COTU The trip Home

Well we made it to Belaire and the shop did have a tire for Chuck's
Fireblade but they do not do any service on Sun. Not to worry I detoured
him back to my house and we mounted and balanced it there. Started on it at
a little after noon and he was out of here at 2:30 or so. Cleaned and
lubed the chain as well. The detour put him three exits west of where he
wanted to jump on the eastbound PA Turnpike. My wife had coffee and cookies
for us and there was also a little pizza left over from the kids lunch. I
expect he should get home near or just after dark.



I had a great time riding with you guys again and hope to see you next year.
Thanks Mike for all of the legwork in arranging the lodging!





Denny


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Hello my name is Bob and I own a 6'th generation VFR. "Hi Bob"

I am the proud owner of a pearl black '06 VFR. I have been riding the
bike since last August and now have a bit over 5000 miles on it. This
is a fabulous motorcycle and I do not understand the lack of respect
both here and on the internet forums. There are guys on the internet
forums that are previous generation owners and still hang out in the
6'th gen areas just to trash the bike. From what I read about the bike
and us owners you would think we are all aged dweebs that wandered into
our dealers to buy a Gold Wing and by some myopic misunderstanding ended
up riding home on an Interceptor. We are still trying to figure out
what happened to the passenger arm rests and the CD player. I
constantly see earlier owners say that they have a SPORT-touring bike
whilst I am riding a boring sport-TOURING bike. That seems to sum up the
gist of the objections that are not directly aimed at the dreaded VTEC.
Lets examine for a moment the changes Honda made from Gen 5 to 6.

First they changed the styling. I personally think the 6G is better
looking than the 5 but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. All VFR's
look good to me. The look of the current bike certainly does not scream
TOURING. Most people think I ride a sport bike.

They altered the brake bias more toward the front of the bike when using
the front lever and more toward the rear when using the pedal. This is
aimed more toward sport riding. They also added ABS as an option.
Neither sport nor touring if you ask me and you can opt out if you don't
want it. ( I don't have it)

They stiffened the frame and improved the suspension. More sporting stuff.

They added a smidgen more fuel and optional hard bags. Well, the bags
are for touring but are optional and certainly another 6lbs of fuel is
not going to kill the bike's backroad performance.

VTEC. Well there it is. Take it or leave it, it doesn't make the bike
more sport or touring. It's just there. I don't find it necessary or
offensive. (that may change when I have to pay for the valve
adjustment. I do nearly all of my engine work but taking the cams off
twice is just a major pain in the rear.) It's just part of the character
of the bike. I think Honda put it in because when they tuned the bike
for low emissions without it they didn't like the results. This engine
is one the sweetest mills in motorcycling with or without it. It just
sings. Not hugely powerful but strong enough, smooth, flexible in the
midrange with a nice eager rush to redline and a lovely miniature Indy
car howl. I don't need the fastest bike on the planet. I need enough
power to have fun and to quickly dispatch the slow cars and cruisers on
my favorite roads.

I have read just about every review written about this machine. Every
one agrees that Honda improved both the sporting and touring aspects of
the bike.Some loved it. Others were expecting a big improvement and got
only a slight one and were disappointed. Some found the VTEC annoying
but tolerable, others liked it. No one concluded that the bike as a
whole was a step backward.

I love this bike. If someone offered me a brand new, zero mile example
of any other generation and it had to be my daily ride, not a collector
bike, I would turn it down. The hard bags alone make this bike the best
of the bunch for the riding I do. I am not just a weekend play rider
although I do that too. I will look for any excuse to ride and having
the ability to actually carry stuff on the bike lets me take the bike to
do things I would otherwise need a car for. They also let me carry a
lunch and a rain suit, and haul my cold weather gear back home easily
when my ride in to work is 45 degrees but the ride home is 75. The bags
don't make the bike look better than it does without them but the
aftermarket hard luggage is butt ugly and soft luggage is inconvenient
to load and unload if if used regularly will wear the paint off the
bike. On the other hand if someone offered me a 6G bike with a brand
new 5G motor in it, I would have to at least take it for a test ride.
The same engine performance without the VTEC might be nice. I might
also find geared cam drives whining to be annoying instead of
intoxicating. Only a ride would tell for sure.

