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| Review |
Summer 2007, Honda VFR800, 2007 model with VTEC. Thinking old skool Civic Type R perhaps – well, maybe, but more on that later. Hard luggage, smooth looks. Solid, friendly grab rail. Practical, even beautiful, single side swing arm. Brilliantly finished in Honda red. LegendaryHondaBuildQuality, as the Germans might say, comes as standard. Plenty of show room appeal then. If your head chooses this over some overblown sports monster, surely your heart will follow coon after? But enough about showroom appeal and pub factoids.
I'm vertically challenged as they say, but even so I'd found myself sitting "on" a CBR600 in the showroom. It felt like a toy, not really suited to doing miles on. The FireBlade felt bigger, cosier, and just better than the 600: I felt could get "in" rather than "on", but the sad reality was that it was a tad tall and maybe, just maybe, a tiny bit over-specified for my needs - does a 70 mile cross-Pennine A/B road commute really call for a superbike? The VFR800, in the confines of the showroom, seemed to offer better protection, easier straddling, a comfortable position, and perhaps a lot more common sense.
So, the dealer has rolled out the VFR, pointed me at the controls, and is happy to let me take it for an hour or so, leaving plenty of time for the 'blade after that. The sun is shining, the roads are empty - the cars are thankfully all parked up at work, which, if truth be told, is where I should be.
Gingerly we set off, get out of sight and start trying to get a feel for this thing. Dab the right pedal and what's this, the front end bites too. Hmm. That'll be linked brakes then. Mental note on paper, mental brakes on bike: may hinder U-turns etc. Try the brake lever - yep, the back brake is on now. Where's the weight transfer? How can I stand the bike on the front wheeeel if I really neeeed to stop? Honda, what are you playing at (Part I)?
It can only get better from here. This is after all the ubiquitous VFR800 VTEC. Ride on...
A VTEC engine. So why does it feel more like an all American pushrod V8? Ah, that'll be the V4’s layout, it is after all half a V8, complete with lumpy, pulsey, gas flow and vibey torque delivery, and a big chunky flywheel... Nothing to do with the VTEC system, just the basic engine configuration. This thing at 6k rpm is the doppelganger of a car V8 doing 3k rpm. At lower revs it seems a bit sluggish, over fly wheeled and labour some. But, maybe it'll come in to its own when I wind it up some? Well, it certainly it pulls solidly enough for an 800: full throttle through the 7k VTEC threshold and it starts to pull like.. ..well.. ..pretty much any well sorted bike motor. Its delivery would be entirely unexceptional, but I guess it’s pretty impressive for a pushrod V8!
So is this really VTEC??
In Honda’s Civic/Integra/Accord/S2000 models (yes, cars, tin boxes with four wheels) "VTEC" meant a calm, frugal and refined little fellow that did the Jeckyl and Hyde thing at exactly 5600 rpm: keep it up there and hairs rise on the back of your neck, spine tingles, and palms begin to sweat and you marvel at the 9000 rpm (this is a car remember) redline. Sure, you might be out-dragged by 200bhp turbo-charged cars with their relaxed broad spread of power, and you struggle to keep it in the "zone", but it's the way it rewards you when you do, more than just the outright performance. VTEC meant something, and it was undeniably good. Perhaps what it meant was a car engine that went a bit like, and sounded a bit like, a.. ..a bike engine.
But in the VFR800, VTEC seems to mean the exact opposite: a bike mill that goes a bit like a car engine. A good thing? On first acquaintance at least, I wasn’t sold. Honda, what are you playing at, (Part II)?
Actually, maybe it’s not such a bad play after all? I soon discover that overtaking is a joy and with the solid car-like midrange I don’t have dial in mega revs sports bike style. Could it do this without VTEC? Is this Honda’s triumph? Actually, Triumph do it without VTEC, and with one less cylinder, so I still don't get it.
Whatever, maybe the chassis will win me over. Into the twisties and a strange thing happens. I find myself hanging off. Not because I'm a public road knee down sort of rider, far from it, it's just that this bike doesn't fall neutrally into the turns. It's not at all unsure, it’s just unwilling. But hang off a little and it gets the idea and cooperates nicely. Looks a bit loony though, when you know outright sports bikes or big traillies would have you firmly seated with just the tiniest bit of pressure on the footrest or the bars. So I look like a mad fool, but in fact I'm just cajoling and teasing a sensible bike into turning. Honda, what are you playing at (Part III)?
