I felate the 98-01 VFR800!

[Removed 4]

WORD

No elec problems. The gear driven cams and V4 power band give it plenty of personality.

 

[Lex Talionis]

Felate?

A nicely written and concise article, Gabe.

Regarding your title: "I felate the 98-01 VFR800!"
I’m wondering about you sucking off a motorcycle, though. What’s up with that?

Were you abusing the tailpipe during your felating?

Definition of Felate
To perform oral sex on a man.
to stimulate a penis using one's mouth
http://freefactfinder.com/definition/Felate.html

felate
v
to suck
"Be a good girl and felate your boyfriend."
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=felate


Lex

 

[vato_loco]

Good article & video, gabe. I see John Joss and his crew almost every weekend at STP, and have always admired his bright-red & clean VFR. And it has 90K plus miles. Wow.

 

[Ironbutt]

Gabe..

Do a article on the EX500 and how it's such a great beginner bike; get some sedate pictures of them purring along.. Almost get us snoozing..

and then..

print some pictures of some modified EX500's jumping city streets and dicing it up on the track..

I'm surprised I didn't discover this little motorcycle earlier.. Damned FUN!

Oh.. no electrical problems either.. haha..

 

[Z3n]

God you have really gone head over heels for that little POS.

 

[Ironbutt]

God you have really gone head over heels for that little POS.

You kidding? I am having the time of my life.

It's close in size and dimension of my very first motorcycle, the Sears mini bike. It's everything I wanted in my first bike. 6 speeds.. brakes, a clutch.. lights.. hah..

Ahh never-mind.. You'll never understand.. brat..

 

[Z3n]

We need to get you back to a real motorcycle pronto. Get your ass on a KTM690SMC or even a DRZ400SM or something. All that unburned fuel's making your brain run funny.

 

[joespeedfast]

I felate the 98-01 VFR800!

I hope you at least had the common courtesy to give the owner a reach-around too.
Yep, those bikes are hard to beat for all-round road-bikes. I looked hard at several under $3K this past summer.
Get 30lbs off and add a supercharger kit...

98-03 ZX-9Rs are next best thing, almost as cheap, just as comfy yet lighter and more powerful. With standard mods like bars, seat and suspension...

 

[hophead]

I think that anybody who says a VFR is "boring" most likely hasn't lived with one for a bit.

My '94 is still a thrilling motorcycle with a ton of character. The engine is so sublime. When it is tuned well and you have a nice exhaust system on it, it is just perfect. It's so exotic feeling and sounding. It's so involving and fun. It always reminds me of a mini Ferrari V-8. It feels and sounds like that. They hit the ball so far out of the park with this bike. 17 years old and it really does still hold it's own. And, when I am on a sweet road just railing along, I never have even for an instant wished I was on something else, which says a lot. I can ride it to the store down the street or 400 miles of mountain passes, and it just begs for more. I'd ride it to New York tomorrow and it has been neglected for the last couple years.


I know, there are many faster and lighter bikes. But there isn't a better value in a bike. And, having spent 2300.00 on it over 4 years and over 30,000 miles ago, it's been an unbelievable bargain for me. Never got so much value from a dollar before. Iron out the well documented "problems" (my bike never had any of these) and it's bulletproof.

oh fuck yeah i love the fourth gen also so fucking cool!

 

[e300zoom]

well written article Gabe, I have never ridden a fifth gen but heres my choice.... a little bias

One of my favorite bikes is the 3rd gen vfr, I had a 93 white one about ten-twelve years ago. The v4 motor and the sound of the gear driven cams just ingrained in my mind forever. still have my regrets on selling it.
fast forward to Nov,2010. I saw a 07 25th anniversary edition still in crate and bought it with out a second thought. The rc51 in delegated to track only because its starting to become a torture rack to commute in. The vtec model throttle is very sensitive in stock form but the pc3 smoothed it out. I am loving every minute of my commute time and this is becoming my all time favorite all rounder bike. still miss the gear driven cam whine of the 93.