As far as future bikes with bigger engines, be careful what you wish
for. The Honda engineers claimed that they settled on this
displacement after trying several because it offered the best
combination of power, flexibility and smoothness. More power is always
nice but if it came with vibration that put my hands to sleep in 30
minutes I would have to say no thanks. My last bike was a Bandit
1200S. It had monster midrange torque compared to this bike but the
wheezy high rev performance and buzzy vibes also make it seem pretty
crude and unpolished in the same comparison.

Happy riding,

Bob






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And 321 miles later pulled into my driveway at about 7:30 or so....

A Big THANK YOU to Denny for being the "hostest with the mostest".

Will write more later, but I think Dave summarized the trip pretty well.

Thanks again to Mike for taking care of the logistics.

Chuck

_____

From: vfr-bounces@xxxxxx [mailto:vfr-bounces@xxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Denny Fair
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2008 3:25 PM
To: vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: COTU The trip Home



Well we made it to Belaire and the shop did have a tire for Chuck's
Fireblade but they do not do any service on Sun. Not to worry I detoured
him back to my house and we mounted and balanced it there. Started on it at
a little after noon and he was out of here at 2:30 or so. Cleaned and
lubed the chain as well. The detour put him three exits west of where he
wanted to jump on the eastbound PA Turnpike. My wife had coffee and cookies
for us and there was also a little pizza left over from the kids lunch. I
expect he should get home near or just after dark.



I had a great time riding with you guys again and hope to see you next year.
Thanks Mike for all of the legwork in arranging the lodging!





Denny


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Hmm. Why are 6th-gen owners so defensive?

Ciao,

JZH
London, UK
www.vsource.org

On 5/19/08, Bob Wortman wrote:
> Hello my name is Bob and I own a 6'th generation VFR. "Hi Bob"
>
> I am the proud owner of a pearl black '06 VFR. I have been riding the
> bike since last August and now have a bit over 5000 miles on it. This
> is a fabulous motorcycle and I do not understand the lack of respect
> both here and on the internet forums. There are guys on the internet
> forums that are previous generation owners and still hang out in the
> 6'th gen areas just to trash the bike. From what I read about the bike
> and us owners you would think we are all aged dweebs that wandered into
> our dealers to buy a Gold Wing and by some myopic misunderstanding ended
> up riding home on an Interceptor. We are still trying to figure out
> what happened to the passenger arm rests and the CD player. I
> constantly see earlier owners say that they have a SPORT-touring bike
> whilst I am riding a boring sport-TOURING bike. That seems to sum up the
> gist of the objections that are not directly aimed at the dreaded VTEC.
> Lets examine for a moment the changes Honda made from Gen 5 to 6.
>
> First they changed the styling. I personally think the 6G is better
> looking than the 5 but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. All VFR's
> look good to me. The look of the current bike certainly does not scream
> TOURING. Most people think I ride a sport bike.
>
> They altered the brake bias more toward the front of the bike when using
> the front lever and more toward the rear when using the pedal. This is
> aimed more toward sport riding. They also added ABS as an option.
> Neither sport nor touring if you ask me and you can opt out if you don't
> want it. ( I don't have it)
>
> They stiffened the frame and improved the suspension. More sporting stuff.
>
> They added a smidgen more fuel and optional hard bags. Well, the bags
> are for touring but are optional and certainly another 6lbs of fuel is
> not going to kill the bike's backroad performance.
>
> VTEC. Well there it is. Take it or leave it, it doesn't make the bike
> more sport or touring. It's just there. I don't find it necessary or
> offensive. (that may change when I have to pay for the valve
> adjustment. I do nearly all of my engine work but taking the cams off
> twice is just a major pain in the rear.) It's just part of the character
> of the bike. I think Honda put it in because when they tuned the bike
> for low emissions without it they didn't like the results. This engine
> is one the sweetest mills in motorcycling with or without it. It just
> sings. Not hugely powerful but strong enough, smooth, flexible in the
> midrange with a nice eager rush to redline and a lovely miniature Indy
> car howl. I don't need the fastest bike on the planet. I need enough
> power to have fun and to quickly dispatch the slow cars and cruisers on
> my favorite roads.
>
> I have read just about every review written about this machine. Every
> one agrees that Honda improved both the sporting and touring aspects of
> the bike.Some loved it. Others were expecting a big improvement and got
> only a slight one and were disappointed. Some found the VTEC annoying
> but tolerable, others liked it. No one concluded that the bike as a
> whole was a step backward.
>
> I love this bike. If someone offered me a brand new, zero mile example
> of any other generation and it had to be my daily ride, not a collector
> bike, I would turn it down. The hard bags alone make this bike the best
> of the bunch for the riding I do. I am not just a weekend play rider
> although I do that too. I will look for any excuse to ride and having
> the ability to actually carry stuff on the bike lets me take the bike to
> do things I would otherwise need a car for. They also let me carry a
> lunch and a rain suit, and haul my cold weather gear back home easily
> when my ride in to work is 45 degrees but the ride home is 75. The bags
> don't make the bike look better than it does without them but the
> aftermarket hard luggage is butt ugly and soft luggage is inconvenient
> to load and unload if if used regularly will wear the paint off the
> bike. On the other hand if someone offered me a 6G bike with a brand
> new 5G motor in it, I would have to at least take it for a test ride.
> The same engine performance without the VTEC might be nice. I might
> also find geared cam drives whining to be annoying instead of
> intoxicating. Only a ride would tell for sure.
>
> As far as future bikes with bigger engines, be careful what you wish
> for. The Honda engineers claimed that they settled on this
> displacement after trying several because it offered the best
> combination of power, flexibility and smoothness. More power is always
> nice but if it came with vibration that put my hands to sleep in 30
> minutes I would have to say no thanks. My last bike was a Bandit
> 1200S. It had monster midrange torque compared to this bike but the
> wheezy high rev performance and buzzy vibes also make it seem pretty
> crude and unpolished in the same comparison.
>
> Happy riding,
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> vfr mailing list
> vfr@xxxxxx
> For subscription and delivery options:
> https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/vfr
>
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Not as defensive as I would like. Most just sit back. If other
generations got continuously trashed here and other places, no doubt
those owners would be rather vocal.


