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I have now had this bike since Late May and have put over 5,000 miles on it now. I can honestly say I am like it alot. After riding the old girl for 124,000 miles I dont think I will ever find a bike that was as sweet to ride at her but there are things I like better about the "veefalo" then the old girl and things I dont.
1) Fueling issues - I never really was bothered by the fueling issues that people report, the on off abruptness when rolling on in 1st and 2nd gear from low rpm - yes its there but it was there on the old girl too - its just a product of Honda Fuel Injection I have had 8 years of it on the old bike this is no different to me. Now the programmed fuel restriction in the same 2 gears is a little annoying but really it makes the bike smoother in the tighter corners for me. I just have to be smoother on the throttle when rolling on then I was before so in the end the bike handles better. I am forced to be smoother and so I cant toss it point and shoot anymore its more gradual roll off, set my lean, slowly roll on, look up and out of the turn and shes responds nicely to that kind of input.
2) Handling - I found out you cant man handle this bike at all, you have to be loose on the bars and just counter steer and lean together and it just turns easier that way, you dont need much pressure to make it turn. It will turn smoother if you are easier and smoother with steering inputs. It seems to be balanced so that you do not need to push or pull on the bars much at all when going into a turn. I cant charge a turn as fast as I used too as braking hard into the turns makes it want to turn too soon and too tight then applying gas in the turn after braking gives the chassis a bit of shock since it wants to widen the turn out with gas. So now I set the speed in slower, braking if needed before the turn - apply some counter steer then immediatly way before the apex slowly start gassing and it goes into the turn smooth as butter. It doesnt require as much lean angle either since your gassing sooner - that little bit of shaft drive delay gives you enough time to get everything into sync. It really enjoyable when you do it smooth - it responds well. It likes high speed sweepers and it does rather well in continous tight turns too, its handles better when you just go in a bit slower and come out faster, same overall speed but smoother with a more constant smoother corner speed.
The bike has a stiff suspension so your gonna feel more bumps than older vfrs do but I got used to it and feel much more comfortable in tight turns now than when I first bough the bike, even since 2 weeks ago, I feel I can keep up with people now where before I did not feel confident that I could.
3) Touring, this bike is a great touring bike, all day long at 100mph on the slab between good roads its soaks up miles so nice, and you dont even notice your about to spend the night in jail if dont look at the speedo. The old girl felt that way at 80mph this adds 20mph to that and case of beer! Passing is a no down shift affair since the torque is massive, road clear, turn the throttle and zoom your past the most pesky of cagers in no time. I think I averaged over 95mph across most of Wyoming and she wanted to go faster I felt like I was just cruising at that speed. It is a bit surprising when you come up on some good turns and slow down to twice the posted speed and you feel like your crawling into a 30mph marked turn at 60mph! So you have to be alert for upcomming turns and slow down cause it feels so good going so fast.
4) Brakes, the bike has the best brakes I have ever used bar none, they are awsome not snatchy at all like so many people report, I have never been a rider who grabes a handfull of brakes either so for me its even less effort, the rear brake though I tend too use alot as with all the bike I ride, they are nice too. I had to adjust the lever as far down as it would go since I unconsciously use it slightly in most turns. I cant help myslef I am barely using it at all most the time but its there. I always get comments about using the brakes too much - I cant help it my right foot has a mind of its own I think. Too much dirtbikeing when I was growing up and learning to ride.
5) Riding on dirt, 10mph on hard packed dirt is awful, 30-40mph and its much better - for some reason Wyoming, Washington, and Montana all have to tear the roads down to the base dirt to repave them? It does not occur to them its cheaper to grind off a smooth flat layer of asphault with the diamond cutter then pave over that as the base? like they do in every other state of the union? I had to go around slow moving cars going 15mph on long stretches of torn down dirt roads to smooth out my ride. That and idiots who were weaving around like ants trying to find the smoothest part of the road, get out of the way dude and let me show you how its done, speed up and it will smooth out a bit since your riding on the tops of the bumps instead of hitting the bottom of every one.
