Member Contributer Texfoto Posted September 17, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted September 17, 2014 I'm a 5th gen owner. While my bike was getting it's MOT (inspection) I test drove a nice black one today. I would say the following: - The engine definitely has an odd sound. Down low it sounds like a tractor or old VW bug. VTEC sounds like the 6th gen VTEC at higher revs. Overall though it is a quiet [...] My test ride had the Akro exhaust on but I could hear it doing very tiny backfires while reving the engine at a standstill. Probably needs an map adjustment or something. It sounds as if the Akropovic doesn't sound a whole lot different than the stock pipe. As the bike breaks in it begins to sound less like a tractor and more like a bike but it still has some odd notes to it. Tiny backfires while revving? Sure that's not something resonating? Weird... As Shinigami stated, the baffle was probably in. Good to know it will sound less like a tractor after breaking it in but this one already had 4000 miles on it so I wonder. It was definitely backfiring. Rev it and it would backfire a few times. Not huge ones, just small ones that you could hear at a standstill. I tried to rev it up while riding and engine breaking but I never heard it there. It's definitely fixable. I forgot to mention the dash looks great but there is a little issue with glare as it is not protected from the sun or overcast at all. Not sure what the riders in sunny climates will experience with the dash. If one thinks the Akra sounds like the stock can, try it without the baffle. Your point of view will quickly be adjusted. It very well may have had the baffle in....in fact, I'm sure it did because I could not hear it while on the bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfh Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Nice segue. ;-) The leaf peepers can be a pain in the tush actually. I may have to take an impromptu ride to Binghamton NY this weekend for a funeral. I was thinking about the Catskills ride that's being organized but my work schedule is awful and has me working 12-hour overnight shifts starting Sundays at the stroke of midnight. In fact I narrowly escaped having to work 530a-430p on Wednesday then come back for 12a-8a immediately after, then doing a 3a-11a the following Sunday. In need to get a Powerlet installed for my electric clothing ASAP. What on earth do you do for a crust?!!! In my little corner of the world it would be illegal for an employer to schedule that way AND illegal for you to turn up & do them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfh Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 It was definitely backfiring. Rev it and it would backfire a few times. Not huge ones, just small ones that you could hear at a standstill. I tried to rev it up while riding and engine breaking but I never heard it there. It's definitely fixable. Whats to fix? Revving an engine unloaded is a pointless, if occasionally fun, activity. Give it a blip on the throttle with the engine unloaded & it will spool up fast'n'rich. Chop the throttle, fuel injection cuts off on engine decel, fresh air enters exhaust/cat & unburnt fuel pops off on warm cat. Best fix? Don't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rectaltronics Posted September 18, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 18, 2014 Good to know it will sound less like a tractor after breaking it in but this one already had 4000 miles on it so I wonder. [...] I forgot to mention the dash looks great but there is a little issue with glare as it is not protected from the sun or overcast at all. Not sure what the riders in sunny climates will experience with the dash. 1100 miles + and mine still reminds me of a Jetsons car. I said it was "less" like a tractor, etc. Never said it was 100%!!! in my experience the brighter the sun, the more contrasty and readable the cluster becomes. I haven't experienced glare yet and I've ridden through a number of perfectly sunny as well as lightly overcast days. Apparently YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rectaltronics Posted September 18, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 18, 2014 What on earth do you do for a crust?!!! In my little corner of the world it would be illegal for an employer to schedule that way AND illegal for you to turn up & do them. "There's no business like show business.." I'm a broadcast TV studio engineer. I work for a daytime ABC show most days and some weekends and/or evenings I work in the studios that produce the network news programming out of NYC. The latter is a 24x7 hot studio floor and staffed 24x7. I've worked the IT side of TV for three decades so being "on" all the time is not new to me. Interesting to see how folks in different lands see life differently though. The good news is that it's union work so for OT and crazy hours I get time and a half, night differentials, meal compensation, short turnaround bonuses, extra compensation for short notice changes, etc. versus traditional IT work here where you get paid the same regardless of the torture you endure. Oh, and in traditional IT you owned the problem until it was solved. The daytime show is like that for me but for network news, I can hand stuff off to the next shift and walk out with a clear head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DriverDave Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Good to know it will sound less like a tractor after breaking it in but this one already had 4000 miles on it so I wonder. [...] I forgot to mention the dash looks great but there is a little issue with glare as it is not protected from the sun or overcast at all. Not sure what the riders in sunny climates will experience with the dash. 1100 miles + and mine still reminds me of a Jetsons car. I said it was "less" like a tractor, etc. Never said it was 100%!!! in my experience the brighter the sun, the more contrasty and readable the cluster becomes. I haven't experienced glare yet and I've ridden through a number of perfectly sunny as well as lightly overcast days. Apparently YMMV. I've experienced several occaisions riding in late morning with