VFR 800               THE ABSOLUTE RIDING FORCE

MY MACHINE

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In my opinion ....

Mention the name VFR, and the traditional V4 snarl will make your spine tingle. For the new millennium, Honda has again created the benchmark in this exclusive sports tourer category. Nothing in the industry has the market yet seen such innovative and unique engineering feat. No doubt about it, that's just exactly what my machine is all about.

Honda has been refining the VFR package for many years, and the current iteration is a fuel injected 781cc, 90-degree, V-4 whose design is inspired by Honda's RC45 superbike racer (recently retired in favor of the new, V-twin RC51). This V-4 engine, which has been a VFR tradition, provides excellent torque and peak horsepower while being extremely smooth. It emits a unique exhaust note and has a character that VFR owners have raved about for years.

    RC46 engine.

The VFier plants itself rock solid even during fast-paced cruising and pampers both rider and pillion with a fairly effective wind shield. As with almost every Honda, the VFR is very well thought out in terms of ergonomics and performance. It is no wonder this work of art has been in the eyes of journalists at or near the top of the sport tourer category  for more than a decade.

Being Honda's flagship sport tourer, the chassis was carefully engineered  with the ideal combination of handling and comfort in mind. The tuned flex, and pivotless design, which isolates the engine-mounted swingarm from the frame, contributes to reduced weight and the handling/comfort combination desired by Honda.

Unfortunately, in the local context, very few know about the VFR. More often than not, I do get stares at traffic stops and bike gatherings hinting to me the obscurity of this machine in this part of the world. Truth is this model has been around since 1998. Nevertheless to-date, there are less than 50 units of these workhorses around the island. In my opinion these only make the VFR 800 more unique and desirable for me.

Personal experience with this tool tells me that power comes in from 6,000 rpm onwards. Feed this baby with juice, and it complies immediately without effort, accompanied with that sweet sweet V4 whine that sings to you in the background. Needle reaches the redline at 11,000rpm.

In the local tropical context, an additional requisite is required for riding the VFR800. Unless you are cruising at a moderate 100kph on the highway, you will begin to feel like a bread in the oven as you pull into the city traffic. At mid day temperatures of up to 33 degree Celsius, the expelled heat from the engine attempts to roast your inner thigh region like that of a turkey's during thanksgiving.  The heat exchangers are built to the left and right side of the bike fairings. The radiator exhaust fans however designed to extract air via the left side radiator and expels the heat exhaust through the right side radiator, thus exiting from the right side fairings. Ultimately, the bike enjoys the luxury of a necessary cool down, but at the expense of comfort in the city. So much for comfort riding in the city traffic. At times like these, I begin to question the notion of Japanese "Ingenuity".

Despite the heat problem, Honda has sculpted the body work to be way too cool to let this minor setback discourage any V4 fans. To put it plainly, the VFR is objectively built for general purposes. Get it?

Some comments or questions about the VFR 800 ? Feel free to contact me or ask the experts at the VFR mailing list.