Epiclobotomy Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Hello all, First time VFR owner I bought a 2007 Anniversary edition VFR a few days ago and have been working on getting routine maintence knocked out (Who does not flush their hydraulic systems?) and have been out for a few rides and there is one thing in specific that I have been totally blown away by. How freaking smooth this motor is. I keep joking that it must be about to explode or something, because it is not natural for a motor to run this smooth. 90 mph and I feel like I am on a bike coasting down a freshly paved hill. And that sound.....oh god that sound. I rode an FZ1 before this with a nice exhaust on it that I thought sounded great, but this is not even in the same ballpark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Hi! To answer your question: The prior owner of my bike was religiously opposed to new fluids. He must have been I hear that people seem to rank this motor at the very top of the "smooth" list. This is my first bike so I don't have a wide perspective, I just know that it is in fact awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InterceptorPR Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I don't know what you are comparing it to, but I don't really consider the V4 in our VFR's as particularly smooth. Smoother than the paint mixer in my old GS500 sure, but not as smooth as the 2006 CBR1000RR I had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianF Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Depends on where you're coming from I guess. Hop off a Harley and onto a 6th and it's like a sewing machine. Go from a Gold Wing to a 6th and it's utterly uncivilized. And the 7th is even smoother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer adeyren Posted February 4, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 4, 2016 As much as i love my VFR, have to say my Blackbird is in a different class. Creamy is the word. But, it is too smooth, the VFR makes you feel like its a "real" engine? If you know what i mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epiclobotomy Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 The responses here have been great, I came of an '01 FZ1. When I say smooth it's not really in reference to the acceleration, but more just cruising at speed. 90 mph and if it was not for the tone of the exhaust I would have no idea there was a motor under me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Ultimatevfr Posted February 4, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 4, 2016 Lol, mine rode like an eighties caddy, until I went to Traxxion Dynamics..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted February 5, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 5, 2016 My benchmark for smooth is one that does not leave my hands or feet tingling or numb on an all day ride. Maybe not the smoothest, but the viffer does that very well. As for the sound, the V4 motor is in a class all its own. If you have stock cans, wait 'till you get an aftermarket set - it's incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted February 5, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 5, 2016 I think it's called character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Yes, it is smooth. Maybe not babies bottom smooth, but you probably don't want that anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted February 5, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 5, 2016 Quote Jeremy Burgess "Every engineer I've spoken to about engine design for a motorcycle, and thatmeans Yamaha and Honda, they've all said a 90º V is ideal. ".....when working at Yamaha last year they would like to build a V4engine but there is too much instability in the regulations at themoment and they don't have the man power to develop a newengine" Quote Gi Gi Dall'Igna. "Tried to understand if 90 degrees is best solution and it probably is." Quote Kevin Cameron... In the mid 1970s, Honda awoke from the pleasant dream of its newautomotive success to find its old dominance of the bike market indanger. A fresh engineering focus was needed, not just more UJMs.While engineers sought a new concept that could sustain longdevelopment, the company dazzled the public with glamorous butderivative models like the six-cylinder CBX. The past was no key tothe future. Honda's 1960s GP bikes found power in lots of smallcylinders, turning tremendous revs-but as revs rose, internal frictiontook evermore of the power generated. Much of the loss came fromvibration,leading to parts misalignment. A new engine architecture wasneeded-one naturally braced against vibratory forces.A "freshman class" of young engineers was set to the task ofdeveloping radical ideas. The natural alternative was a V-Four. Narrowand compact, it would also have perfect primary balance, a greatimprovement over the buzzy, second-order vibration of inline Fours. Intesting, the cube-like crankcase of a V-Four was indeed found to beinherently more rigid than the longer, beam-like case of an inlineengine. This translated to reduced friction loss at higher rpm-justwhat the company needed as a basis for a new product line. Quote Bike magazine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Quote Kevin Cameron... This guy is awesome, makes complex things understandable to a non technician / mechanic. Been reading his stuff for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFROZ Posted February 5, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 5, 2016 I have no experience with the 6th gen, but know the 86 VFR750, the 84 VF1000 and the 5th gen intimately. The 750 was fantastic, I owned that the year they came out, and had it before the 1000. It's why I fell in love with Honda V4's. At the time, no one could believe you could use the mirrors at speed, that was because on most other bikes you couldn't. My 5th gen has always had a vibe that starts at 6000. It is very noticeable and it's how I know what revs Im doing. Recently I revisited my technique for doing the starter valves, I was always under the impression that they only affected low revs. It's not like I use cheap gear, or that I don't know what I'm doing. But I started thinking about it and thought I would give it a better go, I just always thought my bike was a bit out of balance. Could easily happen, a Friday afternoon bike, a fall at speed with the back wheel stopping hard, any of these things could introduce a very slight inbalalance that would be enough for the engine to vibrate at over 6000. I used my digital vacuum gage with a built by me vacuum chamber to give the vacuum time to build and stabilise. I then went through the whole process very meticulously again. I was surprised that the valves were so out of whack. Obviously my previous technic was not right, too much fluctuations and thought near enough is good enough. What a difference, the bike is so much smoother, don't get me wrong, 5th gens are supposed to have the starter valves out of sync, 6th gens I believe have all the starter valves the same. If I do that on mine, it Is definitely smoother, but it has no kick of the throttle down low, if I put them out of whack, it is a bit rougher, but it definitely kicks a lot more. Not sure why, but it must have to do with firing timing and fuel feed to each cylinder. Not sure if other people have noticed this, but would be interesting to hear others experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Skids Posted February 5, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 5, 2016 Thanks for scanning that article in BLS - a great read. VFROZ - always balanced my 5th & 6th Gens according to the manual and they're always smoother afterwards. That's 200,000 miles of smoothness...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted February 5, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 5, 2016 Thanks for scanning that article in BLS - a great read. You're welcome... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mikey Posted February 6, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted February 6, 2016 Excellent article, thanks for sharing that BLS. It hit on all the reasons I own one of these, mainly the sound and complexity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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