fun. BTW, I never said it is a "bad bike" overall. As you started with a little history of your biking experience to justify your thoughts / comparisons I'll give you a very brief insight into mine, I first rode a motorcycle around about 1981 at the ripe old age of 12 or 13, I've ridden motorcycles on the road since 1984 and over that time period, as you can imagine, have ridden many different types of motorcycles, 2 strokes, 4 strokes, singles, twins, IL4s. V twins, V4s, triples big and small and so on covering sports bikes, ST bikes, off roaders, cruisers, adventure bikes, you get the picture? I've raced at club level here in the UK, done many track days (fast group), taken advanced road training, been off roading many times on both motor crossers and enduro bikes. If you'd like I can add a few photos and maybe some video right here to give you an idea of the kind of experience I have (which includes getting my perfectly good handling ZX9r around some of the UK race tracks in very reasonable lap times, not your comments on the 9r I know) but TBH that would just be photo hoaring for the sake of making a point. So I feel well qualified to offer an opinion on this or any other bike that I've ridden but I fully support your right to disagree with my view because were all different and all like different things. Missed the point? No. Don't like the engine characteristics and happy to share my thoughts? Yes, guilty as charged. On missing points, you seem to confuse my point about grunt (torque and its delivery characteristics) with power. I never said the 2014 800 is not powerful enough, I never said its not fast enough, I said that IMHO it doesn't deliver its power or torque anywhere near as well as the non Vtec 800 Fi (have you ridden one of those?) and as the old 800Fi motor is, again IMHO, an absolute peach of a motorcycle engine with proper low down to top end useable torque that I think Honda have missed a trick and all they've succeeded in doing is make a well balanced, good handling motorcycle very dull by equipping it with a wheezy [feeling] uninspiring engine and that they have the Vtec transition too high up the rev range now that its smoothed out. I then said that anyway, the 1200 with its awesome motor is the bike for me. All simply my opinion, plenty of people like the old and new Vtec but for me they don't deliver, they don't allow me to ride how I want to but the non Vtec VFRs do. Thats the 'point' but its my own 'personal point'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Ashok Posted July 8, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted July 8, 2014 Thanks for the reviews folks. Appreciate the opinion (albeit divided) from VFR owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHvar Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I appreciate the differing opinions from one rider to the next on individual bikes and their characteristics. Sometimes different bikes fit different riders and what they are looking for. I liked the feel and handling of 2 different Yamaha R6 models I rode (another friend had a few, although the riding position was not that comfortable to me), the R1, CBR600s (Ive had 2 different models, F3 and F4), this VFR800, and a few others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyojitsu Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I'm a '99 5th Gen owner (non VTEC) and I just can't get excited about this new bike. It's just not very...well...sexy. It doesn't do it for me. The styling is safe and a bit bland and won't offend anyone - which of course Honda don't want to do. So I find it really hard to justify stumping up 5 times what I paid for my current bike. The thrills per pound (or buck) aren't high enough. My bike is 15 years old, is in great condition, looks great in a late 90s kind of retro way and the engine is a peach - it feels handmade and special compared to some bikes I've owned. I get a thrill every time I start it up. So the new bike needs to do a lot to get my attention - and that I think is the problem. Objectively it's great - it's improved, lighter, slimmer has more tech etc etc but emotionally it's not stirring enough and i suspect a lot of VFR owners may feel the same way. In fact I think I read that Honda see the biggest competition coming from old VFRs! That said, I have been wondering about changing to something different. On a complete whim I visited a Triumph dealer yesterday and got a test ride of a Street Triple R. What a bike! A very naughty bike indeed and sublime to ride - engine is stonking and makes grunt every where, comfy riding position and very light/flickable (it's aroun 60kg lighter than my VFR) I loved it. My only reservation was whether I could live with it all year round... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epyon007 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 ST3R is hands down the best value for the money bike on the market in my mind. My Street Triple is getting totaled out as we speak I loved that bike even though I had the base suspension. I want something different now so I'm looking at a VFR. I had a Daytona before my ST3 fantastic bikes for sure!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budorat Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 What a gorgeous bike! I couldn't help but wonder though, what it might look like with an underbody exhaust and a tail tidy. So I did a little photoshopping on Skids image. With Skid's permission, here it is.... I was about to get waaaaaaaaay to excited till I actually read the text. I am after a tail tidy for my 8th Gen, I searched the forum and found this post and got excited as a puppy with two tails.... till i read that it was a photoshop job :( bloody great work though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 That may be photoshop, but it can probably be done in metal and plastic. I like the exhaust, it shows off the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Ranger77 Posted October 18, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted October 18, 2014 Didn't even know this existed but Honda lost me at "recycled" engine. May be interested if I can swapped a 5th gen engine in or Aprilia's 1000cc V4. Just a little bit more. http://www.apriliausa.com/motorcycles/rsv4-r-aprc-abs.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinigami Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Frankly, if you prefer the Aprilia, you don't "get it" about the Honda. Let's see which bike spends more time in the canyons and which spends more time in the few and far between dealer service bays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Ranger77 Posted October 18, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted October 18, 2014 "I dont get it." Thanks for the chuckle. I never said I prefered aprilia. I just prefer things not being recycled for so many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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