What route to your VFR ?

( sort of a Spin off from the " Who Hates Harley Davidson? " Thread )

Taz, you've got me on riding experience, abilty and your reasons for choosing the ST over a Gen 6 are as valid to you as my perferring the Gen 6 over the ST are to me, mind you have ridden and loved bikes for a long long time and have in my own way to concluded the VFR the worlds best bike as I'm sure other folks on this Forum with a VFR have.

Never raced myself unless you count riding a 50c monkey bike at 7 around the local dirt tracks behind the High School in the mid '70's the same time a 2 year older Wayne Gardner was but hay it was still a motorcycle and riding anything 2 wheeled is fun.

The VFR750 when launched in '85 was a great machine but when comparing against the year old GPz900R found the GPz hotter looking and more exciting to ride than the Gen 1 mind I wasn't looking closely at the carefully crafted quality of the VFR750 next to the cheaper finished GPz900 but guess which way I went ? In '91 a mate bought the new CBR900 FireBlade into work, one of the first in the country at the time, wow I thought, oh my god wow the then new Gen 3 VFR while looking handsome on its own appeared to me at the time a fat bloated tadpole next to the 'Blade, on a personal level it didn't matter as had given up riding then but was still into bike mags and carried motorcycling in my heart. ( ok still pathetic but had my reasons for stopping at the time )

In the mid '90's mags were doing great writeups on the Gen 4 but next to the wide inlet rammed incredible sporty looking Green ZX-7R's it looked way too reserved and at the time thought anyone who bought a Gen 4 in preference to the ZX must have had rocks in their head. By the late '90's a switch in my head turned and found myself looking at the Gen 5 with an admiration that started the wheels turning to return to biking.

The point is I was never a die hard VFR fan and had always preferred team green before the Gen 5 and excepting the stratospheric priced drool worthy RC30 & RC45 had never looked at the VFR 750's including Gen 1's cutting edge Sports bikes.

This is where TAZ's comment " easily handling don't care about the weight, forget your problems high speed "cruiser" sport touring bike. " really resounds with me, not because of the Gen 6 but really where I first " got " the total VFR concept in General and whats wrong with thinking of the VFR's competence in that way ??? Fast forward a little and a friend at work just traded his '99 SV650S for a brand new Tahitian Metallic Blue brilliant sounding '01 Gen 5 and that was it, a VFR is what I wanted so soon returned to biking through a ZZR250 then SV650S before buying my '03 VTec brand new.

What changed instead of seeing VFR's as dull fat bikes I starting seeing them as well thought out comfortable yet sporting machines with a honed from a single billet quality and incredible warbling v4 sound. Before buying I did compare the gen 6 against the '03 ST and found it wobbly soft to ride and ugly, the Falco so close, so close and SuperBlackbird so even closer but in the end found the VFR suited me so utterly completely that the choice was easy.

Whether commuting or fanging long distance back road twisties with friends R1's or Gixers never found myself wishing was on anything else other then my VFR even times with a much longer range an not being affected by Tar ripples rises and back road rutts as sometimes griped about by others post ride often felt superior. Admittedly haven't ridden the new ST but had rode some 80 miles with competently ridden one in '06 through our southern Mountain passes and found it no quicker at anytime even dropping behind me through the tightest twisties and after given it a good poke with a chin wag at a fuel stop quietly concluded its build quality not up to any VFR's either.

Even though crashing my beloved Met Blue Gen 6 in late '05 getting a VFR to replace it was never in question and after looking at all Gens found a Gen 5 was with only 1800miles and 40% cheaper than a new Gen 6 and now after 4 years of VFR ownership conclude the VFR breed are still the best bike's on this planet. :smile: :biggrin:

Que to the Forum - " What route to your VFR Thread "

 

Gee, I guess dumb luck.

I wish I could say I was as through as some are about how they got here, but the VFR was in my mix of bikes to buy and the Honda dealer was not overly proud of it, so I got what I considered a good deal.

 

I can’t say that my contribution to this thread accounts for much as I have yet to even ride a VFR. Mine still sits waiting its first ride at a local dealer’s while winter does it’s very best to hang on here.

