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I felate the 98-01 VFR800!

Zerox said:
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. :laughing
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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.
 
Karbon said:
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?
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worst critics of the VFRs are the owners of previous model owners of VFRs that hasn't ridden the later VFRs...:wtf:laughing

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...
 
Karbon said:
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?
Click to expand...

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 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.
 
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Gabe said:
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?
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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.
 
Zerox said:
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. :laughing
Click to expand...

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.

RVF_400_RR_RR-II_RT_RT-II_%28NC35%29_%28import%29_94-96_1.jpg
 
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.
 
Kestrel said:
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.

RVF_400_RR_RR-II_RT_RT-II_%28NC35%29_%28import%29_94-96_1.jpg
Click to expand...

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?
 
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 :cool 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.
 
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I had a nice 96 VFR, Ohlins rear, RaceTeched forks. Loved every minute riding it. Me and the GF did a week long hiking/biking trip. Great fun.

The Futura out does that bike on every front. More power,better handling,more comfort , included hard bags ,a little bit more cache. Similar gripes, weight, electical issues quirky looks.
 
day004 said:
I had a nice 96 VFR, Ohlins rear, RaceTeched forks. Loved every minute riding it. Me and the GF did a week long hiking/biking trip. Great fun.

The Futura out does that bike on every front. More power,better handling,more comfort , included hard bags ,a little bit more cache. Similar gripes, weight, electical issues quirky looks.
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I always wanted to try a Futura. They seem to be almost a perfect streetbike. I've seen some awesome deals on those.
 
Here's one of the coolest 5th Gens ever. Many of you have probably seen it. Dude posted this on VFRD as he was building the super charger for it. Did an amazing job on it, imo.

I think it ended up making 170+hp!
 

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Brown81 said:
Here's one of the coolest 5th Gens ever. Many of you have probably seen it. Dude posted this on VFRD as he was building the super charger for it. Did an amazing job on it, imo.

I think it ended up making 170+hp!
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Oh yeah. That thing looks tiiits hot with the RC forks.
 
I remember reading about that supercharged VFR while he was doing the build I lost the link. I'm glad to see he finished it. Looks hawt!

Gabe, cool story but your quote is wrong. “It’ll do 1000-mile days and it’ll do 1:45s at Laguna Seca,” says John. He actually said “It’ll do 1:45s at Laguna and it'll do 1000-mile days.”
:D
 
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