6) Hard bags, I love the factory hard bags, they are hardly noticable at all and they are secure and dont mess with the handling at all! a few turns of preload and thats that!
1) Fueling issues - I never really was bothered by the fueling issues that people report, the on off abruptness when rolling on in 1st and 2nd gear from low rpm - yes its there but it was there on the old girl too - its just a product of Honda Fuel Injection I have had 8 years of it on the old bike this is no different to me. Now the programmed fuel restriction in the same 2 gears is a little annoying but really it makes the bike smoother in the tighter corners for me. I just have to be smoother on the throttle when rolling on then I was before so in the end the bike handles better. I am forced to be smoother and so I cant toss it point and shoot anymore its more gradual roll off, set my lean, slowly roll on, look up and out of the turn and shes responds nicely to that kind of input.
2) Handling - I found out you cant man handle this bike at all, you have to be loose on the bars and just counter steer and lean together and it just turns easier that way, you dont need much pressure to make it turn. It will turn smoother if you are easier and smoother with steering inputs. It seems to be balanced so that you do not need to push or pull on the bars much at all when going into a turn. I cant charge a turn as fast as I used too as braking hard into the turns makes it want to turn too soon and too tight then applying gas in the turn after braking gives the chassis a bit of shock since it wants to widen the turn out with gas. So now I set the speed in slower, braking if needed before the turn - apply some counter steer then immediatly way before the apex slowly start gassing and it goes into the turn smooth as butter. It doesnt require as much lean angle either since your gassing sooner - that little bit of shaft drive delay gives you enough time to get everything into sync. It really enjoyable when you do it smooth - it responds well. It likes high speed sweepers and it does rather well in continous tight turns too, its handles better when you just go in a bit slower and come out faster, same overall speed but smoother with a more constant smoother corner speed.
The bike has a stiff suspension so your gonna feel more bumps than older vfrs do but I got used to it and feel much more comfortable in tight turns now than when I first bough the bike, even since 2 weeks ago, I feel I can keep up with people now where before I did not feel confident that I could.
3) Touring, this bike is a great touring bike, all day long at 100mph on the slab between good roads its soaks up miles so nice, and you dont even notice your about to spend the night in jail if dont look at the speedo. The old girl felt that way at 80mph this adds 20mph to that and case of beer! Passing is a no down shift affair since the torque is massive, road clear, turn the throttle and zoom your past the most pesky of cagers in no time. I think I averaged over 95mph across most of Wyoming and she wanted to go faster I felt like I was just cruising at that speed. It is a bit surprising when you come up on some good turns and slow down to twice the posted speed and you feel like your crawling into a 30mph marked turn at 60mph! So you have to be alert for upcomming turns and slow down cause it feels so good going so fast.
4) Brakes, the bike has the best brakes I have ever used bar none, they are awsome not snatchy at all like so many people report, I have never been a rider who grabes a handfull of brakes either so for me its even less effort, the rear brake though I tend too use alot as with all the bike I ride, they are nice too. I had to adjust the lever as far down as it would go since I unconsciously use it slightly in most turns. I cant help myslef I am barely using it at all most the time but its there. I always get comments about using the brakes too much - I cant help it my right foot has a mind of its own I think. Too much dirtbikeing when I was growing up and learning to ride.
5) Riding on dirt, 10mph on hard packed dirt is awful, 30-40mph and its much better - for some reason Wyoming, Washington, and Montana all have to tear the roads down to the base dirt to repave them? It does not occur to them its cheaper to grind off a smooth flat layer of asphault with the diamond cutter then pave over that as the base? like they do in every other state of the union? I had to go around slow moving cars going 15mph on long stretches of torn down dirt roads to smooth out my ride. That and idiots who were weaving around like ants trying to find the smoothest part of the road, get out of the way dude and let me show you how its done, speed up and it will smooth out a bit since your riding on the tops of the bumps instead of hitting the bottom of every one.
6) Hard bags, I love the factory hard bags, they are hardly noticable at all and they are secure and dont mess with the handling at all! a few turns of preload and thats that!