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Today I test rode a 2014 VFR 800. Had never ridden a VFR and always wanted to. Customer at my local shop traded a beaut in on a F6B so I got to ride his used one.
The good:
Good handling, light weight, good brakes, good trans, good handling, digital gear indicator
The bad: I'm a munchkin and still felt wadded up on the thing. If it had had reigns I imagined myself being a jockey whipping the steed toward the finish line. Vibrations..above 6500 rpms it vibrated especially thru the footpegs. Made my insteps tingle. Also a lot of weight on my wrists and the bars seemed weirdly angled.
The Neutral: I honestly could not tell where the Vtec kicked in. Not sure what I was supposed to feel, but Ive head sport riders complain about it. It never affected me one way or another.
I took it down a curvy road, a straight flat road, and out on the freeway. Tried to imagine it as a sport tourer. Nope.. No way for me anyway.
Glad I got to ride it, but was really happy to get back on my CB for the ride home (the long way
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I (briefly) owned a '94 VFR a couple years back alongside my CB. It didn't take long to decide it wasn't for me. To my ears they're among the best sounding bikes but that only gets you so far. I didn't find it much fun to ride at legal speeds or on the short rides that I more typically take. Get it further away from town and it starts to make more sense. It did excel at highway travel as well but I tend not to spend much time on the freeway.
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The VFR is a smoother, more powerful, slightly heavier but more refined likeness of the F800GT. Assuming the one you rode was in good condition, if you didn't care for the Honda, I'm guessing you wouldn't care for the BMW either.
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I lusted for a VFR for years until I test rode one with the same impression as you.
Wonderful machine, just not for me.
The CB fills all my needs.
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I owned one for 5 years before deciding it wasn't for me. I guess I'm not exactly a quick study.
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It's good to occasionally test ride other bikes to get that "grass is greener on the other side" mentality out of your system....I love my CB!
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(06-10-2017, 10:06 PM)Blockhead_imp Wrote: It's good to occasionally test ride other bikes to get that "grass is greener on the other side" mentality out of your system....I love my CB!
Very true.
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(06-10-2017, 10:06 PM)Blockhead_imp Wrote: It's good to occasionally test ride other bikes to get that "grass is greener on the other side" mentality out of your system....I love my CB!
Lol. I test ride every bike I can and have since 1972. I think for the period of 1972-1989 I test rode about every bike that came out from every manufacturer except Harley, and if I had worked for a Harley Dealership I would have. Next week I am riding an FZ-10. That should be a hoot! The week after that I should get a chance to test ride an 1190 KTM if my feet will touch the ground.
The problem for me now, is they are building the bikes so tall, I can't reach well enough to feel confident riding a lot of them. I would love to test ride some of these new adventure bikes, but I'm not going to ride a bike I can't at least get the tips of my toes to touch on both sides.
I love em all.
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I've owned the original 83,and owned the last gen 750, before they bumped em up to 800
The honda v4 Vfr is one of the best sounding and all purpose bikes EVAR!!! The only folks I know who don't think similar thoughts are usually in snow white's encourage (height challenged).. I know several who put 100k mikes one em.. if you needed one all purpose bike (that didn't include dirt), sports + touring, its the bike to have..
The main issue is that it's kinda like owning a sporty Camry. It it fun, yes, is it quick, yes, can it take people and stuff, yes.. So why isnt it the best of all time, cuz it's still a Camry. Not that there is anything wrong with that
As the sum of its parts the vfr is a phenomenonal bike. It just doesn't elicit much cool factor from being a rider of one, as it seems that as long as you have the m endorsement, anyone can ride one well.. They are just that good.. So if anyone can ride em, their becomes nothing special about the rider..
As a general rule truly iconic bikes have a rider component to em, something a rider has to aspire to or have a large set of cojoines to ride one fast/well.. The vfr is too much the nice guy
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I test rode the VFR800 2016 model at a Come Ride With Us event. I spent 45 mins on the bike. Yeah, power and pickup was great but I found I was on my hands too much too. I also found the lack of legroom disturbing. I sat on a BMW F800GT very shortly after, they had a used one at Team Honda in Milton. I sat on it for a bit and felt a bit more upright and a bit more legroom than the VFR, the test ride and the sit test were pretty close together, but this was last year. I was impressed with the Luggage that BMW came with and the price tag was right for a low mileage model, after reading about it I came back to test ride it and it was SOLD!