the sun behind me where it reflects perfectly off the cluster and into my face. I have to move my head around to get it to shade the part of the cluster where the sun is reflecting, if I want to actually see it. It's certainly not a "deal breaker", but it is a bit annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinigami Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Yes this is certainly an issue, there are times and sun directions where it is really quite a problem. Edited to add- this is really more of a serious problem than I thought, especially when riding with the sun over your shoulder above 50 degrees. As I was making my way back from a fantastic 300 mile run through some of the twistiest roads in the state today, and then a long stretch of northbound highway, only to find myself twisting my upper body to get clear of the blinding glare, it occurred to me an easy fix would be for Honda to have provided a horizontally oriented concave faceplate- like many other bikes and cars have on the instruments. The convex cover plate acts like a wide-angle reflector. Honestly, it's a borderline safety issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 nearfreezings comment ' re the 8th gen still being snatchy at low speed is spot on. A pain. Remarkable that it has not been sorted (I have just taken delivery of one an am really surprised at how snatchy it is; unfortunately did not notice the problem on the demonstrator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rectaltronics Posted October 22, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted October 22, 2014 Well this was quick, wasn't it... So... remember how much I detest the reflectors on the panniers? Looks like I'll get my wish. I got car-door'd last night going cross-town by a passenger getting out of a taxicab. I thought I swung wide enough to clear the door but, those damn wide bags, apparently not quite wide enough. Left case ripped off and went flying, I went down lightly on the right and the right case got scraped up from the pavement. The woman was forthcoming about the fact that she didn't look and didn't wait for the cab to pull over. We gave up on waiting for the NYPD to show up, I ordered a new set of cases on my phone, showed her the amount and she wrote me a check on the spot. I should have new cases in a few days, no reflectors. Oh, and no boot marks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rectaltronics Posted October 28, 2014 Author Member Contributer Share Posted October 28, 2014 Moar pics! I've added lots of pics. Will be adding more. Stay tuned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Hi Brad, sorry to hear about the dooring but sounds like it worked out as well as it could have. Great review. This VFR is interesting me a lot more than any others have since 1998... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy99 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 Thanks for sharing your experience - from a prospective buyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Grum Posted March 25, 2017 Member Contributer Share Posted March 25, 2017 Honda's "wave" ignition key feels more substantial and offers a slight improvement in security. It lacks any kind of chip transponder arrangement to lock out the engine management computer. So the American model has the wave key and what looks like the transponder aerial/antenna loop at the ignition switch, but doesn't have the Honda HISS (Honda Ignition Security System)? Thats strange! Great review though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rectaltronics Posted March 25, 2017 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 25, 2017 9 hours ago, Grum said: Honda's "wave" ignition key feels more substantial and offers a slight improvement in security. It lacks any kind of chip transponder arrangement to lock out the engine management computer. So the American model has the wave key and what looks like the transponder aerial/antenna loop at the ignition switch, but doesn't have the Honda HISS (Honda Ignition Security System)? Thats strange! Great review though. That's more or less correct. I don't recall seeing anything looking like an antenna near the ignition on my bike. In the grand scheme of things I don't know how much of a difference it makes. They chip keys are orders of magnitude more expensive to copy, the transponder systems can be a total PITA (count the stories from BMW owners about being unable to start their own friggin' bikes), and at least around here most of the thieves just pick the bike up and drag it into a van. By the time they realize your pride 'n joy has some fancy-pants ignition lockout, it's already gone. Maybe they'll drop it someplace but more likely they'll just decide to part it out. Or they'll find some buddy with the right computer hardware to reprogram the engine management system. For what it's worth a lot of folks claim that alarms don't help and that people ignore them. I call shenanigans. I watched first hand as my alarm scared off a van full of monkeys looking to haul my 4th gen away. Maybe that doesn't work all the time but once was enough for me. The other angle is to get a tracker so you can find the bike after it's been jacked. I don't see the lack of HISS as a huge failure. Oh, and thanks! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucaBrasi Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 On 9/13/2014 at 1:27 PM, Rectaltronics said: Review of Honda's 8th Gen (2014) VFR-800 from the point of view of someone who has owned and ridden '96/'97 VFRs just about since they came out. http://bytebrothers.org/vfr800.htm I don't have any pictures up yet but the text is pretty much all of what it will be. Commentary welcome. Enjoy! PS: Does anyone know if Honda has finally gone to MOSFET R/R units in the new VFR? Just wanted to say - of all the write-ups I read prior to buying my VFR (pretty much anything available on the net) yours was by far the best. Great detail, enjoyable reading, and lots of good information from real world use. Honestly, very much appreciated, and very well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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