VFR 1200

[Bob Sdaman_imp]

To me, I'm pretty darn certain that when Honda came out with this VFR1200, they had one bike in their sights: The BMW K1200S.
Very similar designs, if you ask me.

If I had to spend a couple of hours on the Autobahn at 150mph (for some theoretical practical purpose, of course), I can think of no better tool for the job than one of these two bikes.

 

[rboe]

A Grotto buddy picked one up and he loves it. That said, he recently picked up a used SV650 and that is all I've see him on at the Grotto lately. He really likes the light weight and the quick handling that comes with it. Still in the Honeymoon phase though.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

I've not ridden a VFR1200 but would love to if I had the opportunity. I really like the styling. Too bad it wasn't a sales success. The local dealer has several new and used ones on the floor and it seems he can't give them away.

Even the reintroduced VFR800 was dropped after one year (I believe). You can pick up a new one for less than $8k. Lovely bike.

 

[jrns_imp]

I wasn't aware of the VFR until this thread. I looked it up online and agree that it's a very stylish machine. I see on the Honda website the 800 is available in Canada currently.

 

[the_undecider_imp]

I wasn't aware of the VFR until this thread. I looked it up online and agree that it's a very stylish machine. I see on the Honda website the 800 is available in Canada currently.

Wait, wait, wait! You ride motorcycles, a Honda no less, yet you were completely unaware of a model Honda had recently produced. It's almost as if the VFR12 was poorly marketed. I wonder where I have heard a story like that before...

 

[Riko_imp]

Several years old, here is a nicely put together video by a fella in New Zealand highlighting the VFR1200. Honestly, I know zip about this particular motorcycle, but I only offer this video as I have watched a large number of this gents videos and I find him pretty thorough, and perhaps the VFR proponents may enjoy this as well...

I'll try to share the youtube link of a French motorcycle journal where a man travels from France to Northern-Africa fully packed and loaded.

Just to show you can tour on it;

 

[CB1100DLX_imp]

I wasn't aware of the VFR until this thread. I looked it up online and agree that it's a very stylish machine. I see on the Honda website the 800 is available in Canada currently.

Wait, wait, wait! You ride motorcycles, a Honda no less, yet you were completely unaware of a model Honda had recently produced. It's almost as if the VFR12 was poorly marketed. I wonder where I have heard a story like that before...

Wait, wait, wait! You ride motorcycles, a Honda no less, yet you were completely unaware of a model Honda had recently produced. It's almost as if the VFR12 was poorly marketed. I wonder where I have heard a story like that before...
LOL So true!

 

[the Ferret]

If you google images Honda VFR 1200 you will see how sport bike like the riding position is. i saw the luggage when I did and it's nice. I have seen a couple VF R 1200s in the wild. One hadCortech soft luggage, the others were naked.

 

[Riko_imp]

one solution to know what the riding position is, even including your own lenght and inseam:
Motorcycle Ergonomics

all recent bikes are on that site


VFR1200F


you can even tweak handel bar rises, seat, pegs etc..


VFR800F has 24° forward lean.
De FJR has 11°
de R1 of 2009 has 39°
Our CB's have 11°

All according to my height of 183cm.
BTW you can chose to show data in metric or not...

You can add different bikes as you can see, an scroll easily between them using your scroller on your mouse


Here is the youtube video from the trip Paris - Dakar with a VFR1200F

 

[jrns_imp]

one solution to know what the riding position is, even including your own lenght and inseam:
Motorcycle Ergonomics

all recent bikes are on that site


VFR1200F


you can even tweak handel bar rises, seat, pegs etc..


VFR800F has 24° forward lean.
De FJR has 11°
de R1 of 2009 has 39°
Our CB's have 11°

All according to my height of 183cm.
BTW you can chose to show data in metric or not...

You can add different bikes as you can see, an scroll easily between them using your scroller on your mouse


Here is the youtube video from the trip Paris - Dakar with a VFR1200F

That is a very useful tool...thanks alot for sharing.

 

[quietguy_imp]

Great video, thanks for the link, Riko.

