bob38

Thank you, it looks like it’s a good idea then 😀

I have found one of the iconic bikes, low mileage (20,000), good condition with upgraded brakes. I want to use it to commute year round - this may be sacreligeous but if I ‘m buying something I like it to be good to ride. I have had more recent 800 vtec and 1200 VFRs and they are excellent at everything, the latter of course high and heavy- I m attracted to this first model as the specs indicate it is both lighter and more powerful than later models - is this true in fact? Also the 750 has the gear driven cams which would be a first for me. I am not practical so won’t be working on it myself so will use a local old school bike shop (he has some 70’s and 80’s Honda s and British bikes in his showroom seemingly not for sale). Is there any reason why you think this is a bad choice?

I m very close to buying an ‘86 with very low miles. I want it as an everyday rider - tyres? Are there specialists for these tyres- i dont fancy winter riding on 10+ year tyres🫣

You have my sympathy too. I had my Fireblade SP stolen from outside work, one of my colleagues was on their phone but didn’t intervene or raise the alarm ! The insurance company needs the two keys from you to prove there wasn’t one left in ignition- I was insured with MCE, they were very good and fair. I am no longer with MCE because their recovery company fried the electrics on the Fireblade’s replacement and lied about what they had done. Both incidents on CCTV, EEC GDPR rules mean that CCTV footage could not be released to me to help with either problem. I hope your claim is settled quickly and in full. I now carry an Abus u lock with me, the steering locks can be broken by a well placed kick to the handlebar. Honda’s HISS can apparently be overridden using a $10 circuit board available online.

I agree, recently been thinking about another VFR, I have had two 800 VTEC and two 1200F. The more I look at pictures of the new bike the more I like it. I saw a red one outside a BMW dealership- beautiful, the rider was probably asked to move on as it would be distracting potential punters from their Teutonic offerings. i think Euro 5 regs and low volumes mean its uneconomic for Honda to continue with the v4 engine (for now, if ever) so they are winding down production- we aren’t getting the same stunning deals that you in the USA are but list is 10% lower. I don’t think there are many new ones on UK dealership floors. Too many people buy things on the basis of the spec sheet, then have performance reined in by electronic nannies. How many actually ride with them turned off to feel the full effect of 200bhp? Makes no sense, I find it funny that Honda added a button for traction control that appears to be an afterthought, it tells me TC isn’t necessary but their engineers were told to add it by the marketing people. I think I will have an aftermarket exhaust but don’t want to screw the performance up for the sake of extra noise so will probably go the official Akrapovic route. The only thing holding me back is negative equity on my Africa Twin which won’t disappear till next Spring. It’s going to be a long year waiting and watching whilst the last generation of VFRs disappear. Selfishly I hope that the low level exhaust and slight loss of BHP means there is one last red one leftover for me!

You are a braver rider than me, too much white stuff on the road I would need both hands to 🙏

About to part ex it out .. The dct one is difficult to ride at very low speed if you're short , I have had a lot of problems with the brakes which is a reason it's going. I had a manual one in 2010 for a year and returned for a dct one a year ago. Dct is great , the other reason it's going is that I m finding it too cumbersome around traffic and the city-- it's a claymore great for cutting great big swathes - I need a rapier for my riding now