Quote:
Originally Posted by jimhs
Which vfr800?
If you have any experience on this bike play write a sort review.
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I don’t write short reviews..
Mine was a 1998, dad still has his 1999 which is configured more towards sport touring than sport. VFR 800s got catalytic converters in 2000, and a yellow color option in 2001. In 2002 they got VTEC(yo!), but dropped the awesome gear driven camshafts in favor of chains.
The VFR 800, just like the SV650 is a great all around bike, great at a lot of things, and definitely a bike every rider should try out at least once. It should not be confused for a beginner bike though. It is tall, heavy, and more powerful than the SV650(which
could be used as a beginner bike, but isn't a great idea either) The bike has a good amount of low end torque(SV650 feels stronger though), but the tall first gear makes starting off and low speed riding in traffic difficult. The engine doesn't like low speed riding in higher gears below 2500 RPM, and any amount of acceleration in 6th gear below 3000 RPM should be avoided, otherwise you will get an awful rattle/shaking. There is a weird fueling transition you can feel in 6th gear at right around 2200 RPM.
The 800's power leaves little to be desired, as it will power wheelie in 1st gear, or do a rolling burnout depending on the traction of the surface. Me and my dad had switched bikes at one point, he was on my 4 cylinder CBR 250R and I was on his 800. Merging onto a highway he pinned it, 18,000 RPM on my 250 and I could match his acceleration without exceeding 5000 RPM. Honestly, even if this engine couldn't rev above 7000 RPM you could still do just fine with it, but go above that and you have a screaming V4 that could easily confuse someone for a NASCAR. Rev limiter is at 12,500 RPM. The thing sounds seriously cool straight piped. I speak from experience, it only takes about 10 seconds to hit 125 mph(indicated), so it is NOT a slow bike and will kick ass if you know what you are doing. Something I have noticed in common with most motorcycles I have ridden, but especially with this bike is that trying to turn at full throttle is difficult. When you crack that throttle open the bike wants to go straight, and it takes a serious amount of effort to crank it over. Wider bars would offer better leverage.
Like most motorcycles I have ridden, the VFR 800 doesn't manage heat very well. The engine takes a while to reach operating temperature (176F) and is easy to get it to drop below that when riding efficiently. When you hit low speed traffic though, the bike heats up quickly. I have exceeded 240F on mine in traffic. This is a bike for the open road, don't buy one if you will be riding in low speed traffic for a significant portion of your riding time.
Electronic reliability is a downfall for the VFR 800, the regulator rectifiers go bad. My dad had the stator fail on his bike at about 91,000 miles. There are fixes for this however, there is a modification available called the 'VFRness' which improves electrical reliability.
Fuel economy isn't great, around 40-45 MPG with an average rider. I had ridden for part of a tank, and my dad the other part and managed to hit 53 MPG. A whole tank of me riding my 1998 to work (about 7 miles) efficiently, but also giving it a good hoon at least once per trip resulted in 44 MPG. Even in that 7 miles, coolant temperature was around 150F at the end of the trip. Tank is a reasonably sized 5.8 gallons, and can give you 200+ mile tanks for touring. The OEM seat is okay, but the sargent seat on my dad's bike is much more comfy for touring. On a riding trip to Virginia, I got to scoot my brother's SV650S and my dad's VFR 800 around an awesome curvy mountain road. The VFR 800 in its touring configuration(only top case at the time) felt somewhat wallowy when turning hard. SV650S didn't have that problem. I did not however try the 800 without the top case, but I would bet the majority of the wallowing would go away without it.
Anything specific you want to know? My dad has had his for about 16 years and 70,000 miles now.
I put my phone inside the airbox of a VFR 800 to see how the unmuffled intake noise sounded, and it was GLORIOUS.
Here is a video of a straight piped 800 flying by at top speed
If you have fallen for V4s, but want an otherwise reasonable bike, you really can't go wrong with the VFR 800.
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