2014 - Finally in my clutches

Discussion in '8th Generation 2014-Present' started by thestumper, May 4, 2021.

  1. thestumper

    thestumper New Member

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    Drove to the dealer this morning with a friend/Saint to pick up my almost-new 2014. I'd had a deposit on it for about a month, but minor surgery delayed the delivery until I was cleared for flight by my surgeon. The weather was nice on the way up and for three quarters of the way back - the last 30 minutes was brutal. All interstate, driving rain, and tons of traffic. I learned a few useful things:

    - I can still ride in the rain and the bike always handles it better than you think it will.
    - I still dislike it.
    - Semi trucks suck.

    Most of the riding was somewhat sedate by most standards. I got to light it up out of a couple entrance ramps and got it over well enough on a few exits, but once the traffic and rain encroached, that fun was over. I was still able to take away some interesting observations:

    - It's smooth. Almost TOO smooth. The shifting is butter, the VTEC seemed very linear/non-abrupt, and power delivery on the whole was very predictable. The last point is one of the things I valued highly in my '95.

    - It's quiet. Almost TOO quiet. No - definitely too quiet. Everything I read here is true. I've never considered an aftermarket pipe... until now.

    - It's comfy. The bike is stock, but they had put a lowering linkage and dropped the triple tree for a previous buyer that backed out. They remembered to remove the linage kit, but forgot to raise the tree. Once it was sorted, I was surprised how comfortable it was based on comments I read. Similar to my Sprint ST - slightly more aggressive on the pegs and slightly less aggressive in the bars. Wind protection was fortunately good given the weather. 2 hours pretty much non-stop and the minor aches were on me for being out of motorcycle-shape - that will improve. Overall, very impressed.

    - Suspension is.... there. I can't really comment because I slabbed almost the whole trip. One the few occasions I got to get it over early in the trip, it seemed very good. I need better weather and roads to really get a feel for it. I know it won't be my R1, but it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against the Sprint ST. The 2003 ST had a tuned Race Tech suspension and was better than it should have been.

    Honestly, it's just good to be back on a bike. Even though the last half hour was "misery", there was a part of me that still enjoyed it. You know what they say: "a bad day on a bike is still a pretty good day...". I didn't want a ton of power and I didn't want a scalpel - I had that and it was fun at the time. It's better than my '95 in almost every way IMO, but so far it's close to the ST - I now fully understand why that bike was as highly thought of at the time. The Sprint looked interesting, sounded interesting, was well built, and good at everything. We shall see how things stack up moving forward.

    So far, so good. So... so good :)
     
    Thumbs, Vulcanator, Dani and 3 others like this.
  2. philois1984

    philois1984 New Member

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    I doubt you will be disappointed, still love mine five years on. Still have the OEM exhaust on, thinking about a SC Project replacement but always seem to find something else to spend the money on. Enjoy
     
  3. Vulcanator

    Vulcanator New Member

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    Congrats on the new bike. Had mine for 3 years, and it still puts a smile on my face.
     
  4. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    Based on how many Sprints are now not running, I'd suggest this is the part that Honda really nailed.

    The VFR is a 90/10 bike. It will do everything pretty damm well without actually pausing to take a breath. Then you will soon realise that, not only will it keep on doing it but the fact it does everything without comment is also part of why its so remarkable. It truly is a swiss army knife.
     
  5. Grum

    Grum New Member

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    Congrats on your purchase. Had three 6gens before getting the 8gen in 2014. My 8gen is by far the best I've owned and after 84,000kms it's faultless. Love it's tank range, an easy 400kms before looking for a fuel station, so many things I really like about this bike. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Safe Riding.
    Cheers.
     
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