What might (should?) have been...

Whatever floats your boat, I say.

Wait, what forum is this?

 

It’s the whiner forum

 

Perfect. I also like cheese.

 

Whining about peoples opinions of the motorcycle industry? Every motorcycle forum there is has discussions about manufacturers and their products. Why piss on someone view? How about some intelligent insightful discussion.

 

I think 'Gator Greg' has two issues here:
a) he has the latest VFR800 and has taken my thoughts/discussion personally which is a shame.
b) he seems to have a short fuse towards an opinion/comment/observation he does not like and then, unable to control his emotions, resorts to unfriendly attacks.
I don't think any reasonable person could argue that the latest VFR800 or 1200 are bad bikes. Cetainly not me! They are great bikes but that is not what I have been 'whining' about. I had hoped that was obvious but, if I have not explained my thoughts very well, I apologise for any rage caused.
I did watch 'GatorGreg's' video. It was fun to watch but not that helpful; I have been discussing in absolute rather than anecdotal terms.
It's a good job Aprilia have sussed out what works and taken the V4 concept into the 21st century.
NOW, it really is Honda's turn!! No more excuses.

 

Aren't we just talking about VFR's? What's wrong with that?
Get a grip man!!! Have a beer.

 

Very nice - 2 VFR's including the ultimate, an RC30. Love it.
Good points made thanks. Got me thinking.
If you could only have one bike - like myself - you might hanker for more power and less weight than that offered by a 5th gen VFR?

 

Yes, but that would be like hankering for an RC30! In truth, it's the differences that please me. I returned from the Classic TT last Tuesday (..having camped and ridden the 5th gen around the Island course for a week), and couldn't wait to get back on the RC30. However, since then I've overdosed on it and can't wait to ride the 5th gen again. (..the grass is always greener - as they say).

Steve

 

I don't think the VFR would have been successful if it had continued to evolve as a super sports.

Super sports are clearly about two important factors. Power and light weight. The VFR is going to be at a disadvantage when it comes to weight because of the V4 motor and single side swing arm. Sure, had it continued as a super sports, Honda would have saved weight where it could. Fuel tank would be smaller, no centre stand, heated grips etc and the chassis & swing arm could have been slimmed down as super sports have lower weight capacities than sports tourers.
Even fairings on super sports are lighter than tourers I hear?
But I doubt it would be similar weight to the GSXR 750 because of the V4 and swing arm.

As clearly demonstrated in this thread, if a super sports bike isn't a feather weight then it will be bagged mercilessly.
Look at the ZX-14. Kawasaki call it a super sports but it is regarded as a sports tourer by the reviewers and purchased by many as a sports tourer.
Any super sport buyer who walks into a Kawasaki dealership will walk straight past the ZX-14 and start drooling over the H2.
All because the H2 makes 2.8kw more and weights 21kg less. (according to kawsaki aust website)

So perhaps transforming the VFR750 into a sports tourer was the bike's only future. Sports tourers aren't bagged for being overweight so a bit of extra weight from a V4 engine or a single side swing arm isn't going to upset this market space. Not as long as the bike ticks the other boxes that the sports tourer buyer is looking for, which the VFR does.

 

LOL - in your own words (see your quote below) the entire purpose of your original post was to "cry" like a baby to Honda that the VFR doesn't compete with the GSX-R750 anymore - if that's not whining I don't know what is Just buy yourself a 2017 CBR1000RR (like the one that got 1st place in the superbike shootout vid I just posted above) and you can leave all the GSX-R750 riders in your liter bike dust - it only weighs 10 pounds more than your vaunted GSX-R750. Then you could start a thread on the Fireblade forum where you whine about how it's not as good a sports-tourer as the Suzuki GSX-S1000F - LOL

 

Well said my fellow 8th gen owner. The folks that incessantly whine about the 8th gen always have one thing in common: they don't own an 8th gen.

 

With regards to the v4 motor (being too heavy and not powerful enough) - look at Honda's record/results in MotoGP with bikes based on a V4/V5 motor. Pretty sure everyone understands that how fast you want something to go is directly proportional to how much money you want to spend on it. Honda makes robots and jets, for crying out loud - lol! IMO, if Honda REALLY wanted to, they could probably make The Best [X] (insert your choice of motorcycle type there) - the trick is to get them to want to...

 

They could probably make the best anything. LOL
Gotta wanna.