My route to Veeferdom was sealed last fall while on a ride through NY/PA trying to keep up to my buddy on his VStrom while I was riding my ’04 Shadow Spirit. I loved the Shadow but it just didn’t have a chance against the Suzuki on the twisties and swervies. While I am certainly senior in years and perhaps riding history to most of the folks here I was not quite ready to give up a more spirited (no pun intended) riding experience than I was currently enjoying and join the more sedate Gold Wing-type community. Also the laid back cruiser style, after a couple of hours in the saddle, gave me a sharp pain in the right shoulder area. A Mustang seat had fixed the early pain in the lower part of the back fortunately.

We stopped on one of our last night’s on the ride home in Watkins Glen and a couple of riders, one on a ’06 Black Pearl and one on a Burgman (!) took a room next door to us. I had, of course, noted the VFR at several bike shows in the past and sat on them and immediately felt comfortable. The looks had struck a cord with me and it just always kind of looked “right” to me. After about an hour’s chat with the VFR rider I decided it was going to be my next bike.

Following that fall ride I did the due diligence of reading everything I could about the bike (fortunately there’s a ton of stuff to read!) and learned quickly that it is almost universally loved and recommended as being one of the very best “allrounders” ever designed. Even Peter Egan has one! It has a great heritage and I was looking forward to owning a machine that offered some very advanced features. Granted you would not have to go far to offer features more contemporary than was available on the Shadow. I have to also admit to being a died-ion-the-wool Honda-loyal fan and that influenced me as well. They have just never left me down, stranded or disappointed.

The rest is history. Called the dealer I bought the Shadow from and told him I was looking for a “used” VFR. He had a new ’06 white pearl on the floor, so some negotiations later and now I wait, not patiently, to get her on the road and get to experience all the good times and fun that the rest of you Veefer riders have had and are having!

 

I had been riding for a little more than two years on a Kawasaki 440 and I was ready to upgrade to a sportbike, which of course was a dream of mine. I had been riding to dealerships and used bike shops and tire kicking, but nothing really caught my fancy. Except I did like a YZF600 I saw, but was still unsure. I was reseaching bikes too and almost all I read about where considered very uncomfortable and only good for the track. Well track riding was an interest of mine, but I knew that was way down the road.

One sunny Saturday afternoon in June 2000, I was doing my thing at the Sherwin-Williams store in Waldorf, MD getting ready to close when a guy on a pearl white 1993 VFR pulled up. I had not heard of or seen a VFR before. I was attracted to it immediatly. We got to talking and he said it may be for sale soon. Well, he showed back up in August and asked if I was still interested. Between June and August I found out the VFR was considered a great "street" bike and that's exactly what I was after...

I remeber when I test rode the 93. I had the cash with me and the guy was totally like take it for a ride and take your time deciding LOL! I pulled back into his driveway and asked if he had the title handy because I was ready! I broke out the 3,500 in cash and that was that. Had the 93 for almost five years before I sold it to a guy in NJ.

I've been stuck on VFR's since.

To get technical, I loved them back in 89! A guy in high school had a 86 interceptor, but I didn't know the significance until I did the reseach. I can still remember that bike pulling into the school lot and just staring at it...drooling LOL! I was in 9th grade at the time.

BZ

 

I had never heard of a VFR.
2 years ago when I moved to Cali, there was this yellow beast sleeping under a tarp in the hangar where I work. Tales of 100+ mph down the runway were shared among the crew. The owner had bought it during his college days, but didn't ride very much anymore.
'What is it?' I ask. "a VFR 800" the reply. Huh. It's a Honda, I've always wanted a honda, never heard of a VFR. An 800 should not be my first bike.
I rode a Honda 50 when I was five. Damn near killed my little self, but I was hooked. Mom and Dad said no, grew up got married. Wife siad OK but you can't put a car seat on a motorcycle. Four kids and 17 years later...
I said screw it, I'm buyin a motorcycle.
A friend's son was selling an '88 FZ 600 for cheap. Snatched it up, cleaned it up, put on my new gear and rode around in circles on the tarmak at the airport in 1st gear for weeks. Then 2nd gear on the street in front of the airport for a few more. Then around the dead end street I live on, practicing clutch, brake, turn...
Then one day last October, my buddy, the VFR owner, says "why don't you take my VFR for a ride?" I went over to his place when he wasn't there to check it out. Started her up...'EW, that sounds weird.' 'this feels huge compared to my 600' 'but she is shiney, and a Honda' 'I'd want to paint it, don't like the yellow at all.'
A couple days later, I took her out on a test ride. Buddy says 'no hurry, just bring her back when you feel like it.'
I have not taken her back, I will not take her back, she is mine.
I fell in love with the sound, the feel, the yellow...the VFR.

