18 months, 3 dealers and 16k miles later.

Hey,

it's been a long time since I posted. Didn't have a reason to post, really.
So now I just thought I'd let you know what I think of the Honda after 2 winters of commuting.

Latest mod:
Corbin heated seat. Ordered in the UK. Much cheaper than here or in Germany. Seat sits fine, heating works, overall finish good.
Corbin's way of connecting to the fusebox: terrible. You get a rain cover for the fusebox as you can't close the lid anymore. Clearly not their strongest point so I'll be changing that first chance I get.
But it works and even through my thermal lining I can feel it.
2 reasons I bought it: I was tired of the seat being covered in ice at work and I got a sore bottom faster than my bro-in-law's Street Triple R on long day rides.

Finally found a competent dealer who could fix that seized rear preload adjustment under warranty and do a 16k mile service. I never do this myself for tax reasons.
He ended up putting in a brand new shock (retail 1200 Euro) and a new knob as I had put vice grips on that after the first winter, all geared up for a two-up ride.
He also put on Michelin Pilot Power 2CT's which haven't seen a dry day since then.

The OE tires/tyres were Dunlop Roadsmarts, replaced after 8k miles. So I put another 8k on the Pilot Road 2CT's which I always liked but wanted something else.
He found a seized piston in one of the front calipers, something he couldn't understand was never picked up by either of the other dealers. New pads EBC HH. I like them better than OE. They work on some bikes and not on others as I've found and they'll probably wear faster but I don't care about that.

The finest mod to date was the Sato reverse shift part. After a year of riding street pattern I was still getting it wrong. After all, I've been riding reverse pattern on all my bikes for almost 30 years now.

Biggest gripe: the restriction in 1st and 2nd gear. It's not too bad in winter when staying upright is the most important part of the day but when weather clears it's bloody annoying and I was checking out the blog earlier to see how to change the wiring. Then I saw the Bazzaz ad and just pulled out the credit card. This was 10 minutes ago.

Other issues: Rust! Some bolts that have never been touched before have been rusting and the base plate of the (expensive!) top box is rusting badly too. I'll have to re-paint that and source some stainless steel bolts for the footrest assembly bolts. For what I paid and this being the 21st century, I think it's unacceptable.

I've been parting out my Aprilia Futura and been getting a lot of laughs from old friends on the Aprilia forum because I have a Honda. I usually answer this bike has no connection with the 750 or 800 and they should never have called it VFR. That's my opinion anyway.

They're rare even here and they're now priced 2k euro less than when I bought mine. Ah well. Such is life.

I love the thing. I couldn't have made a better choice considering the alternatives.

Bef.

 

Since Bef was the "reviewer" who convinced me to buy the Viffer (with his excellent series of posts over on AF-1's Futura forum) I figured I'd post a reply.

(1) The Z-Bomb

I've only got 4500 miles on the VFR, but my experiences are virtually identical to Bef's; in fact, I myself finally got fed-up with the balky 1st and 2nd gear response and ALSO ordered a Bazzaz Z-bomb last night myself. I wish there were a better way to fix this problem (and preserve the gear selector), but apparently there isn't one. Shame on Honda.

Good news is that the Z-bomb installs in one of the two small windows in the fairing, so it should take all of 3 or 4 minutes.

What's surprising is that the Euro-only Honda remap (which I know Bef has on his bike) apparently doesn't fix the problem EITHER. For us Yanks, that's irrelevant, since we can't get the Remap, but I was left with the impression that it would.
Comments, Bef??

(2) Aprilia Futura

I call the Futura "the Italian VFR"; take a look at the respective ergos Motorcycle Ergonomics between the Futura and an 800 VFR and you'll see what I mean. To Aprilia's credit, they used the Rotax one liter vee-twin, which is bullet-proof and makes ~113hp peak; ironically, if Honda had made the new Viffer a slightly lighter 1 liter bike, I think it would have been seen as a natural evolution of the bike, and wold have sold LOTS better in the States.