jzh3@xxxxxx wrote:
> Hmm. Why are 6th-gen owners so defensive?
>
> Ciao,
>
> JZH
> London, UK
> www.vsource.org
>
>
>
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Bob,

Please see below...

On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 12:07 AM, Bob Wortman wrote:

> Hello my name is Bob and I own a 6'th generation VFR. "Hi Bob"
>
> They also added ABS as an option.
> Neither sport nor touring if you ask me and you can opt out if you don't
> want it. ( I don't have it)
>

Not to besmirch your rant, but ABS was available when I purchased my 5th
gen, IIRC.

I don't see much 5 vs. 6 on VFRd, and when there is, it is mostly (95%) in
jest.


-travis

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At 07:24 AM 5/19/2008, you wrote:
>Not to besmirch your rant, but ABS was available when I purchased my
>5th gen, IIRC.
>
>I don't see much 5 vs. 6 on VFRd, and when there is, it is mostly
>(95%) in jest.
>-travis
Sorry Travis, but the 5th gens did not have ABS (only the police
specials in Japan got abs as far as I know).
No parts fiche has it, and I recall that having abs was a big selling
point of the 02's.


JohnS
A Dragon Ascending
"Forging my body in the Fires of my Will"

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I've been known to be wrong before....



On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 7:39 AM, JES_VFR wrote:

> At 07:24 AM 5/19/2008, you wrote:
>
>> Not to besmirch your rant, but ABS was available when I purchased my 5th
>> gen, IIRC.
>>
>> I don't see much 5 vs. 6 on VFRd, and when there is, it is mostly (95%) in
>> jest.
>> -travis
>>
> Sorry Travis, but the 5th gens did not have ABS (only the police specials
> in Japan got abs as far as I know).
> No parts fiche has it, and I recall that having abs was a big selling point
> of the 02's.
>
>
> JohnS
> A Dragon Ascending
> "Forging my body in the Fires of my Will"
>
>

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Bob Wortman wrote:
> bike since last August and now have a bit over 5000 miles on it. This
> is a fabulous motorcycle and I do not understand the lack of respect
> both here and on the internet forums. There are guys on the internet

Get over it.

