Honda VFR800Fix 781

I had wanted a VFR with gear-driven cams since I was 16 and riding a moped. 3 years ago I bought one of the pre-cat converter 800 models for £2400 with 39k on the clock. 20k later on I have mixed feelings about the bike. For a bike that was always labelled the ultimate sports tourer it has a bit of a let-down. The steering lock is incredibly poor, making turning in the road, particularly two-up with luggage a bit of a chore. This is not helped by the fact it feels a long way to the ground compared with some other similar performance bikes and the bike holds its weight quite high off the ground which helps it feel sportier on the move but is a pain in the snow and ice as well as low speeds.

As a distance covering machine there are a number of pifalls too: the standard screen is ridiculously short and even a flip screen like skidmarx' leaves you heavily buffeted in the head and subject to considerable wind noise over the ton. Add to this high frequency vibration that leaves your right hand numb after 100miles and the distance ability is less than ideal. There areplus points though - the engine is very tractable and there is good leg room and comfortable positioning for both rider and pillion, though the riders seat could do with being thicker (this could well be due to the age of my mahine).

Handling wise the bike can be hustled along and will not leave you embarrased on group rides, but the feeling from the front end is nowhere near that of sports machinery and doesn't give the confidence required for high lean angles on twisty roads. I'm already on my second set of steering head bearings after 20k and I can't help wishing they were needle rollers (I don't wheelie this bike by the way). Dropping the yokes down the forks 10mm as helped and I'm going to shim up the top rear shock mount 3mm to help the turning-in, but this is likely to make the slightly too stiff for solo riding rear spring seem worse. I am 12stone, and even two-up with luggage I have never needed more than the second preload setting out of 5 or 6.

Maintenance and running costs on this machine are quite high, largely due to the engine configuration. Even something like changing chain and sprockets requires changing clutch slave cylinder gasket and every other time the swingarm protective rubber and silencer gasket adding £30 to the cost. Other machines providing very similar power are also more fuel efficient, although mine runs particularly rich - which I've spent a lot of time and money trying to cure.

Don't get me wrong I still like this bike very much. The sound from the cams and the ngine is lovely and the all-round ability is sufficient to highlight shortcomings in a lot of other machines. It also still turns heads and is capable at most things with the addition of soft luggage, but I don't know that it lives up to all the hype. In honesty a blackbird or ZZR11 - 14 offer pretty much all the positives at a fraction of the cost with more power.

Finally this bike has the Hond linked brake system. I don't like it. When you pull the front brake the outer two istons in the front caliper work, and the left caliper pushing against the fork activates a slave cylinder which works the smaller rear centre piston. This gives around 80/20 balance at speed (apparently), and the rear opperates the outer two pistons on the back and the smaller centre pistons on the front. What this means is that in slippery conditions or mid bend you can'tuse the rear brake alone. This idiot proofing is costly (just try replacing the worn hoses), adds time to maintenance (seven bleed nipples in all, and you must get them in the right order), and greatly reduces the rider's ability to fine tune control. Some like this system, I really don't.

A final niggle is that the fuel guage, trip counter and odometer are all on the same lcd screen, so when that fails (which it did on mine - a common problem on these bikes after a certain age) - you lose all idea of how much fuel you have and there's no fuel tap.

All that said I really think that this bike will go on and on, perhaps long enough to get the cost per mile down to good value from 50p/mile where it is now. Perhaps I will find out seeing as I don't have the spare £5.5k to buy the K1200S I'd like to replace it with.