Article: VFRWorld's Reg71 takes the VFR1200F and 1200F DCT for a spin

Oh my Lord they let you in? LOL nice going.
Yea, I have one up here I might get to run around on for my input, weather needs to get way better up here, that and need more time than I have at the moment. Good read there Reg, funny I too thought this bike for Randy as well. LOL it is in white all though I'm wondering where??? maybe in Canada they will have them. I am surprised on the DCT version, I mean you saw one ? touched it, how cool, that's the one that catches my eye, not that I'm all giggly about it, but it does bring an interest What is very interesting the dealer here was clueless to when they where going to be around. Can't wait for your next article, seat of the pants take. . My take on why the VFR went the route it did was it met the needs for a two up stallion of sorts, why it's longer and has a larger engine.etc... For me the one I sat on carries it's weight with a good balance, a Honda trait, but you can feel it when you toe push it around the parking lot. no fooling anyone this is a large bike. Good going Reg you really should push the envelope and write for the magazines.

 

You shoulda called. I woulda hopped over for happy hour.

 

No worries bro, and since I did detect just a teensy tiny bit of mea culpa in your post, I will retire. I had rather thought all along that your real motive in that whole business was less about personal animus and more about a subtle attempt on your part to call attention to a pervasive attitude often exhibited on our fine forum,and by doing so, perhaps affect a change, to wit: Changing ones mind when faced with new facts is not a character flaw, conversely, rigidity of thought is not necessarily a virtue.

And yes using that Behan quote would get you about as much traction as Christopher Hitchins at the church social.....



We agree on one point for sure, putt putting around with other old farts in Santa Barbara would beat being given a free BMW 1000r if you had to ride it around NYC.

 

OK, so I got the chance to see one in person finally. I was in Reno without a schedule so I stopped by my favorite place...Big Valley Honda. They had 2 VFR1200s on pre-order several months ago. Neither of the folks that ordered one were able to qualify for financing so the bikes are still there.

This bike looks completely different in person. It is no where near as ugly. It is actually impressive.
After drooling for a few minutes, the sales guy said I could climb up and mount her. So I did, right there in the show room. She feels like a VFR. She is a little heavy, but just as sexy. The plastics are very interesting. I was unable to determine how to remove them, the upper fairings anyway. There is a lower cowl that is very easy to remove(four bolts). This is all that needs to come off for oil changes.

The oil filter is located on the right side and very easily accessed. The oil pan plug is right underneath it.


I am happy with what I saw. The shaft drive is pretty slick. It is all sealed so no chain lube mess. The shorty exhaust is ugly, but shows off the rear wheel nicely. The tail looks better in person too, it actually fits with the bike. The pics I have seen so far made it look disjointed from the rest of the bike. The radiators have been consolidated to one and placed front and center.

This should reduce some of the hot foot known to VFR owners. I have no idea if it makes the bike run cooler.
The sales guys could not tell me anything about the sound and feel of the engine because they are not allowed to play with her either.
The base model is $15,900. Luggage and automatic tranny are much extra.
The lower fuel capacity are still a bummer to me.
If I had money laying around, I might buy one.

 

rode one this weekend. 2 word review: boring, yawn

 

i saw one at my dealer in toronto. It was quite beautiful.. I asked for a test ride and they asked when I would like to pay for it.
Fucktards!!!

Anyhow the workmanship was quite nice and I could not figure out how they got the fairing on the bikes as there were no visible screws.. For the same money I think I might take the K1300..

 

Nice report, Reg, you lucky bastich. I'm just waiting to see if they pay you off with your own 1200. We're all watching you dude:suspicious:

Thanks for the reflection, my man.

 

nice write up Reg, and nice to meet you too. I'll try to hang around here a little more so I know about the SoCal rides and we can go flog our old antiquated VFRs the way we wished we could have flogged the 1200

 

My bad for not being more specific about the similarities. Pretty easy to explain without the comfort of a hair shirt. One dude sat on the bike and the other one rode the bike.

The traffic can be a little testy in Santa Barbara this time of year. Hopefully Reg and his crew were able to head just a little north to Ojai for less traffic and some spotting of Hollywood types who frequent the area.

There are parts of NYC and Eastla where it's better to be riding than parking a shiny bike of any kind.

The Behan quote is a little too pithy but we ain't talkin pissy with a lisp.

 

Where and when were you able to ride it? In what way did you find ht ebike boring?

 

Approaching 70k on my 91 and never even gave trading it in or selling it a thought. Honda had auto trannies on some 750 4's a few years ago. Worked great but they freewheeled and ate brake pucks like crazy. My call is strictly subjective but I like shifting. The insurance on just letting anybody ride literally any street legal bike is like a trip to a doctor and not having med insurance. Eeeeek! I am involved with a yearly event where whole stables of bikes are up for rides. So far we have had Aprillia, Triumph and KTM factory rigs and some BMW dealers tossing in some bikes and all have "scheduled" rides with somebody there sitting on top of the rides. Those guys would probably like nothing more than to let some of the better riders have a little heavier hand on the throttle and from what I have seen they too ain't too bad in the saddle themseves. One of the great myths about bikes is that just because somebody had some meat between thier legs doesn't make them automatically a good or even average rider. Tell ya what.. When you do get a shot at some "spririted" riding on one of the 1200s it can be all kinds of fun.