When the 7th gen comes around, the same thing will happen. I've been
on this list a long time - it happens each time a new model comes out.

C

--
*********************************
Chris Merrill
cmerrill@xxxxxx
*********************************
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jzh3@xxxxxx wrote:
> Hmm. Why are 6th-gen owners so defensive?
>
> Ciao,
>

> JZH
> London, UK
> www.vsource.org
>

Ahhahhah, :) They know they don't have gear driven cams and are trying
to compensate :P

Jon


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Gotta get the whine from somewhere. ;)

thewiredpenguin wrote:
> jzh3@xxxxxx wrote:
>> Hmm. Why are 6th-gen owners so defensive?
>>
>> Ciao,
>>
>
>> JZH
>> London, UK
>> www.vsource.org
>>
>
> Ahhahhah, :) They know they don't have gear driven cams and are trying
> to compensate :P
>
> Jon
>

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Because they're constantly attacked by owners of previous gens, esp ones who
had never ridden a VTEC. This is why I actually left this list for several
years after I got my 02. No one has ever said, "hey welcome bud, you may
not have the best one but you're still one of us".

Karel V-
- member since '96

-----Original Message-----
From: vfr-bounces@xxxxxx [mailto:vfr-bounces@xxxxxx] On Behalf Of
jzh3@xxxxxx
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 6:57 AM
To: vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: Re: No respect/not gonna take it any more (warning: content might
beoffensive to VFR troglodytes)

Hmm. Why are 6th-gen owners so defensive?

Ciao,

JZH
London, UK

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I don't think the VTEC on the VFR was ever touted as being there for an
performance increase. The intent was to meet noise, economy and emission
standards wasn't it?

doug

-----Original Message-----
From: vfr-bounces@xxxxxx [mailto:vfr-bounces@xxxxxx] On Behalf Of
DaCatDaddy
Sent: May 19, 2008 9:16 AM
To: 'Karel V-'; jzh3@xxxxxx; vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: RE: No respect/not gonna take it any more (warning: content
mightbeoffensive to VFR troglodytes)

Anyone with any technical expertise knows that the VTEC VFR's were not the
best. Even Honda, knows that the VTEC's are a joke. It's not that they are
bad bikes, it's just that the VTEC didn't really contribute to any
performance increase. I appreciate the styling of all of the VFR's and
welcome anybody on this list who has a VFR or is interested in VFR's. I
personally think that the gear driven cams sounds way cool and are quite
unique. I think your email created friction as it started with an attitude.
I think you'll find that mist of us are good people and if we are being
critical, we may not be serious. Either live with the way we are or find
another place to make your accusations.

Dave Jordan
1997 VFR750F Gen4
Chicagoland

-----Original Message-----
From: vfr-bounces@xxxxxx [mailto:vfr-bounces@xxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Karel V-
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 8:07 AM
To: jzh3@xxxxxx; vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: RE: No respect/not gonna take it any more (warning: content
mightbeoffensive to VFR troglodytes)

Because they're constantly attacked by owners of previous gens, esp ones who
had never ridden a VTEC. This is why I actually left this list for several
years after I got my 02. No one has ever said, "hey welcome bud, you may
not have the best one but you're still one of us".

Karel V-
- member since '96

-----Original Message-----
From: vfr-bounces@xxxxxx [mailto:vfr-bounces@xxxxxx] On Behalf Of
jzh3@xxxxxx
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 6:57 AM
To: vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: Re: No respect/not gonna take it any more (warning: content might
beoffensive to VFR troglodytes)

Hmm. Why are 6th-gen owners so defensive?

Ciao,

JZH
London, UK

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Hey, welcome, bud, you may not have a 98-01 (the best one), but you're still
one of us.

