fuelex Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Hi all Well, yesterday I picked up my new VFR800F. It's black and standard except for the bar risers and I'll be fitting a Givi rack, fender extender, shock tube and neoprene tube over the preload adjuster and Telferiser GPS mount over the next few days before heading off for a short tour of the English Peak District next weekend. I thought it might be useful to compare the VFR to the other bikes I tried before buying and to my CB1000R which I traded in. I've had the CB1000R for four years from new and it's been a great bike for fun blatting and lightweight touring across the UK and Europe, but I've recently started riding an 80 mile round-trip commute a couple of times a week and the CB is very cold as the temperatures start to drop, so I needed something a bit more sensible but still fun. I first tried the Ducati Multistrada as there are two dealers within easy reach of me and it looked like the ideal tool on paper. I hate heavy bikes and the Multi is a decent weight for an adventure-style bike and it clearly has more than enough power. My CB has short gearing, which overcomes its relative lack of torque such that overtaking is always a fifth or sixth gear twist of the wrist. The Ducati's additional power and torque made it even easier to zip past cars on busy A-roads, which is what bikes are all about. The handling was impressive but the long-travel forks meant that I felt very remote from the front end, which I don't like. The brakes are phenomenal. I was almost sold until I took it onto a motorway. I'm 6' 2" tall and the buffeting from the screen in whichever position I put it in was physically painful. I'd have been deafened and battered riding the bike for any distance at motorway speeds. Next I tried the VFR as my CB was in for a service. Wow, you can tell that Honda have honed this bike over decades. Everything feels honed. The gear change is a delight, the engine has the character of a V-twin but with the smoothness and rev-happy nature of a four only without the tingling vibes. The test bike was fitted with an Akrapovic end can and the quick shifter. The Akra sounded great and the quick shifter worked perfectly. The heated grips were a delight and the dash looked fantastic. When I parked up at a café, people came over and asked about the bike as it looked a million dollars. The bike handled really well on A-roads but lacked the flick-flack ease of the CB on twisty B-roads where its extra weight became pretty obvious. What put me off was the riding position and the lack of torque. What I didn't realise at the time was that the seat was in the lower position and the bike didn't benefit from bar risers. Someone of my height has their legs scrunched in the lower seat position and the reach to the bars was all wrong. The lack of overtaking power or general pick up was frustrating for someone used to being able to accelerate hard from 50mph in sixth. On the VFR I had to keep the revs above 8000rpm to make decent progress, which meant using a lot more gears and even when revving hard, there was no real kick. So, I put the VFR to the back of my mind, but every now and then an image of the beautiful finish, the honed feel and that amazing V4 noise would pop back into my mind... Nevertheless, I decided I needed to try the BMW R1200RS, which was garnering plaudits in all of the motorcycle press, so I popped into our local BMW garage, who were as organised and helpful as BMW's reputation suggests. I jumped on the R1200RS expecting great things with all those gadgets on board. What a disappointment. As soon as I pulled out of the dealers, the bike felt heavy and glutinous. The Akrapovic exhaust only magnified the boring drone of the boxer engine and I couldn't find a throttle map that worked for me. Dynamic was jerky, road was too soft and rain was pointless. In Dynamic mode, the suspension was very smooth but controlled making the other modes superfluous. The up-and-down quickshifter wasn't as smooth as the one on the VFR, but still worked well most of the time and the gearbox and clutch were superb - this latest generation of watercooled boxer doesn't have the clunky gear change of old. Performance was stonking, at least as fast as my CB thanks to the prodigious torque from the 1200 boxer and the brakes were equally impressive. The shaft drive was all but unnoticeable but I found there was little connection between throttle and rear wheel - something both the CB and VFR excel at and something I enjoy. But, it remained a heavy, glutinous pig of a bike to get round corners, partly because of the odd riding position which placed me a long way back and, combined with the high bars, meant I couldn't get over the front end which made the bike understeer. Things were made worse by the shape of the seat on which I slid back every time I accelerated, such that I was trying to haul myself forwards in preparation for the next bend - not pleasant and I assume something to do with the length of the boxer engine and shaft drive gubbins. So, I read some more about the VFR, found out about the bar risers and seat height adjustment and decided to go for it. I'm glad to report that the riding position with the seat in the higher position and bar risers installed is spot on and I'm looking forward to putting many miles on the bike. The lack of performance is going to be a continual frustration, but I'll never tire of that V4 sound, even if it's a bit muffled with the standard end can. I can see something like a Scorpion replacing it later in the year to save some weight and let me hear that V4 wail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted September 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 2, 2015 Welcome aboard!!! Need a picture of the bike of course! (and the CB1000R for good measure!