The bike the new VFR1200 should have been?

But not yours! Yours looks like "a proper motorcycle!"

 

Okay, I understand everyone has a right to their opinion. I am a long time Honda owner and currently ride a 5th Gen VFR and love it. I did get the chance to take a Ninja 1000 for a ride and thought it was fantastic. I loved the looks, the power, the seating position and even the stock sound. If i had the cash this would be my next bike. Fit and finish looked awesome to me. Don't get me wrong, i love the 1200 as well but it is wayyyyy expensive. I have never owned a Kawasaki and can not speak about long term health but from my short ride I think this bike is a winner. Flame if you like but I have yet to read a bad review on this bike. All day comfortable, ample power, optional hard bags and a decent price point. What is the problem here? I understand the styling is not for some but I thought it looked just great. Just another poor man's opinion.
Love you guys,

Primo

 

My two cents:

I went to the local dealer intent on trading my 6th Gen in for the Kawi. I ended up going home with a 7th Gen. The Kawi is a nice bike but there are some things that bothered me (really flimsy windscreen, UJM looks, small pillion seat). I LOVED my 6th Gen so I wasn't going to trade it in just to trade it in. I wanted more power, upgraded suspension & brakes, etc. All the goodness of what a newer bike offers basically. Bottom line is that the Kawi just didn't make me want to spend money over and above the 6th Gen. It's just not the kind of bike I would sit and gaze at in the garage after a nice long ride. It's a good utilitarian bike and if I didn't already have the 6th Gen I might have bought it.

The dealer just happened to have a 7th Gen on the floor that had a few little scratches on it from shipping damage so it was on a manager's special. I got a good deal on the 7, they gave me very fair trade-in value on the 6th and now I've joined the happy ranks of 7th Gen owners, and couldn't be happier. Ignore all the ignorant ramblings of those who think the bike is crap. VFR owners tend to say that about every new generation that comes along. It's just part of the game. Listen only to those who actually own them and you'll find very few harsh words. The bike handles beautifully, is WAY more powerful than the 6th and previous generations, and has much better brakes and suspension. And it's more comfortable 2-up as well. The ONLY thing I miss is the hard bags and I'm sure I'll rectify that at some point. I love my 7th Gen more than I could ever love that Kawi. And I'm still part of the V4 brotherhood which is cool.

 

That's the way I see it too. The Kawasaki is UGLY in a UJM/Transformer kind of way (yes, a subjective consideration and highly personal). Not, "Yeah, that is really quirky and neat!" like I feel about some BMWs and even the first Multistradas. No, just . . . just ugly.

And I could never ride an ugly bike, given that there are so many pretty bikes that function well.

 

At a little over 7000 miles, the more I ride the 1200, the more I like it!

 

That is definately not the machine the new VFR should have been. It should have been so much more......so much more like an RVF, so much less like a Gold Wing


....

 

I agree. 1200cc is chickenshit. I am thinkin maybe around six liters would be cool.

 

Well, I've got roughly 5k on the 1200 now, and it just keeps getting better. The handicap in 1st and 2nd gears is, by far, it's most significant flaw, and it's fixable. The bike handles very well, goes like stink, and stops just as well.

I get compliments everywhere I go on what a good looking bike it is, a lot of them from people who claim they hated the way it looked in pictures "but seeing it in person ...it's really nice!" (I know, it'll always be subjective).

Having owned and put a couple hundred thousand miles on 4th & 5th gen VFRs (and ridden 6th gen plenty, but never owned), I can honestly say that I love this thing and wouldn't trade it for any of the previous versions!

 

LOL! If you think this bike is anything like a Gold Wing you are incredibly uninformed. It's not even close to an ST1300. But like most of the people who condemn the 1200 without seeing it in person, sitting on it (much less actually riding it to inform your opinions with any modicum of truth), I know you're just jabbering to hear yourself talk and to take up bandwidth on an internet forum, trying to impress people with regurgitated bs. I spent a lot of time on the 6th Gen and I'll tell you right now the 7th Gen doesn't feel that much bigger (it's only about 40 lbs heavier wet anyway which is probably mostly from the shaft drive setup, why should it feel huge?). It simply feels like a big sportbike, just like the 6th Gen does, just like my TL1000R did. Anything under 600 lbs is not a barge and the VFR1200 wears it's extra weight very well and even does quick side to side transitions well. It outright rails around sweepers.