 

biggest draw for me was the comfort. being a bigger and taller guy, there's not a lot of options out there while staying in the realm of 'sporty'

started out on a SV650S that had every modification under the sun designed to give a little more legroom and rider comfort, but at the end of the day i was still in pain.

sat on a few VFRs at the dealership. loved the bike but couldn't afford. then i came across a sweetheart of a deal on craigslist and the rest is history.

now i can ride the bike all day long (just did a 300 mile trip yesterday) and feel perfectly fine at the end of it all. i miss the SVs low-end torque for commuting and lightweight for 'tossability', but the VFR has it beat on everything else. rode my lil brother's SV1K for 5 minutes yesterday, and quickly realized just how much i've come to love and appreciate my VFR!!!

Mike

 

I'm trying to recruit my VS riding buddy to a VFR. He's 6'4" . I'm going to send him a link to your response.

Thanks

 

:biggrin: Well, Congrats John451, This is a thread that is worth replying to & reading vs the the rip on Stretched/chrome GSXRs & Who hates Harley thread.

Not A rip, but really a great topic, I'm always curious on why people choose what they get.

Thank you for a forum related thread :tongue:


On topic,

i don't have to post my reasoning's, because you already did, well half of it :wink: .


Although there is die hard Triumph ST fans out there for the '04 & earlier models, I too would have to agree that they were not on par with the 6th gen !

I also want to point out my reasoning for my VFR statement of the 6th is as you pointed out I said & your reasoning's why you didn't like the earlier models.

I just believe as evolution goes, things should get better, as to why for YOU (& others) they have the 6th gen now, vs back in the day.
I purchased mine for the the Evolution, but Found that it was under pare (to me).

As for a my '06 triumph ST vs my '04 VFR, I can tell you from experience that the T ST out brakes & out accelerates out of turns better than the VFR. The T ST kills it on the bottom end & pretty equal in mid range with an edge on top end to the T ST in the canyons or track Lap times don't lie ( that was with the my VFR with delinked brakes).


I'll be back to a new VFR when Honda builds the right one, especially for those of us that that was with them from the beginning.

Honda knows how to build universal (remember the V-45 Magna =Cruisers, V-45 Sabre=Sport-Touring, & the VF's=Sport bikes) they can do it again !


p.s. I've alway's owned kawi's, Yamaha's, Suzuki's, Ducati's, triumphs, Nortons, BSA's, Vincent, & many other bikes (& still own), Honda's just have been my preferred choice :biggrin:

 

I started a search with these criteria: fuel injection, sportbike style (fully faired w/ clip ons, not handle bars), be able to do a quarter mile in 11 secs, handle great, have comfortable ergos, under $5,000. Let me tell you, there aren't many bikes that meet these criteria - can anyone reading this point out a bike meeting them that's in the same building as a 5th gen VFR? (Blackbird was high on the list, but insurance was like 5x more and the comfort is lacking).

 

Why the VFR for me?

Two years ago next month, I was ferrying an airplane to its new owner in South Kansas. Colorado weather was looking horrible for the next few days I took the route through New Mexico.

Since I spent the previous year planning flights at 500+mph in the turbine work plane, I couldn't beat a line of thunderstorms in the little 4-banger I was moving, forcing me to tuck the plane away in a hanger in Albuquerque to keep its shiny new paint-job out of harms way.

That warm spring night, after a few Fat Tires and some amazing pizza, I heard a roar through the buildings downtown. It appeared that a wayward Nascar was zipping through the city. Low and behold, an unmarked, red bike pulled up to the light next to me. I was floored by the rumble from the exhaust and this strange gear whine...

The light turned green and, in Days of Thunder, the bike launched and tore through the sound barrier all its polished-frame, squidtastic glory.

So I staggered a bit and said, ZOMG WTF FTW? And my buddy said, that's an Interceptor... I had heard a little VFR lore in the past, but didn't know what it meant.

3 months later, I was working out of state and got an email with some pictures from my buddy that said "you NEED to buy this bike, it's pristine." So I found a Honda dealer in town, sat on a VFR to make sure it fit, then pulled the trigger... Of course I didn't get to see it for a while, since it was sitting in the garage waiting for me.

