The March, 2017 issue of Cycle World magazine features a "Characters" focus; bikes with an indefinable something that manages to nudge your mechanical soul. I've had cars, motorcycles and even an airplane that met the criteria — at least for me. Every time I stepped off one of my Ducatis, for example, I would stand back and give a little involuntary "whew," and a few years back I did a solo 3000-mile cross-country on a '79 Triumph 750 Bonnevile, a bike that literally drips character. The bikes Cycle World chose to feature are a range of customs and factory models from the new Bonneville Chopper to the Zaeta 530SE. From the article:
"By their very nature, motorcycles are transportation of character, ones that require us to make a conscious choice to be closer to our machinery of movement and to participate in the world that much more intimately. But some bikes give us more than others...."
Do VFRs have this magic ingredient? Of course they do — all bikes do to one degree or another. But Honda has often been accused of making machines that were too refined, too smooth, lacking the rider/machine interface that gives us grins where non-riders just see fear and discomfort. But Honda knows its customer — the Gold Wing is made for one rider and the Africa Twin for another. The company has seldom felt the need to emulate others, and when they did — the GB500 is a classic example — they did it better (and more smoothly). The CB750 was the introduction of the modern motorcycle and the CBX was the air-cooled era's pinnacle. Both reeked of character in their time. But what of the V4?
On a summer ride several years ago I found myself pulling out onto Hwy 82 in rural Vernon county, Wisconsin. Ahead of me lay a long uphill sweeper and under me a 1986 VFR750F with a Kerker 4-into-1 exhaust. As I let the V4 pull through fourth gear — 8000, 9000, 10,000 rpm — the sound and feel of that machine released endorphins into my brain and imprinted the letters V-F-R so indelibly that they may as well have been tattooed on my forehead.
Just me? No. In 1986 Cycle World awarded the VFR750 a Ten Best award. Then again in 1990, and every year through '97. It wasn't over, the VFR800 taking home a Ten Best in '98, '99 and 2002. From the 1990 Ten Best story: “The VFR isn’t the fastest in its displacement category, and it won’t set the quickest lap times around the nearest racecourse. What it will do, with its balance, poise and deftness, is give its rider the best all-around motorcycle in the business.” And the racing success of the V4s speak volumes. For a taste of that side of the equation pick up an old copy of the coolest motorbike video of all time — V-Four Victory, with Joey Dunlop winning the '83 Isle of Man TT...and the World Championship.
Character is defined as "the qualities distinctive to an individual." Trust me, the VFRs have distinctive qualities all their own, as that summer day on Hwy 82 shouted to me loud and clear.
"By their very nature, motorcycles are transportation of character, ones that require us to make a conscious choice to be closer to our machinery of movement and to participate in the world that much more intimately. But some bikes give us more than others...."
Do VFRs have this magic ingredient? Of course they do — all bikes do to one degree or another. But Honda has often been accused of making machines that were too refined, too smooth, lacking the rider/machine interface that gives us grins where non-riders just see fear and discomfort. But Honda knows its customer — the Gold Wing is made for one rider and the Africa Twin for another. The company has seldom felt the need to emulate others, and when they did — the GB500 is a classic example — they did it better (and more smoothly). The CB750 was the introduction of the modern motorcycle and the CBX was the air-cooled era's pinnacle. Both reeked of character in their time. But what of the V4?
On a summer ride several years ago I found myself pulling out onto Hwy 82 in rural Vernon county, Wisconsin. Ahead of me lay a long uphill sweeper and under me a 1986 VFR750F with a Kerker 4-into-1 exhaust. As I let the V4 pull through fourth gear — 8000, 9000, 10,000 rpm — the sound and feel of that machine released endorphins into my brain and imprinted the letters V-F-R so indelibly that they may as well have been tattooed on my forehead.
Just me? No. In 1986 Cycle World awarded the VFR750 a Ten Best award. Then again in 1990, and every year through '97. It wasn't over, the VFR800 taking home a Ten Best in '98, '99 and 2002. From the 1990 Ten Best story: “The VFR isn’t the fastest in its displacement category, and it won’t set the quickest lap times around the nearest racecourse. What it will do, with its balance, poise and deftness, is give its rider the best all-around motorcycle in the business.” And the racing success of the V4s speak volumes. For a taste of that side of the equation pick up an old copy of the coolest motorbike video of all time — V-Four Victory, with Joey Dunlop winning the '83 Isle of Man TT...and the World Championship.
Character is defined as "the qualities distinctive to an individual." Trust me, the VFRs have distinctive qualities all their own, as that summer day on Hwy 82 shouted to me loud and clear.
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