 

[Surj]

I've had two. Had a '91, loved it. Have a yellow '00 with a Yosh pipe and Heli-bars, and love it. Not a boring bike at all, and as others have said, that pipe sounds amazing.

That said, I'm almost completely opposite the "type" you called out - "a little older, neatly attired, not quite at BMW-owner levels of prissiness, but clean- cut and serious." Oh well.

 

[weasel]

I'm on my 3d Interceptor

86' My first "sprot bike"
94' That I really miss and it was my first track bike
90' Just turned 100k and still starts almost every morning

I'm biased but great story.

+1 on the Superhawk Best Buy

 

[Zerox]

In 1986 I had a poster on my wall of Freddie Spencer riding the VFR750. Still hard for me to compute how the race-replica VFR, which won the AMA Superbike title, ended up as a sport-touring bike.

 

[Karbon]

Thoughts and questions.

When the 98-01 gen VFRs 1st came out what was the journo's and general public reaction to them?

For some reason I get as sense that they were given a lukewarm reception much like the new VFR1200.

With the benefit of hindsight, it seems a lot of folks seem to appreciate the 98-01 gen VFR as a bike that Honda designed with forethought and to some degree of "future proofing". The bike is still very much relevant.

Do you think this approach and design intent is similar to the vfr1200?

Am I on crazy pills?

 

[Brown81]

I thought the reviews were always outstanding of that model.

 

[Brown81]

In 1986 I had a poster on my wall of Freddie Spencer riding the VFR750. Still hard for me to compute how the race-replica VFR, which won the AMA Superbike title, ended up as a sport-touring bike.

Seriously. Bubba Shobert!

RC-30 came and relegated the VFR to a role as a streetbike.
Although, I know the 3rd and 4th gens had some success endurance racing.

 

[V4]

Thoughts and questions.

When the 98-01 gen VFRs 1st came out what was the journo's and general public reaction to them?

For some reason I get as sense that they were given a lukewarm reception much like the new VFR1200.

With the benefit of hindsight, it seems a lot of folks seem to appreciate the 98-01 gen VFR as a bike that Honda designed with forethought and to some degree of "future proofing". The bike is still very much relevant.

Do you think this approach and design intent is similar to the vfr1200?

Am I on crazy pills?

worst critics of the VFRs are the owners of previous model owners of VFRs that hasn't ridden the later VFRs...

the pre 97 vfr owners say the 98s weigh more with same amount of power ...

i've heard the weirdest tales about the VTEC and the undertail exhaust being one side is fake from non vfr riders and previous generation vfr owners ever yet the 02 and up vfr one bike of the year for a few years.....

i like the 97 vfrs over the 98-01s but like the 02 +...my bias is towards the 06 and up VFRs even though I've owned the 02...

the newer 1200 takes a mindset of not thinking of it as the previous vfr but it's own genre....i actually like it compared overall to the k1200s around town and slow speed stuff...the faster stuff , the K bikes comes to life though...but on dry surfaces where the vfr is easier to ride in most conditions..

but FU honda for changing the location of the horn button...

 

[Gabe]

Thoughts and questions.

When the 98-01 gen VFRs 1st came out what was the journo's and general public reaction to them?

For some reason I get as sense that they were given a lukewarm reception much like the new VFR1200.

With the benefit of hindsight, it seems a lot of folks seem to appreciate the 98-01 gen VFR as a bike that Honda designed with forethought and to some degree of "future proofing". The bike is still very much relevant.

Do you think this approach and design intent is similar to the vfr1200?

Am I on crazy pills?

I think it got the normal amount of media hype, though I think it may have been overshadowed by the Superhawk, which was released about a year earlier.

It's hard to say what Honda was thinking with the VFR1200, other than it sort of resembles the concept bike they showed in 2008. bHowever, unlike the concept it's no sportbike, even if Honda says it is and bristles when you call it a sport-tourer. Maybe a hardcore V-4 sportbike is coming from Honda and it will make more sense? Who knows.

And thanks to the other posters for some good "Best Buy" suggestions--I really like the ZX-9R. Who has one they want to loan me for a week?