 

Bubba Shubert, natrually his VFR was incredibly different than the ones us mortal men ride, but I can always dream.

 

Dream no further, because the other greats - Fast Freddie Spencer runs around & in his school on a bike almost just like yours :biggrin:

 

John451, Thanks for the last line of your post 'cause I sure couldn't follow you! I thought it was going to be more of that tired old, "I hate what he rides" stuff again. But, you do have a good question!

I started on a Kawasaki KLR650 and learned my skills. (40 years of bicycling and 35 years of drumming gave me basic 2-wheel skills and 4-limb independence). Very shortly I was riding my boss' KTM 950 but I yearned for a road machine. I fell in love with a Kawasaki Z750S and got it but started to lust after more refined machines once I became aware. A search for the best sport tourer led me quickly to the VFR but I spent about 6 months more being sure before I bought a new 2007 VFR. What a machine!

 

I would like to be able to say more than the availability of, was what brought me to owning a VFR again, but past experience sealed the deal! Yes there are many other faster bikes, better handling bikes, etc. But owning a bike you like is what this passion is all about, I have ridden a Triumph Sprint( my bro in law owns one) and a Kawasaki Concours. They were more touring than sport. The VFR is more sport than touring, but the touring is still there. Pure sportbikes/litrebikes are just too ergonomically cramped to ride all day long.

 

Sorry for the rambling in a nut shell was attempting to say my route to the VFR was not direct and besides the VF1000R, RC30 & RC45 in my ignorance had always been seduced by seemingly sexier alternatives thinking the successive VFR750's of the time as fat uninteresting sports bikes.

Sometime around when the Gen 5 was launched I got the itch to return to bikes with Mag reviews of the time stating the VFR the " best bike on the planet " coupled with an enthusiastic VFR riding mate who answered all my return to motorcycling questions with " you need a VFR " a switch turned and I finally got Hondas VFR message of a reassuring high quality motorcycle that is comfortable on tour with enough power and brilliant handling to be fun through the twisties.

The fact it's V4 also sounds interesting is icing on a very well designed cake and when returning motorcyclists ask what real world Sports bike to get I find myself sounding the VFR zealot that answers each question with " you need a VFR ".....:biggrin:

 

The road to viffer

Hi Folks,
Back in '93 a friend who had a '92 VFR wanted to ride my K100RS, so we swapped. It was a short ride ('cause the K was waay too tall for him), but I really liked the VFR. The seating position, power delivery, sound and that SSSA! I soon started inquiring at local dealers and one said he'd get me a brand new '93 (white!) for about $5800. Sold!
I loved the bike and put about 14K miles on it, but began to get into Italian bikes, so I sold the viffer. Always regretted it. About 6 months ago I was looking for something to go with my Buell Ulysses and there was this '95 VFR for sale. One owner, less than 12K miles and about two miles from my house!
Sold! I'm keeping this one!
Cheers!
Craig:smile:

 

Interesting looking machine the Ulysses, what swung it over a R1200GS ?

 

CB350, the one with high mounted side pipes

CB750 (K0)

VFR ('96 4th gen)

VFR ('00 5th gen)

Obviously, I bleed RED. Though I've ridden numerous other bikes, always owned Hondas.

 

Its wierd, at 16 when I got my car I thought I was set for speed in a 325i bmw. When I moved to San Diego I was sitting in traffic and I saw this bike lane splitting past me. Thats when I said "I will do that". I went onto craigslist and found a gs500 for 600 dollars and rode it for a year. After alot of research and help from sites like this I picked up my vfr at a dealership in august with 1800 miles on it for 5400 out the door. it now has 8000 some miles and it has not even been a year

 

