vfr 750/800

theoneandonly

looking over the edge
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i haven't ridden one for 20+ years , had one in that 2 other shops have looked/worked on . took it on as a challenge !

played with it for 2 days , now runs lovely .

forgotten just how fucking good they are .

and still holds the 2nd fastest speed, i've ever done on a motorcycle.
 
So that’s a pre-VTEC model? Come on, fill in some detail: what’s the bike and how fast?
 
Enjoyed my VFR800Fi, it came alive around 80 MPH and went up to about 150 I think! Swing arm was a work of art.
 
Loved my vfr 750 but loved keeping my license even more. So smooth you can easily do silly speeds (theoretically speaking 🙄).
 
I had a green 750 - lovely thing.
Was afraid of losing my licence so what did i buy ?
a VFR 1200 from Hunts
 
I had a VFR800 Fi X from nearly new, about 700 miles on when I bought it. Got it from an RAF Sergeant who had separated from his wife, moved into the Mess, and wanted to realise some money quickly. The tyres that were on it, factory fit Dunlop D204’s were so poor I wondered whether all the hype about the VFR in the biking press was true or just bollux. A set of Bridgestone BT020’s soon sorted it, and then Ohlins front and rear made it into a sublime travelling companion.

Did many thousands of miles on it and still can’t decide if that or the 1150GS which came after it was the best bike I’ve ever owned.

Now on a VFR800 Crossrunner after a 1200 GS that I never really gelled with.
 
If someone had described the VFR to me when I started riding on my Triumph Tiger Cub, I'd have said it would be a great GP bike and Honda have already done that pretty much. The fact that it was a road bike and available to every rider with a license shows the debt we all owe to the Japanese motor cycle industry and Soichiro Honda in particular.
 
Would like to have had one of these, great colour combo, but they were only for the Japanese market I believe.
 
I had a VTEC, chosen for Honda quality and reliability after a Friday Afternoon Ducati Multistrada 1000. The build quality was amazing and the headlights were better than most cars. Below 8000 revs it was a bit boring, above 8000 it howled and went like a scalded cheetah. It was never all-day comfortable and somehow I never loved it and after a year bought a KTM 950 SMR. What’s wrong with me doctor?
 
I purchased one brand new in 1992 from J S Gedge in Sussex, a 750FM model. At the time things were bad and Honda were offloading them, especially the white ones. I picked it up for £5k OTR and had it for five and half years, did 25k on it, toured all round Europe with camping gear several times. It had a fantastic build quality and an astonishing engine, with such a beautiful overture when canned.

I decided for some reason that I wanted a Honda Firestorm, and out of the bikes that I had at that time this was the obvious one to go to make room. I have always regretted it.

When I sold it it was virtually indistinguishable from new; I placed the ad in MCN and was awoken at 6.45am by Robin Powell, a Honda / Yamaha dealer from Faversham (who I knew), wanting to buy it - it was for £5K.

By ten o'clock he had appeared and taken it away - but the phone did not stop ringing. I have often thought should I get another for old times sake .......
 
Robin Powell, a Honda dealer from Canterbury .......

fixed it for you . ( i think he had his fingers in some other shops )

Robin , really nice bloke to deal with , he had integrity , a man of his word. i liked him.

i believe, Hadrian , from Kent Mcs near Lydden , is his brother. he's a nice guy too.

which proves you can be nice in the Trade , and still make money and a reputation.
 
fixed it for you . ( i think he had his fingers in some other shops )

Robin , really nice bloke to deal with , he had integrity , a man of his word. i liked him.

i believe, Hadrian , from Kent Mcs near Lydden , is his brother. he's a nice guy too.

which proves you can be nice in the Trade , and still make money and a reputation.

Same could be said of Sean from Rainbow.
 
Brilliant marketing stunt when the VFR750 came out, Ron Haslam riding one in the Transatlantic Challenge races. Something like "he hasn't got a race bike but Honda have given him this stock VFR750 road bike to compete on"
 
I bought one of the last 800i's in 2001 before the vtec model, and, despite having had a varied selection of other bikes as well over the years, I still own the VFR, and without doubt it is the bike I would keep if I could only have one.
Fantastic build and reliability, and all the performance my limited ability can handle ..
Absolute classic .. !
 
Brilliant marketing stunt when the VFR750 came out, Ron Haslam riding one in the Transatlantic Challenge races. Something like "he hasn't got a race bike but Honda have given him this stock VFR750 road bike to compete on"

It could have gone the other way though. I haven’t read anything since inferring it was a planned stunt and I expect it would have come out by now if it was.
https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2016/february/mcn-plus---25-years-of-the-vfr-part-1---ride/
 


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