When, When, When?

When are those folk at Honda finally going to give us a replacement for the VFR and Blackbird? They seem to have forgotten that a lot of us like fast sports touring bikes and have left us with two bikes which are no longer the front runners in their class.
I have been hanging on for nearly two years now to order a replacement for my VFR800 vtec and am seriously looking to go to a different marque.

Tell my folks, why should I stick with Honda when I really feel they have let us down?

 

Stuka has a a point. This question starts popping up when manufacturers start getting ready to release details on next years models. That time is almost near. Rumors are already floating around about a 1000cc (or close to it) motor, but I am not sure I believe that since VFR owners have been asking for that for a long while. As was mentioned by myself in a previous post, since Honda has the 600RR and 1000RR, they have satisfied a niche in the market that is the current target, sport bike riders, and younger riders. The VFR is not a big seller over here as evidenced by the low number of showroom floor appearances. Right now, the DN-01 is probably the closest anyone is gonna get to a 1000cc VFR and the DN-01 is a Sport Cruiser, not a Sport Tourer. That is unless Honda does a major revamp of the VFR for 2009 or 2010. We can always hope that Honda will see the light, tho.

 

Probably the VFR is a bit more popular in Europe than over the other side of the pond. It was the "benchmark" sports tourer but really that spot now goes to the Triumph ST 1050.

Anyway I note that this weeks Motorcycle News is going to carry a story regarding plans for a one litre V5 VFR (but then every six months or so they come up with a "guess" which proves to be wrong!!).

The VFR has many good points but the engine spoils it for me. One litre and permanent 16 valve operation would make it so much better. I previously owned a Blackbird (CBR1100XX) which had such a sweet engine and of course the VFR does not match this.

Cheers
Phil

 

I agree with ya there Phil about the popularity in Europe. It's a hit over there I would think. And yeah, a Litre engine would be sweet.