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-   -   My '99 Honda VFR800 - Ownership experience (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superbikes-imports/178581-my-99-honda-vfr800-ownership-experience-2.html)

Great bike, superb write up!

I find myself in a similar situation to you (also in a similar age bracket, I think). I am not a biker, haven't owned / ridden anything for over 7 years now. But suddenly, I have this overwhelming urge to buy a big, fast naked bike. I have no idea what I will do if I actually get one, but does not stop me from wanting it.

Write-ups like yours will push me closer to actually buying one! :)

The taxes of course. They currently assemble the CBR650F for nearly 13k OTD. What Honda does is import the engine as is fully assembled while the rest of the parts arrive in separate units. The fully built engine I presume gets taxed higher so it reflects on the pricing overall. Don't think it would be any different for the CRF1000L. I'd be surprised if it sat this side of $17k even in CKD form when they announce the pricing next year.

That and the govt has also raised taxes in terms of displacement this year, atleast for Maharashtra which I think will be emulated in the other states in the next few months to add more revenue. :Frustrati

Since you can buy Indian made small bikes really cheaply relative to the UK, I'd assumed if the CRF1000 was be build there, that should be cheaper too.

I really like the look of the CRF1000... hmm... :p

Hello Rob,
That's a great steed you have there. A similar red 1998 VFR800 would've been my first big bike some 4-5 years ago when I found one up for sale, but I gave it a miss for the owner being a little dodgy on total number of owners and lack of all documentation. VFRs are rather rare here.
I found the 2002-2008 VFR too ugly though. Bit surprised about the heat thing - I though the side-mounted radiators would push the hot air down away from the rider.

I rode that VFR for a short while, and it was my first bike over 350cc , but never felt intimidating. If anything, it felt docile up to some 6000rpm that I could take it to. The V4 power delivery was smooth but the V4 sound somehow fails to enthrall, the way an inline 3 or 4 does. Nonetheless, if those papers were in order I'd have bought it.

I really miss having a main stand that most sportbikes then, and all sportbikes now, skip. I felt the lights were weak, but this can be excused given the bulbs might be the same old ones or cheap replacements. I would expect better tank range out of the VFR though, given it's 21 litres.

The Indian government thinks we earn in pounds, charges 118% duty on imports and 60% of parts , so the same Triumph model here costs more than it does in the UK - and UK/EU are high-tax , so more expensive than the USA. We end up paying 2 times as much for the same bike as an American. Mercifully, spare parts and accessories a little cheaper here than in the UK.

Excellent review Rob. One of wife's colleague has a Blackbird and he always says that it is the best bike ever made! I have been itching to get my motorcycle license but simply not able to find time and permission from Home Minister:D

Meanwhile, where are you exactly in UK? I live close to East Midlands airport. We need to catch up.

I'm in London most of the time, Northants at weekends :thumbs up

Are you into bikes or cars or both?

The fireworks happen after 6000rpm, and the sound changes significantly - I do like a triple but a V4 is way better than an inline 4 for sound effects - check out some RC30 / RC45 onboard race footage on YouTube :)

Absolutely lovely to read that write-up. A buddy of mine who I ride with occasionally, has a VFR 800 as well, in similar colour. Is in Mumbai. His bike featured on one of the club calendars in Europe last year, if I remember correctly. The VFR engine is a gem.

You've mentioned the Honda Blackbird in a later post. Whoever said it was one of the best bikes ever made, wasn't lying. But then, I'm biased :)
Attaching a pic of mine.

Separately, if you're looking for luggage for the VFR, reach out to davidsilverspares in the UK. The original Honda boxes for the VFR were exactly the same if I remember correctly, barring the badging for the individual bikes. You may have a challenge finding the right mounting kit though.

Cheers
Ravi

Well, the VFR has an expired MOT (safety inspection certificate) as of 3 weeks ago. I haven't got around to getting it tested & I was missing riding...

...as if by magic, I got an email inviting me to test a Harley Davidson!

I could choose pretty much whatever model I liked to test. For me, the Dyna models are the most appealing, and the pick of the range is the new Lowrider S, so that's what I took. These look very similar to a couple of the custom Dyna models on Sons of Anarchy - blacked out, drag bars, headlight fairing etc... and the 'S' model packs a 110 cubic inch (1800cc) 'Screamin' Eagle' high performance engine and uprated suspension.

The bike is surprisingly good dynamically (as long as you don't ask too much of it) with USD forks and big twin discs, but what dominates the ride is that thunderous 110ci engine... she really does like to pick her skirts up and run. With 115lb/ft of torque, acceleration is loud, instant, and induces a huge grin. The bike doesn't feel unwieldy or fat at all (I'm 6'1 and 210lbs so I don't tend to struggle anyway) and a relatively slender 160 section rear tyre helps it to tip neatly into the bends.

I am rather impressed :eek:

I have to get a ride on a Triumph Thunderbird Nightstorm now, purely for comparison purposes honest!

