I have come to a conclusion

Today we had a few clouds, the temperature was 68 degrees and the winds were light. I took the VFR out after I replaced the broken front right turn signal lens and MAN did I have a great time.

A couple of months ago I purchased a 2001 model Kawasaki Concours. (The price was really right!) I have been putting some miles on it and letting the VFR sit. There is so much to like about the Connie with its more upright seating position, its hard bags and it full coverage fairing but after riding the VFR the Connie feels like driving a truck. I am sure, with a little work I could find some spirit buried in that bike but I just don’t feel like messing with it. I have the perfect bike already and it’s called a 5th Generation VFR800.

So, I have come to a conclusion, there is really nothing I want more than the VFR. This presents a problem. I never thought that there was such a thing as the perfect bike. I used to scan the Craigslist motorcycle section looking for my next bike but lately it has been just a force of habit. I scan the ads but every time I see something interesting I think "my VFR just just as good or better than that" and I lose interest. The VFR does everything so well. The big wide Sargent’s seat is comfortable and, with the Helibars, the riding position is comfortable too. The performance is out of the world. Case in point: I rode a wide loop and coming out of Celeste on highway 69 I was behind a delivery van. The limit is 70 through there and the road is straight and flat. I kicked it down a gear and screwed it on. We went around that truck and the bike just felt so good I held it on. We were flying up the road with no traffic and I looked down and saw a 112 indicated (which means I was probably at a realistic 100 mph) I shut it down reluctantly, not because it felt bad or unstable, because it didn’t, but because I can’t afford tickets. I think I could have held this pace all day. All this performance in a bike with and engine that is just bullet proof. I can tour on this bike, carve corners and even take it down a dirt road or two. I never hoped to have a bike this good.

I am ruined for other bikes. Maybe I'll look for some beetle bags to make it more versatile. I know a top box would be ideal but i can't bring myself to mount one. It just kills me to mess up the lines.

 

I took my 94 VFR750FR (the black scooter begged to be taken instead but as I rode her across Australia in september I said it was only fair the red scooter got a run) for a country ride with a mate (F800ST). We did 250 km over five hours, just tooling along at the speed limit and enjoying the ride. A long Breakfast in one town and long sit down cold drink in another.
It is a scary thought but the VFR may actually be a better all round bike. The VFR may only have warp drive, not have the transwarp module like the cbr but it is a joy to ride. I find myself flicking it around like I used to my 250.

 

Oh, and the song of the gear drive cassettes is wonderful too.

 

As you've already noted, there is a lot you can do to the VFR to make it much more of a touring bike. I went down that road a few years ago when I was considering an ST1300, but did not want all of the extra weight.

 

Big_Jim, you hit the nail on the head! I too have been scouring CL, thought a lot about the BMW R1200RT, for my long term plans, but they are outrageously expensive, even used. On Friday I went the Post Office and drove past my local Honda dealer, so I stopped in on the way back just to see what they had and found a used 14 Deluxe. Went back Saturday to see what options it had besides the saddlebags, namely the Quick Shift option ($300), which it had, then the salesmen and finance manager went to work on me. No intention to buy it right then, but they made me an offer I couldn't refuse and road home it!

 

Me too. I spent some time on an ST1300 the shop had. I took it on a number of shop sponsored group rides and all I could think of was the weight. It's a nice bike but the VFR is so much lighter. I am sure the ST1300 would be better two up but it's not better than the VFR.

 

Jim,

Since you have made your decision, my offer on that ratty-ass Norton is still good

 

I guess you could take it off my hands for cheap?? The Norton is a very narrow use machine. It's great for fine, Saturday rides on local back roads. It's also great if you like to get together with old farts, drink warm beer and talk about the good old days before electric starting ruined motorcycles. As for a bike that does everything well, like the VFR it's not. It is too maintenance heavy and there are too many question marks in the reliability column for it to ever be that.

 

I'm 5'6" 135# and all the "sports-tourers" are just to big and heavy for me to ride (comfortably). My '97 does everything I need it to do and I enjoy every minute on it. If I won the lottery I'd buy a '14 Deluxe tomorrow, but I'd keep my 4th Gen, if for nothing else, the gear-driven cams.

 

Another attempt at humor tanks.

 

I bought a 850 Commando when the first came out. Didn't really appreciate bikes then, traded in my old 650 Norton Atlas. I weighed 220 then too, and the damn thing would throw me off the bike about every third time I tried to start it! Dealer took it back and I got a Kawasaki 900 Z1 instead.

 

I guess Nortons are just not as funny as Harleys! . . .and it is kind of a ratty ass Norton.

 

Jim I have an Enfield Interceptor and you are right, maintenance heavy, crap bike really if you want to be fair dinkum, poor performance, bad braking,handling, well I can keep it upright, but it is what it is, odd ball machine that always drags a crowd. It is worth at least 5 times what I could get for my 86 VFR that I could just jump on and ride up to northern Australia without even carrying a shifting spanner. Sometimes some things are hard to figure out.

 

Had a lot of fun with the old Norton Atlas, pretty well used so didn't have to worry about hurting it. The main reason I took the Commando back was the seat. The top tube of the frame ran straight back about 6" under the seat with about 1/4 of padding on top. OK solo, but when I had to move up to get my wife on the back, it was killer.

 

One thing you said rings very true. "It draws a crowd." This can be a good thing or a bad thing. If I want conversation I just take the Norton up to the local Kwik Check gas station and fried food joint, get a soda and sit outside with my gear on. It draws conversation like shit draws flys. It seems that everyone had a Norton at one time or another or they had a friend that did. You also get a lot of wreck horror stores from this crowd. I guess they want absolution for giving up riding. Back in the days when the Norton was my only bike this could be problematic if I was trying to get somewhere. Just getting gas can be a trial. If I want to ride incognito I take the VFR. If I get conversation about the VFR it will be from another VFR rider or maybe an ST1100 pilot.

I had a pure hate relationship with a Norton Atlas once. It had to do with a dodgy Lucas mag. I would like to say that was the worst bike I ever owned but I didn't even own it. It was a customer's bike.

 

Send the head off to Kenny Dreer and you can run premium.

Winky-Winky-Nudgie-Nudgie..