Which is to say that I agree with Bef; of all the marketing & specification errors that Honda made with this bike (e.g bad price point, ridiculously expensive bags, too-small fuel tank, etc), calling it a VFR was probably the biggest mistake. Note that I don't consider any of these to be ENGINEERING errors; I'm a mech engineer by trade, and I consider this to be the best engineered vehicle I have ever owned.

MY Futura is still to good to be parted-out, but frankly I haven't ridden it more than about 20 miles since I got the VFR, so I'm planning to sell it starting next week. Fortunately AF-1 (possibly the best Aprilia dealer in the world) is right up the road, so
Aprilias hold their value herer better than most places. Further, I'm still plannign to keep the 750 Dorsoduro, if only because it's such a HOOT.

(3) Tires

My Viffer came with BattleAxes, but I replaced the front with a Pilot Power after only about 150 miles; does anybody like the Battleaxes on this bike, particularly on the front? I have Pilot Powers F&R on the Futura, and they are quite tasty, but the mileage on the rear isn't very good, so I'll replace the Battleaxe rear with a Pilot Road witha 2-or-3CT. The PP front/PR rear combo is a little more prone to over-steer (not necessarily a bad thing, at least in the dry), but the rear lasts much much longer in my experience.

(4) Honda Promotional Materials

Hey, Honda! Fire your ad agency photographer, and hire Bef. His photos over on the Futura forum showed-off the bike far better than anything you paid-for. What what that phrase Emma Thompson used? Oh, yeah: "lugubriously sexy".
You could look it up.

(5) Rust

I only ride in the rain by accident, so the rust issues shouldn't bother me. Note that the bike itself is wonderful in the wet, but Houston drivers are SHEIT. Not worth the risk. However, it's a little disturbing that ANY rust is appearing on a VFR1200.
I as starting to think that the bike would ride on water.

 

Hey Harey, long time no hear! :smile:

(1) The re-map could be felt at the time, now I don't know any better. It just fixed some fueling down-low, nothing else.
Ordered the Z-Bomb from Bazzaz, they sent a confirmation e-mail and a little later I got an e-mail saying I have to fill out a form at their French importer. Which I did and I heard nothing since then. Did they bill me in the USA? How are they going to supply me from France if they don't even have the Z-Bomb on their website? A lot of questions and no answer thus far.

(2) Thanks for agreeing. Was just at the Aprilia dealer's yesterday (Open House Weekend) and upon hearing which parts you can't get from Aprilia anymore, I would advise you to sell if you don't ride anyway.

(4) Why thank you - again. It was all the Nikon D50's doing I swear. :biggrin:

(5) This is the first time I created a folder for a bike named "Rust". Just sayin'.
Pic of rear rotor taken months ago.




Bef

 

the z bomb installs behind the frame rail above the shift linkage, you'll see the gear position sensor connector there....less than five minutes to install

 

5 minutes to have a 'normal' bike and take it off for servicing at the dealer's to prevent voids-your-warranty nagging.

Perfect!

 

Befbever, what city are you in? I was lucky enough to get to go to Belgium on the company dime as I worked for a company that was bought by Barco (Headquartered in Kortrijk) and they sent me there for a week for orientation. This was back in 1996 but I still remember a lot of what we did. I had one of the best times of my life while I was there. I got to visit quite a few cities with my host, Brussels, Ypres, Ostend, and a few more, but I don't recall their names. I really enjoyed the local taverns and the people were very friendly. It wasn't until recently that I was able to find some of the ales/beers that your country produces here in the states. Two of my favorites that I got reacquainted with are Duvel and Palm! Much stronger than the stuff produced here in the states.

Anyway, this is a bit off topic but just thought I'd chime in with that. Glad you were able to find a competent dealer and hope that the z-bomb works out for you.

Cheers!

 

OOoo, thanks for the reminder. Left to my own devices, I certainly would have forgotten to take off the Z-bomb in case I needed warranty service. Doubly important since I got an extended warranty with my ~200 mile Demonstrator.