More treachery on my part after the Harley...

Sick of the UK winter, in December I headed with my fiance to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, out in the Atlantic off the African coast. It never drops below about 20 degrees in daylight, and has roads like this:



A good friend of mine from London (originally from India) joined us along with his lovely wife. He is also a biker (Ducati Monster S4 with the 916cc liquid cooled engine) and so we hired bikes for the week.

I selected a Triumph Tiger 800, and him a Harley Davidson 883



As expected, the Triumph wiped the floor with the Harley completely :)

Every few miles I would pull over and wait a while for it to catch up! Whilst the Harley boiled its rear brake fluid coming down the mountains, the Triumph was very well behaved, yet great fun. Even with a pillion I had the peg feelers touching down. Very confidence inspiring handling, and the triple cylinder engine had loads of get up & go.

On the last day I had the Tiger, I went out alone and really put it through its paces. The overall impression is of a big supermoto, and you can throw the Tiger about with surprising abandon. When I picked the bike up, it had a brand new rear tyre. After a week with me, it looked like this:



As you can see, I got the full money's worth out of it :D

When I got home, I took the VFR out for a spin. At first it felt odd and very solid/weighty, yet after a few miles I remembered easily why I love that bike. The Triumph triple is more tractable and has awesome midrange, but hit 8000rpm and it's all about the V4, with the melodic wail it produces far more satisfying than any inline engine.

I came home thinking "don't worry old girl, I'm keeping you for good".

A couple of years on from starting this thread, I finally got round to taking a continental road trip on the VFR. I probably don't have enough pictures or route details for a travelogue thread so I'll just summarise on here for now...

I went with my good friend Mayank mentioned earlier in the thread who rides a Monster S4. Since getting married, his bike has done the grand total of about 130 miles in the past couple of years. He booked it in for a service and started nagging me about taking a trip. My VFR has also taken a backseat. Last year I mainly used it for a few 50-80 mile sunny day weekend rides with my Dad, who now looks after and uses my XBR500 mentioned earlier in the thread. When I moved house, I rode it to the new place and parked it in the workshop, where it had sat since last September.

I pulled it out, washed off a thick layer of dust, pumped the tyres up, jump started it off the car and took it for an MOT (roadworthiness certificate), which it passed. A quick reconditioning cycle on the battery charger, and I judged it ready for action! Such is the build quality of these bikes I almost considered forgoing breakdown cover, but thought better of it when considering the implications of a flat tyre or electrical issue, the VFR's only real Achilles heel.

We didn't plan much at all. The original intention was to head for Switzerland, but the weather looked awful for several days in Eastern France so we just booked a morning Eurotunnel crossing (£52 each) & a hotel some 180 miles West in Normandy, with a return crossing via ferry 6 days later (£29 each)

To cut a long story short, after a minor Ducati related breakdown, with the weather looking better down south, we turned in that direction in earnest on day 3, riding from Rennes to Bordeaux. On day 4 we rode over the Pyrenees mountains into Spain, then back up a hundred miles or so into France, with day 5 bringing a sprint up through the Massif Central to land us in the middle of France. Day 6 saw a long ride to a place near Calais, taking in the Thiepval Memorial where my Great Great Uncle Joseph who died serving in the Royal Marines in WW1 is commemorated. It is the largest commonwealth memorial to the missing anywhere in the world. The final day was just a brief hop over the channel and a 250km trudge home, arriving tired but a little triumphant, and very very happy with "old faithful" for doing 3281km in a week without missing a beat after her 9 month sleep.

Here's a video of the old girl tearing through the deserted Spanish valleys before climbing back over the French border:

Run to the hills

A handful of trip pics...



The beautiful but temperamental Italian strikes her best "new skool cafe racer" pose!




You don't need adventure bikes or expensive panniers for adventures - waterproof bags and bungee chords work just fine :D




Bikers united... parked up with a couple of German Harley Davidsons for the night in the beautiful southern French countryside.




Thiepval - over 70,000 men killed during the 1916 Somme Offensive with no known grave are remembered here, including my gt gt uncle and many of his Royal Marines comrades lost on 13/11/1916 in one of the last major assaults. Their names are carved onto the faces of the pillars. A very moving place to visit as a Brit & a relative of one of the fallen. I have a lot of relatives who fought on the western front and I plan to continue visting the places they served & in some cases died.

Brilliant writing there, Rob. Your VFR is quite possibly one of the best bug smashers out there. There's just some sort of magic in a Honda V4 still around from the heydays of motorcycling. Happy riding to you! Looking forward to many more updates. cheers.

Wonderful to see the pics from both rides. The Tiger is a remarkably competent bike, especially below the 8 or 9k mark. A mate and I rode to Rajasthan from Mumbai a couple of years ago, with him on his Tiger 800XrX and me on the Bird. He was decidedly more comfortable through the ride than I was :)
And on Indian roads frankly, the Tiger is absolutely more than adequate.