As confidence in the chassis grows and I realise that, in spite of its apparent unwillingness, it has quite a lot in reserve, my attention is drawn back to that VTEC engine. Giving it full throttle is quite rewarding, but backing off somewhat and trying to smooth out my riding reveals another important trait that only emerges at 7000rpm on a light throttle. You know, 7000rpm, where the engine is, or at least ought to be, spinning freely, waiting eagerly to pull you out of the next bend with instant enthusiasm if not outright vigour. Spirited riding territory, not all out stuff. What happens? Hard to say. Ask the EFI or the VTEC, or something. Fuelling on a light to mid throttle around the VTEC threshold seems to be conjured up with the help of ERNIE and smooth progress is nigh on impossible. I like a challenge, but I'm not sure I need this one. It spoils nearly every corner exit, nearly every down shift, there’s always the niggling pause or glitch before it does what it should... But, treat the twist grip more as an on off switch, ride it to within an inch of its life, and there’s no hint of the glitch, but then, if that's your thing, wouldn't you choose something racier? To add insult to injury there’s a nice little vibe going on at 7000rpm that has me needing a pee – perhaps that’s there to keep me out of the glitch zone? Really, Honda, what are you playing at (Part IV)?
And so it begins to rain. Nice. So I trundle back to our friendly Honda dealer, an hour and a half later. What's this? He’s still happy to send me out on a 2006 CBR1000 RR FireBlade, in the rain, in the fog, traffic building, with just a coy warning to let the tyres warm up and be careful as it will spin the back wheel...
Here we go again. Back brake? Hey, it works, progressive yet powerful and linked only to my right foot. Front brake? Progressive, powerful, linked only (opr rather, sublimely) to the fingers of my right hand. I match the squeeze to the weight transfer and it digs pretty deep before locking, but hey it's raining and those tyres are still stone cold. With these brakes you know where you are, and after two minutes I’ve more confidence in them than an hour and a half could muster on the VFR.
Ok, let’s ride. Get up and go? A near perfect combination of full litre twist and go grunt, together with mind blowing top end power – when there’s room! Fuelling, light throttle, mid throttle, on-off the throttle, any revs, anytime - flawless. If only the same could be said for the VFR.
Twenty minutes in the rain and we're pressing now. Fog limits us to mere licence losing speeds, but the 10-13k zone is awesome, addictive, howling good fun. The chassis is unbelievable. Again, it’s not just thrill, it’s confidence, even in the rain. Everything, everything, reacts as it should. From trickling about on the clutch, U-turning on the back brake or pootling about in traffic at 2-3k, to tipping it in to roundabouts and blasting out to warp speed, this thing has me smitten. I only want for another half inch on my own little legs when we stop at the petrol station, but in the context of the 'blade that seems to be my shortcoming rather than its... If ever there was a bike that handles it all, surely this is it. The only thing stopped me signing up there and then was the prospect of the '08 blade – would it really be smaller, shorter, or too small even, too like the 600?
At last, the VFR made sense. Not as an acquisition, not for me anyway, the blade proved that, but as proof of Hondamentalism. Honda did the VFR. It was mental, with things we never asked for, that maybe wouldn't even work. But they tried it. They linked its brakes, they put in a V4 and VTEC'd it, they lopped off half the swing arm for good measure, they (be)calmed its chassis geometry, and they sold thousands to see how we got on with it. It was comfy, practical and good looking. Doubtless, in some small way, the learning from each of its foibles, and in my book it has a few, improved the rest of the breed, clarifying which ideas to refine until they really work, and which to drop. Like impossibly expensive cam chain servicing perhaps?
And now, just when you thought the FireBlade had invaded this VFR800 review, Suzuki enters the stage, ready for a fight. Clearly they took a long hard look at the products of Hondamentalism, rejected most of Honda’s frippery out of hand, and produced their own gutsier, manlier, version of the blade, complete with the finesse and excellent town manners of an electronic steering damper (thanks Honda, there’s one idea that’s worth nicking), and they go and package it just right for short arses just like me. Suzuki might claim to “own the race track”, well maybe, maybe not, but they certainly got to own the contents of my wallet!
So, finally, I ride off into the sunset on my white charger, a Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8. I guess that’s another review altogether, but in short, if you want to cover the miles, stay sunny side up, and never, ever, stop grinning, buy one – but do try everything else first: it’s fun, and you never know...
Oh, and the VFR? I guess one man’s dog is another mans dog’s what’s its. It'll make someone, somewhere, very happy ;-) |
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| bbstrikesagain in Stockport, Greater Manchester on 31/07/2008 |
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