Been riding my 2014 for about four months now. It's a good bike - a very good bike. I'm not certain it will ever be great for me, but I picked it up with 1100 miles on it for a price I couldn't refuse. I've put around 3K miles on it so far and here's what I've learned:
- The exhaust note was too quiet. Non existent. Pathetic. So I put a Delkevic on it. Now it's too loud, but it's glorious. At some point I'll put the spud back in to tame it, but for now I'm enjoying pissing of suburbia. Don't like it? How 'bout you tame that neurotic clown show of a $1000 "what-the-f*ck-a-doodle" at 2;00 AM. Then we'll talk....
- It's heavy. The heaviest bike I've owned. At times it feels ponderous. I know it's not a GSX-R or R1 - bikes I am more than a little familiar with - but I had a '95 VFR and I don't remember it being nearly as cumbersome as this one at low speeds or shuffling around in the garage. I get the same sensation as I get after I've had a few too many drinks at my age- ready to fall over at the slightest provocation. I had two Triumph Sprint ST's along the way - those were more manageable as well. Borderline fugly, but fun/easy to ride and manageable. Triples are kewl.
- VTEC is.... there. I could take it or leave it. The sound is nice. I just don't see the need.
- Replaced the original tires - which were turds (hey.. they were old OEM...). Replaced them them with Dunlop Roadsmart 3's. They seem nice - I'm not going to get anywhere near the advertised milage out of them. At this rate I'm thinking I might get 5K miles or so. If that holds, it's a marked improvement over the 1500-1800 I got on my sport tires, but then those bikes had considerably more horsepower, and I rode considerably more idiotic.
- Suspension is "meh". Once I figured out that Honda set the bike up at the factory to run on glass roads piloted by small, fit people, the adjustments were obvious.
- It's gorgeous - no two ways about it. Not as drop-dead-sexy as my 2004 R1 but then, you know what they say about hot, fast women - they cost a lot and at some point get you into trouble. The VFR is classy, and far, far more attractive than my Triumphs. It's a "MILF": beautiful but mature and refined.
Like I said, it's a very good bike. A nice bike to re-enter riding, except for the weight. At the moment I still prefer my Triumph Sprint ST's, ( I had two...) mostly because the were 80-90 lbs. lighter and I had the suspensions on both redone with Racetech components by a friend of mine. They had more power, too, with just enough or torque to make me lazy (ie: "do I really FEEL like shifting?". I'd prefer my last R1 as well, but that's not fair and I couldn't ride one of those now more than an hour or so without a break and a couple of Advil- completely different mission. The mind is willing but the body isn't so able these days.
I need to put more miles on it before I render ultimate judgement. I threw my leg over a Supersport S and that might be a bike I could really get along with - at least for a while. Lighter, with just enough comfort to get me through a 250-350 mile day in the mountains. Then again - not sure how I'd get along with useless mirrors and Italian reliability, not to mention the fuel capacity. Neat bike, though. We shall see. If my right knee gets much worse I may well end up in a cheap sports car for my thrills. That would likely cost me a wife... which is essentially an equitable trade at this point, all things considered.
It's frustrating though - a 998cc V4 without the VTEC trickery, shave off 50-60 lbs., and Honda could have had a bike for the ages. The penultimate Sports Tourer. The gold standard by which all other "quasi-practical" motorcycles would have been measured against. An epic icon. The VFR goes out in style - an uncontested champion. As it stands... it's a very good motorcycle.