 

The light gray with black accent Japanese versions look pretty good in the flesh too, but the price kills me. Just like the venerable Mustang, the VFR has always been in the price range of the average Joe, and still technologically advanced. Is this specimen evolution of the VFR? Absolutely not- it is merely a mislabeled fork in the road of V4 history- price or riding style demograph. This isn't the first time though, is it? After 2nd gen it got a little softer towards an "all around bike" than the "race bike" it was geared towards. But I really don't think it made too much of a huge departure until now- and now it isn't even comparable to a Mustang. Maybe a Cadillac CTS; sporty(ish) enough for the 40-50 somethings, but not demographically universal- price or driving style.

If they had called it a VF1200S I would certainly have more respect for it- and I am willing to bet the Europeans would have bought it anyways.......

 

Let me see if I understand this. Are you saying that the 40-50 ish are more luxury than sporty people? I guess I missed that part cause I was 51 before I bought my first bike. Must revert back to sporty at 50+

Young lil fuggers

 

Everyone knows the light grey ones are better than the other colors. How much more do they cost than say the red ones? The red ones should cost more because red paint is more expensive than grey paint.

There were a couple of dudes in my hood back in the day that had Mustang ragtops with inline sixes in them that if they were still around might take some issue with the technological aspects of same.

The first VFRs had teething problems that were eventually addressed with the major exception of the now legendary R/R failure.

I bought my VFR brand new in 1991. It's just fine thankyouverymuch. It was designated as a "Sport Touring" motorcycle even then. One small but significant part of the great market in the sky did not pay much attention to this appelation. You guessed it. The fucking insurance companies, not to mention your own designation. Come on dude, just because one can manipulate the language some, BS is BS.

Pricewise we could compare 15k USD to all sort of as John Lennon said, "filthy lucre." What you might want to check out there in Tokyo for steep pricing is the cost of say a HD 1200 Sportster or that Caddie. Just for shits and giggles, price out some KTMs, Ducatis, BMWs there for a fair comparison.

What sells bikes in "our" market is vastly different than what sells bikes in places like Vietnam. We buy dream bikes roughly based on race bikes. Honda knows that game well. Ever seen that six hole Honda 250cc roadracer that was competing in 1960? Ever seen a pic of "The fastest man in the world" Glenn Curtiss? c 1907 137mph on the sand with a V8 for power, or the HD "wrecking crews" of the late teens and 20's?

Maybe Honda would have been smarter to just call it the "New ST" or the STST. (ST sport touring) and field one in a class of it's own or maybe run it in the WingDing class.

Plenty of bikes out there for almost any one. Shit dude, I'd love to have one of those new carbon fiber unobtanium MV's. Get me one of those puppies for 15k and you can have my new 1200 for 14k cash.

 

Well it would seem Honda has buggered up, this new VFR has an 18.5 Litre (4.9 US gallon tank) which according to the review at Honda VFR1200F | Ash On Bikes will see it from full to completely dry in 264 km (that’s a mere 164 miles)
In Australia we have many towns that are more than 100 kms (62 Miles apart) with no sevice stations open before 7 or after 7 at night.
I have a VFR800 VTEC which has a 22 Litre tank and will travel 340 Km (211 Miles)
As good as this bike is in every other way, this is a serious oversight.

 

Does the increased mileage on the 800 compensate for the decreased mileage of the 1200 if the service stations are closed? Perhaps the increased speed of the 1200 would compensate for the decreased speed of the 800 getting one from one open station to another at least during the day. At night it looks like you are buggered either way.

 

First of all Billy, I would like to extend an invitation to you if you are ever visiting the land down under, come on over, you are more than welcome. :smile:
Well to clarify things on the service stations situation, it is in the small towns that the service stations shut down, the larger centres are further apart and they stay open 24/7. I believe that would put them out of reach of the range of the 1200. thats all.
As far as speed goes, if you do any faster than 100 kms/Hr (Thats 62 miles/Hr) over here the local police will take some of your dollars off you, they would possibly even deport you if you get anywhere near the VFR's top speed and get caught at it. :frown:
When I was growing up here we used to cruise between towns at 90 mph plus (pree metric) & the cops wouldn't stop you (those were the days).

 

reg71...

Kind of a disapopointing review to be honest.

First thing I would have done when they tell me I can't go fast is stick it in first gear and leave it there! I'll get those revs up to par and jerk the throttle on and off to see what pep is at what rev range. Maybe occasionally put it in second... lol.

Second, the can looks like it's pointed right at the bottom of the bag. Looks like it's poised to melt the plastics, or at least add a nice coat of smoke to the bottom of it. Not to mention stink up your luggage inside the bag.

Then you say that the DVT is perhaps good if you have arthritis or are less than agile anymore. Not quoting you directly, but that's the gist of it. I say if that's the case then you need to buy a Burgman and stay the hell out of my way.

Lastly, yeah, the VFR is smaller in stature than the NT700V. But the NT is more comfortable... maybe the better bike for those aforementioned 'infirm' people. At least it's a lot cheaper than a VFR1200, comes with a center stand, and is easy to change the oil and filter (no panels to remove). Not that I am a fan of that bike either. Reminds me of an overburdened Vstrom 650 with scooter luggage and a shaft drive.