-m-
1998 Honda VFR800 Interceptor
2000 Honda CBR600 F4
2007 Specialized Tri-cross Comp
2008 Langster New York

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-----Original Message-----
From: Karel V-
To: jzh3@xxxxxx; vfr@xxxxxx
Sent: Mon, 19 May 2008 9:06 am
Subject: RE: No respect/not gonna take it any more (warning: content might beoffensive to VFR troglodytes)



Because they're constantly attacked by owners of previous gens, esp ones who
had never ridden a VTEC. This is why I actually left this list for several
years after I got my 02. No one has ever said, "hey welcome bud, you may
not have the best one but you're still one of us".




I'm with you Karel, a VFR rider is a VFR rider is a VFR rider.......


Some of us just like to whine a little more about it......





As far as "No Respect" goes, I think it just goes with riding a VFR (in sport bike circles
and / touring circles)........



Fred in CT w/ Ver. 96 and whining about missing Rodney Dangerfield.......



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anyone going to post up some pictures......... would be great to see the gang.


TORI

Denny Fair wrote:
Well we made it to Belaire and the shop did have a tire for Chuck’s Fireblade but they do not do any service on Sun. Not to worry I detoured him back to my house and we mounted and balanced it there. Started on it at a little after noon and he was out of here at 2:30 or so. Cleaned and lubed the chain as well. The detour put him three exits west of where he wanted to jump on the eastbound PA Turnpike. My wife had coffee and cookies for us and there was also a little pizza left over from the kids lunch. I expect he should get home near or just after dark.

I had a great time riding with you guys again and hope to see you next year. Thanks Mike for all of the legwork in arranging the lodging!


Denny

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Thanks to everyone for your positive replies. I think we've all gotten over
that vitriol and verbal diarrhea that first appeared in 02/03 and drove a
lot of people to start up VFR D.
I loved my '96 and also loved my '02. Fixed up the VTEC transition with a
Power Commander. In terms of which was the better bike, well you've got to
weigh the increased complexity, maintenance costs and weight against
rideability, so it pretty much comes out even in my book.

Some of us old VFR riders now ride other brands, eh Lou? But we're still
hanging out with VFR people cause they're the best ;-)

So welcome to the new guy, stick around, come for a ride.

Karel V-
- lurker extraordinaire

-----Original Message-----
From: mrydr@xxxxxx [mailto:mrydr@xxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 12:35 PM
To: vmotor@xxxxxx; jzh3@xxxxxx; vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: Re: No respect/not gonna take it any more / Rodney RIP.........

I'm with you Karel, a VFR rider is a VFR rider is a VFR rider.......

Some of us just like to whine a little more about it......

As far as "No Respect" goes, I think it just goes with riding a VFR (in
sport bike circles

and / touring circles)........

Fred in CT w/ Ver. 96 and whining about missing Rodney Dangerfield.......


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What happens at COTU, stays at COTU ;)



You should have been there, it was great ... To see all the years (mostly)
getting along just fine together, it was beautiful.



Carl

_____



anyone going to post up some pictures......... would be great to see the
gang.





TORI






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Tori asked: "anyone going to post up some pictures......... would be great
to see the gang."
------------------------------
I've got a few that I'll post on my Picasa site in a day or two. I'll give
the list a shout when they're up.

Routemeister


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What about those of us who own both generations???? We get treated like
double agents stealing government secrets! LOL

Denny

-----Original Message-----
From: vfr-bounces@xxxxxx [mailto:vfr-bounces@xxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Karel V-
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 9:07 AM
To: jzh3@xxxxxx; vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: RE: No respect/not gonna take it any more (warning: content might
beoffensive to VFR troglodytes)

Because they're constantly attacked by owners of previous gens, esp ones who
had never ridden a VTEC. This is why I actually left this list for several
years after I got my 02. No one has ever said, "hey welcome bud, you may
not have the best one but you're still one of us".

Karel V-
- member since '96

-----Original Message-----
From: vfr-bounces@xxxxxx [mailto:vfr-bounces@xxxxxx] On Behalf Of
jzh3@xxxxxx
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 6:57 AM
To: vfr@xxxxxx
Subject: Re: No respect/not gonna take it any more (warning: content might
beoffensive to VFR troglodytes)

Hmm. Why are 6th-gen owners so defensive?

Ciao,

JZH
London, UK

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