I won't say anything more because there's no sense in arguing with nonsense statements like that. Nice try though. Ha!

EDIT: For my own curiosity I wanted to see the specs on the RVF750 (RC45) compared to the "Gold Wing"-like VFR1200. Not to ruin your day but the VFR1200 has a better power to weight ratio lol! The RC45 weighs 415 lbs dry and I'll call that 450 lbs wet to be nice (it's most likely more). The VFR1200F weighs 591 lbs wet. The RC45 with standard US ECU has all of 97 hp. Even with the upgraded ECU it has 118. The full on race version has more of course but that's not really a fair fight. The VFR1200 has about 170 hp (I've seen 176 in some articles but I'll be nice and use the lower number). Unless I'm doing the math wrong, the VFR wins. Even if you take the rear wheel hp figure of 145 it still wins. Too bad the RVF can't be closer to the VFR1200 than a Gold Wing ROFL!!!

 

Well now you've gone and done it. You have managed in a couple of paragraphs to reduce Norkleboy to subjective protoplasm.

 

Personally I think the Honda VFR is more refined and certainly, will out last the Kawi once age starts to put its toll on the bikes....the VFR will age beautifully. The 3rd gen VFR is still a looker these days compared to other sport bikes. The Kawi is hot looking and sharp, but I won't think it will age well as the VFR. Powerplants......its an I-4 vs a V-4, completely two different machines already with two different personalities. VFR is considered a sport tourer and has always been for the many years it has existed. The new kawi I think is still a sport bike with a better ergonomics. All this is IMO

 

arty2:ound::chaingun::behindsofa::grouphug:

 

Don't you just love the comments from someone who has never lifted a leg over the 1200VRF. I just went over 4k Sunday and I'm an old man that just loves the whole ride of the 1200VRF. I understand the passion of VRF owners but get over it there's a new VRF and its just about the perfect blend of sport and touring for me anyway. See ya at the spring Thunder at the Beach in Panama City FL.

 

We are at this instant in time, fashioning an official Norkleboy Tshirt featuring a dayglo pic of a 1200 on the front and script on the back that sez,

Little man so spick and spam,

Where you wuz when the protoplasm hit the fan?

 

Put me in for an XL please. :bootyshake2:

I think I'll start using this in all my posts just to piss off all the previous generation VFR owners. :VFR1200F:

 

Hope you like red.. Keep in mind that some of the naysayers actually sat on a 1200 before making up thier minds. One might question the implied anatomical sensory input path utilized in that particular decision making process.

If I play this right, I could make a few bucks on this kind of deal producing generic VFR pix on Tshirt fronts and different backs for pro-gear driven cam vs chain driven cams, EFI vs carburetors, a whole shitload of different tires too numerous to mention, togs with labels on the inside vs labels on the outside and maybe even mullets vs anti-mullets.

 

LOL, plenty of ammo for t-shirt slogans! You could become a regular internet t-shirt buffoon! Or is that tycoon... :boobies7:

 

Some outfits are tetchy about using thier copyrighted and trademarked images ect. Had a friend who made up some Tshirts in bright yellow with the Preparation X logo on them and got in deep cac with the company.

Two of the biggies that are not to be messed with are the MOUSE folks and HD.. The mouse has sharp teeth and the HD lawyers will gum ya to death..

Heres one: "Choose Your Parasprodokian".

Disclaimer: A parasprodokian is not another female Kardashian with plastic tits.

 

Yeah, it's never good to use a trademarked image or logo without permission. It's too early in the morning for big words like parasprodokian. I had to look it up in the dictionary just to figure out what the hell you were talking about!

:ranger:

 

I wouldn't mind using Kim K for an hour or so. I have no aversion to plastic.

Both HD and the MOUSE will sell some rights to use of the images. Last I heard HD was getting 8 %. I know the lawyers for HD shit bricks, over the Chinese stuff that comes in and is sold at Hogfests, show and shines and other porcine infestations.

Could you please pass the organic HD soy sauce?

Not to worry, I don't know what I am talking about half the time either. That's what make this BB so Democratic..