New VFR1200 owner

Bought a new VFR1200 today, standard 6 speed. Looking for aftermarket stuff and any issues that might be known on the bike.
Thanks!

 

Congratulations. That's a lot of bike. I hope you have a bunch of fun

wrestler

 

1200

Thanks, I think this is bike number 38 for me. Trying to find out all the ins and outs of the bike. It seems really choked up with the stock exhaust, cat, detuned map in 1st and 2nd gear. I suspect there is good potential in the bike though. And I like the way it looks, though weird to some.

 

Yes, it is not a universal fan favorite. I will be interested to see your modifications as the year goes on. I wondered if that exhaust was a problematic as it is ugly. Keep us posted

 

Welcome aboard
We are all interested to learn about it too. There are a few 1200 owners here, but it is still pretty new.

 

Congrats, don't let any of the 1200 haters run you off. There are plenty of us that are interested in that bike, despite the fact a lot of us would make some modifications. It looks as though a good exhaust and chimney, in concert with a PC5, will get the 1200 where it wants to be. If dynojet would just get the thing developed we could all find out for sure. Anyway, enjoy the ride.

 

Easy on the exhaust mods....

Congrats on the purchase.

There were a ton of new design integrations on the 1200 that are completely different from any other Honda street bike in production. Before adding a bunch of aftermarket items to it, I'd first have it put on a Dyno to see what the actual numbers are on it now and possibly re-map the PGM-FI to your liking before replacing the exhaust. It may be just that the stock settings seem a bit sluggish to you due to the initial settings required by the EPA to meet their current (and ridiculously high) specs.

If after putting it on the Dyno you & your shop deem that a change is required to satisfy your taste, then so be it. But I'd hate to see you waste your hard earned money on some fancy looking exhaust with a name brand on it that you didn't need in the first place. After all, you just spent $16k on a new ride... a couple hundred more to see the actual hp and torque ratings, power curves and knowing the actual settings would be tops in my eyes (You may even be able to tweak the fuel mileage out a bit in the process).

Also, if you're interested in seeing what kind of changes were made to the 1200 and how it operates internally then check out my thread http://vfrworld.com/forums/7th-generation-2010-present/32781-vfr1200f-inside-look.html?pagenumber and watch both videos. It takes about 20 minutes of your time, but the information is pretty cool.

 

Congratulations on your new VFR, it seems a bit early still I haven't heard of any major problems. I know 2 guys with VFR1200 one the manual the other a DCT both at this time happy with them listing the brakes as brilliant and mid range power phenomenal, re mods the one on the manual has changed the end can with an after market and rear shock with a Penske. Oddly the one with the DCT is a long time continual motorcyclist and still owns his original VFs and VFR Gen 1 uses the new VFR1200dct as his daily commuter/tourer. Interested in his opinion I asked him his thoughts and how it compared with other VFRs his answer is interesting.

Thoughts on his VFR1200dct
" Basically I like it very much, suits me and my riding requirements, I'm no sport bike rider and being "very" close to 50 I'm not really inclined to go that way. The "sporty" side of sport-tourer is my impression of the Veefalo, oodles of low-mid range gruntage is available, this is what I like and lets face it, we don't ride around at 7krpm + all the time do we? The amount of pull it has between 4k and 7k is mind boggling, and that's coming from someone who has ridden a Blackbird for the last 5 years.... it does indeed have a decent turn of speed up high too, surprisingly so, triple digit speeds come very easily...too easily in fact. However, most motorcycles these days will do this with ease. It doesn't "feel" to have the top-end rush of the 'bird's inline 4 though, mind you indicated speeds tend to belay that theory, it's a damn fast motorcycle and it does it with minimal fuss and bother. My bike is stock so far but I suspect a new pipe may be on the cards soon, just weighing up the options. Mile munching is what it will do and do well, the tank range may let it down.. although I've seen in excess of 300kms from ~18liters twice so far. "

How it compared to other VFRs
" I have had my fair share of Honda V4's in my time, my list goes as follows, 4 x '84 VF1000FE's, 1 x '85 VF1000FII Bol'Dor, 2 x '83 VF750F's, (still got these), 1 x '85 VF500F, 1 x '84 VF1000RE, (my pride and joy, 'orrible to ride, too much power for the brakes and handling... but will never sell it), 1 x '86 (Gen1) VFR750FG, (great bike), 1 x '10 VFR1200FD...(Time will tell on this one). These are just the V4's, and just to bore people, I've also owned the following, 1 x Suzuki '74 T500 twin, (2smoker), 1 x Yamaha RD350, 1 x '81 GPZ 1100 (piece of junk that was), 1 x '79 CB400TII, (still got this too, good fun to ride), 1 x '98 CBR1100xx Blackbird...(my daily ride for the last 5 years).

I've never owned a Gen 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 VFR though. I have ridden a Gen 3, Gen4 , Gen 5 and 6. The Veefalo resembles the Gen 6 only in the riding position and overall peg/seat/handlebar feel, however, once you start the engine all bets are off. John, I don't think the Gen 7 V12 is as close to the other Gen's as we may like to think, don't get me wrong though, there's not a bad bike among the previous Gen machines, the V12 is just "too different to be the same", yes it's a V4, but that's where it ends. 76 degree V, 28 degree offset crank V4, versus all the others 90 degree V, 180 crank, ( the 360 cranked RC 30 and 45 aside), shaft drive vs all the others chain. The engine is more reminiscent of the older 360 cranked engines than the later 180 machines, the engine beat is just different. "

 

new viffer 1200

Traded my Ducati multistrada 1200 for the vfr1200, and got a great price on the VFR and retail on the Multi. The multi needs some FI bugs worked out; they should have used the standard superbike motor IMO. The VFR doesn't have the low end grunt of the Ducati, but it is surely more refined, and I'm sure some tweaks can help the VFR.

 

Now that's interesting, the new Multistrada gets such good reviews as the ultimate "All rounder" and have been curious to test ride one, what influenced you to change so soon ?

 

multi vs vfr

The Multi had some good points like the upright motard like riding position (although you catch more wind that way), and not too heavy. Some quality parts like Marchesini wheels and Brembo brakes. They all run crappy below 4000 rpm with surging bad.
This is way understated in the cycle magazine reviews. And they sit really tall; I have 34" inseam and anything less than that would be difficult to put 2 feet down at the same time. When they say 4 bikes in one, it means you can ride on bumpy pavement or a dirt road, since they have 7" of travel. That said, I wouldn't take one anywhere near large rocks. The motard wide handlebars give you a lot of leverage, and they are easy to handle. Ducati as a company sucks really bad in customer service. They said just don't ride below 4000rpm. Hondas are more refined, and a dedicated street bike has some advantages over a motard like bike. The Honda dealers seem to be eager to please the customer, and my experience with Honda is that they are reliable. After test riding the VFR demo, I thought this could be a bike for me. There are some REALLY big discounts on existing VFR1200s on the showroom floor. Like when I bought a new 2008 CBR1000 in 2009. Oh, and an FMF Apex for that CBR was $359 total. Try buying a Ducati Termignoni system for that price. You might could get an official Ducati coffee mug for that price...

 

Great reply, interesting that it has such bad low end fueling and you're right the magazines gloss over that aspect. Mind the Multistrada is a large capacity high reving Vtwin like the 1098 it's based which is horrible to ride in city traffic so perhaps it shouldn't be a total supprise.

 

That's a nice Christmas gift to yourself! Congrats and Welcome aboard!