 

[Hawaiirider]

I swapped a bud's 5th-gen Viffer a couple years back - I'd ridden them some before (on test-rides -stuff from the shop), but he wanted to try my ST4, so I had the VFR for 3 days.

Super-smooth and decievingly fast, but I was glad to have my Duc back - I really like it's slightly smaller size, lighter feel. The valve-train's gear noise is pretty neat though.

 

[akatsuki]

I think it got the normal amount of media hype, though I think it may have been overshadowed by the Superhawk, which was released about a year earlier.

It's hard to say what Honda was thinking with the VFR1200, other than it sort of resembles the concept bike they showed in 2008. bHowever, unlike the concept it's no sportbike, even if Honda says it is and bristles when you call it a sport-tourer. Maybe a hardcore V-4 sportbike is coming from Honda and it will make more sense? Who knows.

And thanks to the other posters for some good "Best Buy" suggestions--I really like the ZX-9R. Who has one they want to loan me for a week?

I can only hope that the V4 engine makes it into a sportier bike - seems like a waste to spend all that development money on a Goldwing.

 

[Kestrel]

In 1986 I had a poster on my wall of Freddie Spencer riding the VFR750. Still hard for me to compute how the race-replica VFR, which won the AMA Superbike title, ended up as a sport-touring bike.

Money.

V4s are much more expensive to build than their I4 counterparts. Honda quoted sometime last year that to build a 600cc V4 sportbike, the out the door cost would be somewhere around 16k. Race teams use them because the engine is fantastic for not only making power, but putting it to the ground. Most public folks aren't willing to pay that kind of money, niche bikes like the RSV4 aside, which is also teh sex. Shame we didn't really get the VFR/RVF400s over here in the USA.

 

[yella600rr]

Loved mine, yellow, had it for five years. Should have kept it. Never had a problem.
Anyone need the power commander?

Yes, you should have kept it!

I miss that bike too!

 

[vfrcapn]

I've had my '99 VFR for almost 10 years now and don't think I'll ever part with it. Tbros full exhaust, RC51 front end, Ohlins suspension and it's just about perfect. It commutes, gets the groceries, does track days and cross country trips. That V4 gear whine is intoxicating every morning! It's boring in the sense that maintenance is minimal and the electrical issues have been minor, never leaving me stranded in 75K miles. If that's 'boring' I'll take it any day.

 

[Brown81]

Money.

V4s are much more expensive to build than their I4 counterparts. Honda quoted sometime last year that to build a 600cc V4 sportbike, the out the door cost would be somewhere around 16k. Race teams use them because the engine is fantastic for not only making power, but putting it to the ground. Most public folks aren't willing to pay that kind of money, niche bikes like the RSV4 aside, which is also teh sex. Shame we didn't really get the VFR/RVF400s over here in the USA.

While the money is a valid point, they continued to build VFR's.

All while building very expensive RC-30's and later RC-45's for homologation.

So, while money is a huge factor in building now, back then it didn't seem to be as much of a factor, no?

 

[maskmarney]

It's far from being an exciting bike, but I think the Kawasaki ZR7 and ZR7S were great buys. I've had a 2000 ZR7 for four years and 23,000 miles (I do have other bikes) and only recently had a problem with it—corroded ignition points, probably due to the cool foggy nights of SF and my lack of a garage. With a few mods, like an ignition advancer, jet kit, K&N air filter, and an aftermarket pipe, it is a surprisingly fast bike, for straight-line acceleration, and the air/oil cooled inline 4 is bulletproof. It has a large tank (5.7 gallons) and is a comfortable tourer— I rode 6,000 miles in 15 days this past summer and never felt uncomfortable because of the bike, only because of the heat and humidity. On the downside, it is an ugly bike and doesn't handle very gracefully. For that reason, I was compelled to buy a KTM 950 Adventure to accompany it. My avatar, in fact, is a photo of the ZR7 on highway 12 in southern Utah, near the Escalante river. If you've never ridden this road, I highly recommend it: I believe it's at least as good as highway 1 or 36 in CA.