The VFR 1200 Dogpile Merged Derisionfest Thread

After a few rainey days I was looking at some new bikes today;the sunshine brought out some hormones...
Anyways,not too much out there able to accelerate my heart rate.
Would love to buy a S1000RR;most exciting bike I ever rode but for the majority of my riding (on the streets) the bike is pointless.Too uncomfortable,too over the top...jail or cemetary...
If you are looking for something sporty and practical unfortunately there is slim pickings...
From Italy or England there is nothing.
From Germany only the K1300S and Japan the VFR 1200 or maybe Kawa Z1000SX...
I looked at one at a VFR 1200 at a Honda dealership today;unfortunately no test-rides...
It looks not as ugly to me anymore as I thought it did when it came out.
A sport-tourer with drive-shaft,ABS and factory luggage.
So far so good except for the linked brakes,small tank,price and weight on the porky side.
What makes me wonder why I have never seen one on the road ?!
What is the reason why it is so un-popular ?

Poor mpg.

Small tank, poor mpg, very lazy under 5000 rpm for a 1200, expensive.

Another reason you dont see many is because the sport / touring market is dead, Nowadays if you want a bike that is comfy and fun in the twisties you buy a bike with a upright seating position and wide handlebars. Like a KTM 990 SMT, Triumph tiger, Ducati multistrada.

Has a V4 engine but sounds like an inline 4. Phail.

I had a GS and I got tired of riding a dirt bike on the street. And there is the durability issue with the final drive and the fact that you have to take the entire motorcycle apart to work on the clutch.

You've wrong on the throttle response. It will smoke a GS in every way on the street.

Your right on the mileage. The reason being is that the engine immediately converts gasoline to motion. With just a couple of degrees throttle it's 70 to 90, instantly. It is hard to ride without really hauling ass and that uses fuel.

It needs an electronic cruise control for economy and the ticket book.

Lazy my ass....... You are a case in point for not believing what you read on the Internet.

And what even relatively modern sport/sport-touring motorcycle doesn't? (and BMW GSs hardly count as "sport"-tourers, BTW.) The VFR1200 ain't no performance/speed head-and-shoulders stand-out in it's displacement class (1000+cc). And yet the vast majority don't pay such a steep price in MPG. You're a case on point for realizing not every authoritative statement voiced on the internet is based upon anything beyond someone's overly subjective and overly sensitive wounded pride.

And, really, perhaps the bigger issue is the relatively small fuel tank: poor fuel mileage is one thing, well under <200 mile range on a tank of gas for a "sport-tourer" is inexcusable.

The Kawi Concours and Yamaha FJR seem to me to be much more viable alternatives for big displacement sport-tourers.

My pride isn't involved here. Hell, we're anonymous.

Since when does a motorcycle have to fit in a category? ST/Sport/Touring
All design is a compromise. It is what it is. That is why you need multiple motorcycles.

But I'm telling you that the throttle response on the VFR is remarkable.
It is drive by wire and it is anything but lazy.

Have you ridden one?

Too much "stuff", those.

If I were to replace my Super Blackbird, it would be with a VFR1200F DCT or a ZX14. But, I'm not going to do so. The 'bird still flies, and there's no need for me to spend, especially in a down economy.

Thanks for your input so far.
Like I said no testrides but reading the magazines the K1300S has 20 hp more and dustes the VFR1200.
But realistically on the street you probably won't notice it except for the fluffy bottom up to 5000rpm where a 1200 cc engine should go straight from idle...
But looking at the whole bike from the seating position,fairing,factory bags,shaftdrive it is the only real sport-tourer coming out of Japan today.
Suzuki,Yamaha,nothing.
Kawasaki maybe the Z1000SX but ABS only for europe and chaindrive.
Multistrada,KTM,Tiger are way to upright to be real sport-tourers...
Who knows how the clutchless version works?
I heared it is another 20 lbs heavier and the power is even more cut in the first 4 gears because gear 1/2,3/4 and 5/6 pretty much have only half the clutchplates in that DSG transmission...
No feeding out the clutch during take-offs?
Does it blip for you on down-shifts?
They wanted $17500 + tax/license for it without bags...
For 12 O.T.D. I might be willing to find out why it really is so un-popular...

I never said anything about "lazy"--I'll happily defer to your experience in that matter, since I freely admit I have none. I merely responded to your statement that the bike's poor gas mileage can be attributed to what you feel is a legitimate trade-off for what you claim is stellar motive performance--the standard "it takes fuel to go fast". My point was/is that other bikes offer (widely documented) equal or better performance with better fuel economy.

I'm not looking to pick a fight, just pointing out that your statement(s), despite the manner in which they are delivered, are either flawed or simply not factual; what they are is one person's opinion based upon their own experience, and that experience is clearly subjective and quite possibly limited (by implication in that you feel that the VFR1200 is some remarkable power-house whereby it's relatively greater fuel consumption is repaid in direct proportion with relatively greater performance (and not perhaps due to greater frictional losses of its high-tech drive train). You ask if I've ridden a VFR1200, but I'm not the one making the authoritative, first-person claims (and actively and unnecessarily drubbing others in the process). You are. So what really needs to be asked--and answered--is what else have you ridden that allows you to make the claim that the VFR's sub-standard fuel economy is offset by above-standard engine performance. I understand your specific point that you feel it is superior to a BMW GS, but your general statement calls for broader-ranging support.

