Honda VFR 800 Opinions needed

[butcher bergs]

So if you have to drop a grand every 20K miles, that's a deal breaker? Don't Ducati's need the valves adjusted every 5-8K miles?

"Yes" to 1

"That's why I went with a Yamaha" to 2

From the stand point that I work on all my own stuff, it's not so much about the money, rather, it's about spending 8-10 hours on a fricken valve adjustment when I could be out riding.

Plus, a grand a year just for one maintanence item? No fricken way.

Sorry but a 2001-2005 FZ1 will spank any comparable VFR in many catagories....cost of operation being one of them.

I'm not bashing the VFR, it's just not the ideal choice for me.

[slaps76]

Gotcha. I'm a weekend warrior, so I didn't have to worry about doing it every year, actually didn't do it once. FZ1 is a great bike too....

[dankatz]

650lbs CBR? not sure what bike that is....the VFR is just under 100lbs more wet weight compared to the R1 (540lbs wet vs ???). I find that the VFR is overpriced, both new and used. This is coming from someone who has never ridden a newer VFR (rode a '94 one which was nice). For a bike that has not drastically changed since 2002, why is it so expensive? Why is the ABS such an expensive option? Why are the saddle bags $1000 when they are standard on the triumph ST which has a ton more torque in the usable range? In this price range there are many excellent options. Don't get me wrong - the VFR is a terrific bike, but to me overpriced which is why I never got one. As stupid as it sounds, to me, the new Suzuki GSX650F is very similar to the VFR in end product. Wet weight is 532lbs, HP is down, 86hp vs 100 or so, but size, comfort, wind protection and USABLE power are equivalent. The GSX650F has a very smooth motor and mild agreeable nature for a budget sport tourer. Other excellent more reasonably priced options are the FZ1 and Bandit 1250SA.
mt two cents...

[butcher bergs]

FZ1 is a great bike too....

Two things I wish the FZ1 had--> better looks and V4 sound.

[mikeb]

Two things I wish the FZ1 had--> better looks and V4 sound.

having had a 01 fz1. got the first one my dealer had right out of the crate. i posted earlier i had a 04 vfr. the only thing imho the fizzer has on the vfr is motor and cost of ownership. that cost being valve maintenance witch many have skipped doing on the viffer including me. the fiz has a cheaper buy in price but a much lower resale value to. honestly there my two favorite bikes i have owned and kick myself for selling both of them. i'd love to have the fz1 back for hooliganism and the vfr for touring and two up riding..

[benVFR]

If you got charged a grand+ for a valve adjust on one of these bikes you just got ripped off.

It's more like $500-600. (I've paid to have it done)

It's more expensive then a lot of bikes (not Ducatis if I understand correctly) but it's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be.

The key thing is to do the other stuff yourself. The VFR has long service intervals.. according to Honda you don't even need to change the oil more frequently then every 8000 miles. A couple of the other tasks like changing the chain & doing the brakes are more annoying then most bikes, but if you do them yourself no big deal. As with any other bike the truly expensive thing is the tires. (Removing the front sprocket requires draining the clutch fluid & removing the slave cylinder, IMO *that* is the stupidest thing on the bike, not the VTEC)

Regarding comfort.. the bars on the VFR are high.. but the "reach" to the bars is far. The tank is much larger then most sportbikes so the bars are pretty far away and it can still get annoying on a really long day. Might want to measure your R1 and compare.

Centerstand - pays for itself on basic maintenance and tasks out on the road. If you hit it on the street you either a) Are overweight for the stock springs, which are supposed to be able to carry 2 people b) Need to up the preload c) Should just drop yourself off at jail. However.. it is not that hard to hit the headers going over the bumps in turn 3/4 at the track... but to really be in danger of crashing due to grounding out, you're at the track, and you are probably riding past the point where you should have a dedicated track bike.

I have 17k on mine (2004). I haven't even rode it this spring. Can't necessarily say it's cause I'm bored of the bike or there is anything wrong with it. Just not psyched to ride laps around new england anymore & my commute situation doesn't justify using it.

Versus a Triumph the main thing going for the VFR is whether you think a Honda or a Triumph is going to be more reliable and which dealers/parts are easier for you to come by. The Sprint has a ton more torque and delivers it in a much more "torquey feeling" way, but in the end you're not supposed to be riding these bikes like you stole them and the VFR still has tons of power.

Honda hasn't changed them tons of over the years, but they've been refining them for a long time. They're boring in a dependable way.. but not much to find really wrong with them. Much of the internet noise is cause VFR fans are cultish and really really picky & obnoxious about yelling at Honda for the smallest things.

If you look for a used one be aware there was a pretty serious electrical recall last year. The front wiring harness overheats, over 10k+ miles they eventually melt and will strand you. You're way better off buying one that has already had the recall done if you had a choice as the recall involved major disassembly of the front of the bike and many chances for the mechanic to screw it up as other then repairing crash damage these bikes that portion of the bike is almost never needed to be worked on.

[MattyC]

Thanks everyone for the insight! It has been very helpful.

-Matt

[butcher bergs]

i'd love to have the fz1 back for hooliganism and the vfr for touring and two up riding..

Ahh but a Corbin takes care of all that....some will disagree, and that's fine, but I LOVE the Corbin that's on my Fizz....and the woman doesn't complain either (which is a nice change)...

FWIW, there are a crap load of good deals over on the FZ1 forum.

I can keep an eye out for ya if you'd like...

One other thing that the FZ had over the VFR (in my case) is insurance cost.

Dunno why the bigger bike costs less to insure but whatever, I'll take it.

[mikeb]

Ahh but a Corbin takes care of all that....some will disagree, and that's fine, but I LOVE the Corbin that's on my Fizz....and the woman doesn't complain either (which is a nice change)...

FWIW, there are a crap load of good deals over on the FZ1 forum.

I can keep an eye out for ya if you'd like...

One other thing that the FZ had over the VFR (in my case) is insurance cost.

Dunno why the bigger bike costs less to insure but whatever, I'll take it.

yeah unless you know of one for like 50 bucks i'll be waiting awhile. i sign on a house in two days and thats were all my monies be goin

[benVFR]

VFR probably costs more to insure cause there are more on the road just based on how long they've been around, plus they have more plastic.

Plus VFR owners pretend to be responsible, mature, older, etc.. but they're really a bunch of squids! Just older squids who think having a VFR instead of a CBR makes them not squids.

[zachary6]

650lbs CBR? not sure what bike that is....the VFR is just under 100lbs more wet weight compared to the R1 (540lbs wet vs ???). I find that the VFR is overpriced, both new and used. This is coming from someone who has never ridden a newer VFR (rode a '94 one which was nice). For a bike that has not drastically changed since 2002, why is it so expensive? Why is the ABS such an expensive option? Why are the saddle bags $1000 when they are standard on the triumph ST which has a ton more torque in the usable range? In this price range there are many excellent options. Don't get me wrong - the VFR is a terrific bike, but to me overpriced which is why I never got one. As stupid as it sounds, to me, the new Suzuki GSX650F is very similar to the VFR in end product. Wet weight is 532lbs, HP is down, 86hp vs 100 or so, but size, comfort, wind protection and USABLE power are equivalent. The GSX650F has a very smooth motor and mild agreeable nature for a budget sport tourer. Other excellent more reasonably priced options are the FZ1 and Bandit 1250SA.
mt two cents...

1991 CBR 1000f = 650lbs