Praise for an under-powered, over-weight motorcycle

I just returned from the Dolomites, a specatacular area of the Italian Alps. It was the second time I took my 2016 8G to the mountains this year. The first time, shortly after I had bought it, I still had to get used to the VFR. After all, this is a totally different animal than my previous bikes - inclsuing a Husqvarna Nuda, a KTM990SM, and even a XT1200ZE. And it is certainly different from my raw and brutish restomodded Speed Triple T509.

There are a couple of memes that go with the VFR: It gets better with every mile you put on it, or: It feels as stable as an ICE (German express train) on wheels. Actually, I never believed any of that. But the matter of the fact is: It is all true.

The riding on the narrow and steep roads in the Italian Alps is physically demanding and technically challenging. I have returned from my latest trip with nothing but respect for what this bike is able to do. When things got a little more spirited, what looked like a bland and neutral character turned into a precision tool that lets you use all riding techniques required and gives you exact feedback on what you are doing.

I am typically a little conservative when it come to loading the front tire when going into a turn, but I quickly changed that with the feedback that the VFR provides. The bike tells you a story as pressure builds up, re-shapes the tire slightly, as the side of the front tire is gripping into the tarmac, and the slight slight micro-slippage as tire and tarmac negotiate. It is a ll there, you can feel it happen in your palms.

Then there are the hairpins. Not the forte of a bike with clipons, especially downhill. What the VFR is able to do here is quite confidence-inspiring: Brakes can be modulated finely, shifting is super precise, shifting brake force from front to back before entering the hairpin is easy, changing from engine braking to open throttle on apex is butter smooth. Doing hairpins (like 39 of them on the Passo Stelvio) shows the level of refinement a bike has, and the VFR has loads of it.

I do understand everyone who complains about the VFR being a little bland, not having enough power and being slightly overweight (actually, that could probably characterize me as well). This is all true when you do the bike the disgrace to ride it on boring roads. Given the task of proper sports touring in the mountains, plus getting you (and your luggage) there in comfort, plus always taking you back home, there is nothing that can touch a VFR in my view.

Why am I writing this? In the constant higher, faster, lighter competition, there seems to be less room for the virtue of balance - neither for riders nor bikes. Everything just needs to be more extreme. The VFR, however, is the pinnacle of balance. It will never win any shootouts or competitions. But what it will do is provide you with a precision tool to master any demanding ride. In that, it makes me a better rider. Not much more I could want from a bike.

My 2c, of course.

Thomas

 

Excellently put Thomas. Well written too! I must say that I agree. I must also say that I am jealous; we have some nice roads here in Quebec and surrounding areas, however, I've been to the Alps, in France/Italy/Switzerland (I have family there) and can only imagine how riding a motorbike there could be...

Hopefully one day.

Take care.

 

Excellent write-up/report Thomas - I can only dream of riding my VFR in the Alps! Maybe I can fly over there one day and rent a bike - that would be epic!

Whenever someone calls the 8th gen under-powered or over-weight, I just post this vid by Smokeandmirrors and tell them to STFU

 

And that right there is most perfect thing written on the subject of motorcycling. Hell, it is also very applicable to society in general. Wonderful write up.

 

Very well put. It shows a mature outlook (not just in motorcycling) that can easily be lost in the pursuit of "more".

Sometimes the best things are balanced and understated.

Of course this only works for those mature enough to recognise it as true. To a squid, our VFRs are always just fat and slow. To the enlightened they are poised and thoroughly considered motorcycles.

Stray