 

Thanks for the praise! I commute 20 miles to go work in Antwerp is all I'm prepared to divulge for obvious reasons. Since I'm parting out my Futura one guy asked me if I had the seat lock, mechanism, ignition lock and fuel tank lock and both keys. Next step is burglary I think...

1996 is a long time ago, I was in my mid-thirties and racing minimotos competitively back then. But people here are friendly in their own understated way and from what my UK mates & Aussie friend tell me we're very hospitable once we lower our guard. I introduced the beer-loving Aussie to Duvel and he loved it. He brews his own beer down-under so he knows what he's talking about. To him, this country with its wide diversity is Beer Heaven.

I know all this is very off-topic but it warms the heart that someone from CA spells all these things correctly, it really does!
I drove a truck around this country for 23 years so I know most cities well. Our respective dialects mean that someone from Antwerp (Antwerpen) doesn't understand a word someone from Kortrijk says. I'm pretty good at languages but even for me some dialects are a stretch. Such is the nature of this country. We stem from people from Germania who couldn't be bothered to cross the North Sea to end up in England...
As such, we're pretty homey people. Most have never been to Brussels, the capital.
Our neighbors the Dutch are the travelers. I think that's because in Holland the landscape is flat and the same everywhere you go.

One thing I have to announce is that since last week, we're #1 in the world when it comes to what's tragically called French fries in the USA.

As a gout patient I can't touch beer or wine, sadly. Or pork. But I can eat as many frites (friet in Flemish) as I like!

 

U.S. law states that a warranty has to be honored unless the modification leads directly to the cause of the warranty issue...i've had my vfr to the dealer with the z bomdb installed....no problem

 

No worries about divulging your city, I get that. I thought it might have been one of the cities I did remember the name of or maybe one that would trigger a memory. As far as language goes, I found it very interesting that in some places the people spoke Flemish and in others it was French, fortunately for me they all spoke English. I did learn that "french fries" was a misnomer and was really "pom friets" and not only were they invented in Belgium but that a majority of Belgians ate them with mayonnaise, much to one of my American co-workers chagrin. Sorry you cannot partake in beer/wine consumption as your country's beers are some of the best I ever had. I do recall having something called Apt12 that was brewed in a little Abbey by monks. WOW! That one was a real kick in the pants...12% alcohol!

Well thanks for responding, I hope to someday revisit Belgium, along with a few other countries that I long to see. If I do get back there maybe we can have a chat over some pom friets and I'll have Duvel and you can have your favorite beverage!

Cheers!

 

Re: Z-Bomb

I am adding a Power Commander V to the big Viffer next week. The guys at the dyno shop are aware of the 1st and 2nd gear power issue. They are confident they power band will be smoothed out. Between their own maps, Power Commander and Two Brothers Racing they ought to be able to resolve it.

I hope so because the glitchy off-idle response is annoying.

ß!

 

the first and second gear issue is a timing retard thing...the PC V will optimize fuel/air ratios and improve performance but you need the z=bomb also

 

Thank you but unless the sun has set that will be water or coffee. After dusk, it's ouzo, a habit I'm trying to kick.
Not to worry, there's nothing interesting about my city unless you count high taxes and bad governing.

Yes the north (like here and Kortrijk) is Flemish, the south is French. We get along fine, it's the politicians who try to make us enemies.

I'm not saying we invented the pommes frites (Pom is Aussie speak for the Brits) but oh yeah we do love our mayo on them. When traveling in the UK, the whole restaurant would stare at us in disgust while we put mayo on our 'chips'.
I once took my Aussie visitor (he flew from Australia to Belgium just to see me) to a tavern where they smoked their own ham and the beer came from a small brewery across the street. He was in Heaven!

Wiki about pommes frites: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fries

To return to topic, Bazzaz Europe service sucks but there are ways around that if you have the right contacts so it's on its way despite the uninterested French distributor. I understand that for Bazzaz it's a cheap item but the little ones should count too.