01-26-2016, 01:31 PM
Lol... What happend to it was Honda waited too long to make it.. Honda used to own the sports touring market with the vfr750, so much that the Honda sports touring association or hsta formed up around it.
However, after like 15 years of owning the ST market, other manufacturers starting changing up the game. It used to be 600cc and 900/1000cc sports bikes, with the vfr in the middle and if you wanted more power there were the bigger super sports like the zx11, Thunderace, blackbird, etc. that you could slap bags on if you didn't want a couch like a st1100, concours, etc
However, this all changed in the late 90s when other manufacturers started recycling previous years 1000cc sport bikes, or by making outright sport touring, or naked, or adventure bikes in the liter category, that chewed up the market for the vfr even after it was punched out to 800ccs.
From memory, the duc 916 became the st4 when the new 996 came out, the old aprillia Mille became the Falco, the Suzuki tl1000 became the vstrom, Yamaha made the fz1 witha detuned r1, Kawasaki had the z1, trumph had the St, and so on..
While many people remained loyal to the vfr, by the mid 2000s there were tons of upright orientated bikes one could tour on, that had more power than the vfr800. Honda should have have released the vfr1200 back then..
It will probably be in the Honda lineup for years, especially since Honda is after the adv/St market with the X version with the same motor. I've ridden one. It's great, but its what I wanted years ago when I got a ktm 990 for touring...
However, after like 15 years of owning the ST market, other manufacturers starting changing up the game. It used to be 600cc and 900/1000cc sports bikes, with the vfr in the middle and if you wanted more power there were the bigger super sports like the zx11, Thunderace, blackbird, etc. that you could slap bags on if you didn't want a couch like a st1100, concours, etc
However, this all changed in the late 90s when other manufacturers started recycling previous years 1000cc sport bikes, or by making outright sport touring, or naked, or adventure bikes in the liter category, that chewed up the market for the vfr even after it was punched out to 800ccs.
From memory, the duc 916 became the st4 when the new 996 came out, the old aprillia Mille became the Falco, the Suzuki tl1000 became the vstrom, Yamaha made the fz1 witha detuned r1, Kawasaki had the z1, trumph had the St, and so on..
While many people remained loyal to the vfr, by the mid 2000s there were tons of upright orientated bikes one could tour on, that had more power than the vfr800. Honda should have have released the vfr1200 back then..
It will probably be in the Honda lineup for years, especially since Honda is after the adv/St market with the X version with the same motor. I've ridden one. It's great, but its what I wanted years ago when I got a ktm 990 for touring...