 

[AzBob_imp]

In my opinion, the VFR1200F did poorly for a few reasons: first, it's styling. It came on the heels of the DN-01 and incorporated some of that awful styling. It has a funky fairing arrangement that blends the tank and the side fairings together that looks really weird. The windscreen isn't electrically adjustable, and worst of all, it doesn't have cruise control. The tank is also small when you consider the bike only gets 35mpg. The bags are an add-on and are very expensive.

It's far faster than an FJR at 160hp compared to the FJR's 140ish hp and 50 additional pounds. People bemoaning the weight I think have never shopped this category of bike or never rode the bike. 600lbs is nothing and the bike handles like a 400lbs sport bike. At 600lbs, it's one of the lightest sport-touring bikes available. Hell, my 700lbs Trophy handles better than my CB1100 (not that the CB1100 handles poorly, just that the Trophy is engineered to handle very well, despite its weight -- in other words, weight isn't the whole story).

 

[CB1100DLX_imp]

Some people love the styling and some hate it. The designer was going for a "sculpted" look like an art piece but some didn't like it. I personally think it looks beautiful. And the fairing was not designed just for aesthetics but also functionally drawing air to specific parts of the engine and the rider.

Motorcycle riders are a finicky bunch. It's also harder to categorize motorcycles nowadays. The VFR1200 is sport tourer leaning to the sport side so there is always going be some who say it's lacking in comfort and luggage. Just like someone could say that our beloved CB is lacking in power for an 1100.
All I know is that I'd love to have them both!

 

[Jim21680_imp]

Wow, there really are new Interceptor 800s going for $8,000 bucks these days. That's incredible, and a shame at the same time (why aren't they selling??)

I think this warrants some additional research into insurance.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

I think they're not selling because (a) 800cc bikes are considered "small" in the US and (b) the sport-touring ergo is no longer fashionable. If the bike had a beak and taller bars, it'd probably sell like hot cakes. Personally, I think it's the best sub-$10k motorcycle on the market. At $8k, it's a steal.

 

[Jim21680_imp]

Beak and taller bars, you say?
2015 Honda VFR800X Crossrunner Review

Sadly, Honda doesn't seem to agree with your sales predictions here in the US.
This is definitely one of those times when I wish I could own like 3 or 4 or 10 bikes.

 

[dave]

I presently own a 1998 VFR800, along with my '14 CB1100 Dlx. I wanted so badly to upgrade my VFR800 to a newer, more powerful VFR because I simply love the V4 engine and nearly everything else about it. (BTY, valve adjustments on the VFR800 "pre- V-TEC engine" are way easier than most in-line 4-cylinder bikes. The gear driven cams come right out, allowing easy access to the shims.) I drooled over every press release Honda made public for months prior to the official release, and I intended to be one of the first in line to own one - I was waiting with my money in hand. I would check the internet daily for any new updates! When the first pictures were finally released I was so completely let down - I thought it was one of the ugliest motorcycles I had ever seen! But, I reasoned that if it had the performance that I expected, that if I purchased one the performance would make up for its bad looks, and just maybe the looks would grow on me - after all, you can always get an aftermarket pipe to replace that ugly monstrosity. So I held off my purchase until I could read the test results, and I purchased every single piece of literature I could get my hands on. In a nutshell, this bike was rated mediocre at best. It came in last place in a comparison test in Cycle World, and they were being nice. The European press were not as nice as the American press, and they gave it poor reviews. I know looks are a personal opinion, but I have not met one person who liked the looks of this bike. It's no wonder this bike never sold - ugly looks, below average performance and handling, over weight, over-priced (the center stand was a dealer "option"), and it had no real target audience. It was not sporty enough for the guys like me who lean more towards the sport side of sport touring, and it was not touring enough for the touring guys. It's no wonder I saw brand-new bikes that were 3 years old still on the dealer floor - good riddance!

 

[LongRanger_imp]

Oops... I stand corrected. CrossRunner? I've never seen one.

 

[Hondahawkrider_imp]

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...

 

[Riko_imp]

It was designed by Italians...something did look special about it, in a good way, now I know.
Here is a nice sideview in good quality with the new color scheme:

edit: small correction, it was designed in Italian and German studio's under supervision of a Spaniard named Teofilo Plaza
Source: Wikipedia
Honda VFR1200F - Wikipedia

Designers rally behind 'ugly' VFR1200