And, since we're engaged logically/factually debating/critiquing statements you make:

Clearly, we're not anonymous here, we're just (for the most part) known by names other than what we use in general society, and/but known by a considerable audience, to boot.

And, I find your statement(s) about -motorcycles not having to fit into categories as the reason for needing more than one motorcycle- rather awkward. It seems to me that the supposition that motorcycles may transcend/over-reach any particular category/ies would imply that fewer (perhaps even *one*), and not more, motorcycle(s) are needed, since any given bike need not be so narrowly defined by a particular category that it can't serve to function in multiple roles.

Anyway, enjoy your VFR; it sounds like your perfect bike, and, therefore, I'm glad you have it.

julesmt dood it, not south.


Edit: Swapped bikes with a Bud in July & rode his '10 Concours 14 ~60 miles on I49. That thing is a rocketship and the electric windshield alone is almost worth the price of admission. But it was mid-July and 106degF or so and it was like being in a convection oven - no airflow behind the fairing/shield whatsoever aside from what I could get to my head by lowering the shield. And the seat's like a 2x10. Other than that, great, great bike that I'd love to do a X-Country on, in, say, January or February. But not in August!

@south: Gotta love it when someone else points out that opinions ain't facts. I'm old and I get so tired . . . . .
oser

I took a test ride of a DCT version. Plenty of power everywhere, I'm sold on the DCT, and it definitely had the V4 vibe. MPG and range? From what I've read, both from journalists and owners, I would expect average real-world MPG to be in the low 40s (like my CBR1100XX), with safe fuel-ups in the area of 160 to 180 miles. That's not as good, of course, as the XX (tank size), but is about the same as the 599 (in MPG, tank size and range) I owned previously - and that was never a problem on long rides.

Those that have test ridden the bike and those that own the bike are generally very impressed by it. Get off of the conjecture and ride one.

I`m not saying those bikes are typical sport / tourers. But they are very capable at sporty street riding over longer distance. Before these bikes if you wanted a sporty yet comfortable bike you had no choice but to buy something like a Honda vfr. This new breed of fun street touring bikes are very capable and more fun in tight twisties or cities compared to the traditional s/t bikes. The only place were a traditional s/t bike is better (more fun) is in long sweeping curves or the highway.

You could also check out the Triumph sprint GT, nice s/t bike with factory lugage.

Never say "never," never say "always," and "only" can get you into deep Kimchi, too; once again, opinion is being touted as fact. What you really need is a late K100RS - cheap, dependable, fast enough, over 50mpg cruising @ 70-80 (fact), and still a helluva bike. BRICKS

It's Fugly.
The performance between bikes is so close that looks took over as the main reason to choose a bike.
Im not blasting Honda, they make GREAT bikes.
Just like when the 929 and 954 came out, awesome bikes, great motors, performed beyond my capabilities, but didn't do it in the looks department for me.
The CBR 250 looks kind of like it, but I still consider it 100% better looking than the VFR 1200.
Also, I think the 02-09 vfr 800 looks great and would buy one if I had the extra cash.

Here in tampa FL I got a friend that can get you on one for about $16k out the door, for the automatic.
I don't know if that is a great price.

Like I said I was looking at it yesterday and would have liked to ride it but no...
As far as sports-tourers go the only real contender from japan but I was wandering why I have never seen one on the road...compared to the older VFR which were actually quite popular ?!
Heared that the handling of the VFR1200 is also a little clumsy compared to the 800...
A american magazine that doesn't accept advertisement $$$ had a comparo of the VFR 1200,Conny 14 and FJR 13 recently.The also had a new GS as a camera bike and carrying mule.
They all agreed that the GS was the best sports-tourer and bike they would by with their own money.
Go figure...and the GS as also Connie or FJR are not even real sports-tourers...
I guess I have to keep waiting for a "adult version" of the S1000RR with a little more legroom and nice-cessities like factory luugage and centerstand or a practical & sporty R1200RS boxer...
But for 12K/w bags OTD I would be willing to find out how bad the VFR really is...
And if I was 16 I surely would pester my old man to buy me that nice little CBR 250 with ABS... what a nice bike for a beginner !

Amen brother. Tell it like it is. Sport tourers are for old timers stuck in the '70's and '80's. Adventure tourers are the future. Honda killed off the VFR 800 and replaced it with an adventue tourer. Ducati killed off the ST series and replaced them with an Adv. tourer. KTM skipped the whole genre and based their touring bike on the supermoto platform, not the Duke/RC8 platforn. 'nuff said.

When Honda builds the adventure tour version of the VFR1200 it will sell.

M

I posted someone's review here

Thanks, but answering that is too much like work.