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer windyrun Posted September 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 2, 2015 Thank you for the excellent right-up. Definitely enjoyed reading it and it was at least as good and informative as any I've read from journalists; maybe a new side career option? You should consider it--you tube you know. Anyway, hope you enjoy the bike and its v4 growl! The best sound there is in a bike :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BCmcrider Posted September 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 2, 2015 Welcome and I agree with windy about the informative write-up. That's exactly what needs to be in bike reviews to give a feel for the real world experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridered Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Did you test ride the VFR1200? A bit heavy next to the 800, but has the power and brakes. I have the same sentiments about the BMW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuelex Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 Thanks for the welcomes and kind comments all. Ridered, no I discounted the 1200 due to its weight and because it won't fit in my shed! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted September 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 2, 2015 Welcome fuelex, new guy buys the beers. Nice write-up too. The VFR is never going to come even close to the performance you were used to on the 1000, but I think you'll get used to it. It's a predictably neutral bike to ride round the twisties and I've seen many a VFR surprise pocket-rocket riders on the back roads. And the beauty is, the VFR will do everything pretty well. I've taken my 6th Gen to Italy twice and it was superb, so I'm sure you will enjoy going further afield on her. Nice part of the country; used to come down that way a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinjah Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Agree with the others, great writeup with detail that makes me feel I was having the experience myself. And like ridered, I too was disappointed in the BMW R1200RS and posted my impressions here. I ride my 6th gen ('02) daily about 70 miles to work and back, and while it's great on many fronts I'm hoping the FI is smoothed out after 12 years. It's my biggest niggle with the '02 and probably exasperated by the Staintunes. My guess is I can smooth things out with a PC but just aching for something new after a decade of my 6th gen! p.s. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeolo48 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Enjoy the new bike I was in the Peak District myself last weekend. V4 noise lovely bouncing off them drystone walls Had a blade before But every stop someone seems to want to ask about the vfr The repsol was hardly noticed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogman Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Wow that is a lovely 'blade, I bet you miss the big rush from that, they are an awesome bike. I had a 2011 CBR1000RR in the HRC colours with Yoshi RS3 and PC5 before I sold it and bought my gen 8 VFR My main reason for selling it was that we are so heavily policed here and targeted for speeding that it was impossible to use the bike at anything approaching its potenial. I thought I would sell it before I was either dead or in Jail This version of the VFR doesn't handle too bad at all, but I would love to have the fireblades front forks and rear shock on it. You may have noticed the front brakes are the same. This is my 5th VFR, they are a great bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted September 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 3, 2015 I ride my 6th gen ('02) daily about 70 miles to work and back, and while it's great on many fronts I'm hoping the FI is smoothed out after 12 years. It's my biggest niggle with the '02 and probably exasperated by the Staintunes. My guess is I can smooth things out with a PC but just aching for something new after a decade of my 6th gen! There are alternatives cheaper than a PC that can reduce the poor fuelling; O2 eliminators, snorkel removal, PAIR valve block-off, flapper valve mod, ensuring SVs are regularly balanced - simple & cheap. Apols if you've already tried these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmessy800 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Enjoy the new bike I was in the Peak District myself last weekend. V4 noise lovely bouncing off them drystone walls Had a blade before But every stop someone seems to want to ask about the vfr The repsol was hardly noticed Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk hi i have a red vfr800f in red to. and find the same as you every one comes and talks askes about the bike. i have added a scottoiler to mine as well as givi top rack and v47nn box. i have also got race pack on mine to. but welcome im new here to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VifferRiderUK Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Nice write-up fuelex. Really glad you mentioned the issues with the Multistrada. I'm the same height as you and was slowly being drawn to one, but the vague front end and wind buffeting would be deal breaker.... oh and the cost of course! Enjoy yr Viffer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 12, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2015 Welcome . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duccmann Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Welcome and pictures are a must, plus haven't seen one in black...enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted September 12, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2015 VFRs are so beautiful, they deserve close inspection... Scroll down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuelex Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 I'm not sure why everyone wants another picture of a VFR - Honda makes them all the same, right? But I bow to pressure. Here's my bike parked next to my mate's classic GSXR1100 on our tour of the Peak District this weekend. We were lucky with the weather whilst up there, much less so on the way home! The OEM front tyre did very well in torrential rain on the way home but slid twice on tight, dry hairpins and neither my mate or I could see anything on the offending corners that might have caused the issue, so I can only put it down to the tyre. The rear tyre scrabbles rather than smearing when you give it some throttle out of corners too, so I'll be pleased when the original tyres have had their lot! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericbthomas22 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Looks like all you need now is a taller wind screen. . Good, I hope you will have a good long trip! ! Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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