My journey ain't so interesting, but I'll throw it out anyway, mine actually started in a different approach. First I've been riding since I was able to walk it seems, had thy Mini bikes way back in the day 1st grade I believe, my neighbor at the time had a yellow BSA scrambler which I thought was the shits, the other neighbor across the woods had this old Red Honda 150, looked like a 305 dream but smaller, still very cool. so yea getting my lust on for the real deal. Then one day after little league practice an older brother from a team mate offered me a ride home on his new SS90 Honda, man that was it, I wanted a motorcycle. I'm done with the Mini. With out being old enough to be a legal driver my folks where really against me getting a bike that had the possibilities to be rode on the street. So I worked it to get one of those enduro models that Yamaha made, yep that was the trick dirt bike :wink:
On the other side of this story, I'm a boat nut too, back in the day again if I wasn't riding thy Mini I was out in the bay in my 10' skiff with a 10hp Johnson. now being a motor head I was intrigued with a certain power plat Johnson came up with. A V4 power plant, I'm thinking here very novel, good Hp for the size. now add in with what I did for a summer job was run this old school trencher which had a Wisconsin V4 flat head for power had to hand start it, LOL got to know that motor pretty good be the end of summer.
Ok now here I am riding bikes and had it in the back of my mind that a V4 machine would be cool, but at that time it was just that, a thought. then Honda came out with a I4 in 69, I'm going holy cow. how cool is that but couldn't afford one so kept on trucking with my Yamaha, till.. a new kid on the block that moved in had a new CB350. I'm just drolling, Nice. worked it out to get one of the SL models later that summer,




cool bike. I'm Still working that v4 trencher and my dad bought a boat that had a 115hp v4 Johnson, so very familiar with the concept. V4 nice tight small power plant that would IMO make a great motorcycle engine. Still back to bikes wasn't long before Kawasaki jumped in with some cool stuff, since I was use to two strokes and Kawasaki made a wild 3 cylinder 750,




I went nuts, had to have one, so I sold the SL for one, Wow! what a witches broom stick. Still as nice and wild as it was and had a many great times on that H2 Kawasaki, I saw fit to join in on the big 4 concept when a certain 903 Z1 came out,



Yep had to have one, so sold off the H2.
Now things are getting interesting bout now as I've found cars and girls too, so it was a while before things changed and change they did. But motorcycle wise I held on to the Z1 for a whole whopping 6 years. Then Honda did me in by bring to the table a 6 cylinder,



Wow! talk about a sound like a exotic race car, had to have one, but by now I'm married have a son so it took a bit longer to get said parties on board, but it worked out, Nice. Now this is where things again took a turn. I got to know the Honda dealer pretty well through the years and he let me in on a secret of sorts once he was back from certain japan trip that Honda was coming out with a V4, I'm going ok, bout time someone saw the light all giddy that this will be Hot! Thing is, I have to say I was very disappointed. 750 size, shaft drive, sounded like it was plugged up running under water. Great idea but man it was a dog to me, so stayed with thy CBX. Took Honda another year to bring out the VF750, now this one caught my eye, still sounded weird. But the dealer/owner let me take it for a spin. wow nice nibble sharp and crisp handling, didn't feel like a 750 power wise either, Hmm still that sound had me bugged. So I stayed with the CBX for a couple more years, then the VF1000 came out..



Okay finally a bike to me that made sense, bought it on the spot. no question asked, went like a bat out of hell, still sounded weird, but oh she like to run and was way more stable than the CBX in every way, so a no brainier. Had her for quite a while as life had it's shares of up and downs (no pun intended) in fact I ended up selling the Vf to keep my helicopter rating in place, that and took a job in Hawaii so no time to ride. Once the dust settled and things got back to a norm, I started looking for a another Vf1000, yep found a sweet heart one, even thou by now the newer gear driven 700/750 versions in 87 where out and sound meaner than a junk yard dog, I still lusted for the bottom end that the Vf1000 had so didn't think twice, plus the Vf was had at a killer price. Life by now sorta settled in a routine where I was happy with what I had, kids growing up, life is peachy. Then one day I needed to and wanted too take my older son to his high school baseball game that was an away game that just happen to be a double header, as it happened there was quite a bit of time like 2 hours between games, so we headed off to see what the Honda dealer there had, kicked some tires and the like. well this sales dude poked me into taking a 98 CBR900 for a spin, always had it in the back of my mind one of those would be cool. guess what? wasn't what I thought and very glad I took it out. wasn't the bike I was looking or hoping it would have been, once back I told the sales dude my thoughts and he in turn said well, why don't you take this left over 96 VFR750 for a spin. I'm going Na, I have what I have, no way I'm I in my mind going to down grade. Still we had some time to blow, so took em on his offer. Guess what? the rest is history.... See I knew a V4 power plant was the way to go, and to prove my point even more, look at Motogp :biggrin: Now if I could only get a certain Vtwin out of my head.