In the June 2008 issue of “Bike” magazine, Britain’s premier motorcycle monthly, the erudite Rupert Paul asks the question, “Why are we fixated upon sportsbikes?” And he notes that, as riders’ tastes mature, so they begin to look more and more for a bike that will have close-to sportsbike performance but have the civility and useability of a less sharply-focused machine.
And he bemoans a marketplace where such a machine is no longer available. Now I’d have to disagree with him on this because I believe that the Triumph Sprint ST fills such a void, but, anyway, Paul poses the question of why and says that there USED to be a bike that fitted this criteria and it was the VFR750. He goes on to say, “The point is, the perfect all-rounder concept belonged only to the VFR and ensured that it was universally-loved in a sportsbike-mad world for 12 years.”
Now Paul asks the rhetorical question, “Don’t Honda still make VFR’s?” and, of course he answers that they do, but, “..with so many built-in design flaws that even the owners’ forum sound like Ducati owners. Whether they are right or wrong, the Honda has long since lost its mainstream appeal.”
“So, who could make a VFR750 for the modern age?” he continues. “Something equally joyful two-up in the Alps or peeling into Coppice on a track day. A natural (and fully adjustable) riding position, bags of torque, rpm ditched for mpg, switcheable ABS and 200 mile tank range. And only, say, 10kg heavier than a ‘Blade?”
Paul goes on to say that only Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki, and probably Triumph, are capable, but then he adds, “And none of them are showing the slightest sign that they’re working on it. But, if they did, wouldn’t it be the best bike you could ever own?” he concludes.
Go to your local VFR forum (www.ozvfr.net) and you’ll see the same thoughts being expressed. While owners of VTEC VFR’s struggle to convince the others that the “Origami” is really a fabulous bike..no, really, it IS, there is a tacit agreement that Honda dropped the ball around about the time that it “improved” the VFR750 by making it the VFR800.
And every year the overseas “scoop” websites produce tantalisingly photoshopped and CGI’ed images of what the “new” VFR will look like, along with pages and pages of exotic sounding specifications.
And every year, Honda disappoints by adding a “new” colour scheme or some slightly revised VTEC timing to help eliminate the damnably annoying power step at 7200RPM.
And, every year the same thread appears on motorcyle forums all over the world. “Why can’t Honda just build a VFR1000 based on the 750?” Dump the stupid, car-inspired VTEC; Dump the hostile linked braking system; go back to gear-driven cams with their intoxicatiing whine. Hog out the motor to a grand, drop some weight, keep an optional ABS and reclaim the top spot on the tree as the sublime all-rounder.
And every year the forums run polls to the effect of, “If Honda did this would you buy one?” And the results are predictably overwhelming.
This year the rumours are running hotter than ever that Honda is about to “break out” and produce a V5, MotoGp-inspired VFR that will be sportsbike AND sports/tourer combined. A bike that will effectively replace the VFR AND the Blackbird. Oh how we wish. But it won’t happen. Such a beast would be hideously expensive to produce and would not be able to be sold at anywhere near a competitive price without Honda dropping a truckload of cash on every one that they sold.
No, that is not the answer. We don’t WANT a complex bike like that. We just want a VFR1000, pure and simple. While we are happy to revel in the technological superiority that the VFR750 had over its peers, we’d happily sacrifice that for a VFR with more power, more torque and more bangs for the buck. A 21st Century VFR750.
But will Honda build it? It will be a very cold day in a very hot place before we see that happen, more’s the pity.