Honda VFR750 748

Had this bike for over half its life and it's my everyday transport whether touring or local shopping. Occasionally I look at changing but haven't found any other bike that does what this does.

First must be that awesome Honda V4 engine with its gear is driven cams. it pulls easily from 3000 rpm upwards with good torque from 4500 right up to its redline at over 12,000rpm. 100kph is some 5000 rpm and there's ample torque on hand for normal use. On the open road, one can be in the upper range then hit tight hairpins with minimal gear changing, it pulls right out of them. Irs that all-around versatility that makes it and did I mention the sound of those gear-driven cams.

In the age of almost total electronic control whether traction, riding modes or fuel injection it's refreshing to actually ride a bike with basic get you there electronics, carbs and all.

lastly, the sheer reliability is astonishing. I picked my VFR up with 67,000k on the clock. It was virtually mint with a larger QEM rectifier fitted and full-service record. Now at over 208,000k, it's needed just the usual maintenance and consumables. The valves have never needed adjusting since its first check around 1995 and of course there's no cam chain to worry about.

Good points:

Ace engine, good handling, OK brakes, reasonable lights, comfy, not too thirsty, nice understated looks (I have the dark green one). Tyres last a reasonable time. Makes an ace London commuting bike and good two-up tourer.

Bad points:

Stupid dashboard with odd coloured warning lights, LCD clock you can't read any more due to plastic screen ageing and the speedo hidden away on the left and the bigger tacho in the middle - doh! Fuel gauges doesn't move until tank is half empty. Indicator thumb switch doesn't protrude enough so it makes it awkward to use for me. Reserve dial failed due to the cables failing and now they are very difficult to obtain. The plastic fairing just keeps on cracking. The screw covers for the allen bolts to change the brake pads seize, making brake pad changing difficult. My gear lever worked loose but seems to be OK now. Passenger footpegs were too high for my 5'10 partner so I bodged them lower. I've had the fork seals fail several times in the 15,000 miles I've owned it.

So here is my other review, this time about the vfr750 94-97. Mine was first registered in 94 which now makes it 20 years old. And I must mention that this thing really stands up well to the weather. There is nothing really that will rust up as it has aluminum frame and swingarm, the paint still look brilliant and no signs of fading or peeling. So let me mention on how I got own this bike. Well, I got it for nothing. That's right it was free, and.how did this happen? You may ask.

I live in a small close and I saw a young lad ride it in. The first thing I noticed was it's sound. This bike seemed to sit there for over a month unmoved until it started to sink into the tarmac on it's side stand. I went over and made it safe. It's had broken locks so I called the police to let them know of this now suspected stolen Bike. I was told it was reported abandoned on a number or occasions in the last few months in different areas. A week later more attention came in the form of the local Twist and go gang and mirrors and handle bar weights started to go missing. Again another phone call to police where we discussed claiming it for myself. So to.cut this long story short, that's what I did. I claimed it for myself. Dvla and police tried contacting the owner with no-one to claims their Bike back. So £26 pounds later sent with a V62 I received legal ownership.

I didn't start work on it until a year later. The clutch had disintegrated into about 12 bits. I had to remove the engine to inspect it thoroughly. I made my own engine cover gaskets to replace torn one's. It need new front discs, no problem £120 Chinese ones will do and they are fine. £90 on a complete clutch, New ignition switch and fuel tank lock for £20 from China.

I chose to replace the missing foot pegs with Yamaha Fazer ones as they had rubber on them. It need filing to fit but not difficult to do. £12 , handles bar weighs from India royal Enfield £7 and a fat spacer on the throttle end. I did this simply by asking for measurements. Fork oil seals £20.The fairing had cracks and splits but that was fixed with a soldering iron and cable ties for the extra plastic needed..

The bike rides beautifully and I find it nicely balanced especially at low speeds. We all know of its power and handling so won't add anything new there.

For a Bike I got for free I am happy with it and will not sell it as there is something special about it. I have no idea of its history but I pretty much rebuilt the Bike and I am right now string in a coffee shop whilst it is parked outside. Time to head back now. Thanks for reading.

Quite a hard title to justify, but if you're interested in my take on that statement then please read on...

I'm a 50 year old guy living in the UK, and I've owned a lot of motorcycles - all Japanese - since my 17th birthday. That day brought me a 1977 Honda CB125S which is immediately rattle-can'd and fitted with drop bars. I really did think it looked like Honda had done it, and with my face kissing the clocks I can now go as fast as a car!

My schoolmate then loaned me his Suzi GT380 2-Stroke Triple and then I know, I really know, that more is better and motorbikes have a lot of that on offer.

I then bought, rode, crashed and traded my way through ooooh.. 25ish bikes. Lowlights include The oily unreliable p.o.s. junk Honda CD175 - twice! (unemployed), and the utterly banal Suzuki GS550.

At the other end of the spectrum, I once found myself choosing between either a new 350 Powervalve or VF400; I took the little Honda. The VF spent it’s Summers in Devon, and the rest of the year in London and I never had a single issue with that bike. For sure, the VF400 was equal to the YPVS in acceleration as my mates had them, but when we swapped bikes the Honda felt slower, when in fact it’s just smoother.

I also learned then that you absolutely cannot blow up a Honda C70. I drained all the oil, and rode it flat out down the longest hill I could find in 2nd gear.

Then back up again.

No matter what, I even remember spooning dirt into the oil filler, the damn thing just sat there going chuff chuff chuff chuff. So I started using a C70 for Courier work, sold off a CB750F2 and bought a '78 Kawasaki z1000 for pleasure.

My last 2 bikes before 'the missing years' of Wife/House/Kids were a GSX1100E and a Z750 Turbo. I had them both at the same time - hated the GSX bloody massive lumbering brute - but the Turbo was the wildest craziest bike EVER. I remember I ran the Kwak with one of the 2 silencers removed so's I could hear the turbo spinning up, WHIZZZZZZ RUUUUUSH AAAAAAAH! It's what the phrase OMG was invented for!

That was 1989.

Moving on 20 years, and the Internet exists - Ebay Motors - any bike you ever wanted just a click away - awesome!

So I was looking at this 1980 Honda CBX1000 on Ebay 4 years ago one night and somehow ended up thousands of pounds lighter, and a van full of time-warp 1970's heavy metal showing up at my house 5 days later.

Well now the CBX was all very impressive with that beautiful engine of Shoichiro Irimajiri's hanging like testicles under it's candy red tank. It even rode OK as I had the American 'A' model with the thick forks and sorted swinging arm. However it was soon apparent that the CBX was a daft purchase; it was too valuable to actually ride - doh! What was the point?? Parked next to the CBX was a minter of a little 1986 VF500F2 which I enjoyed riding a heck of a lot more.

The solution was obvious - I needed to get myself out of the past and find out what the 21st Century has to offer; motorcycle development since my 1980's bikes has been astonishing.

So I sold the VF500 & CBX (not such a bad buy after all, it had appreciated significantly) and soon enough another van shows up at the house. This time it disgorges a brand new Kawasaki Z1000 naked for my entertainment. With extreme haste I remove the comedy oem exhausts and fit some slash cuts - looking better now.

And the new (2010) Z1000 was exactly like all the reviews say; light (to me, amazingly light), and anytime grunt in the midrange which goes all Starship Enterprise if you dare pin the throttle. The handling, the brakes, the chassis, the delivery absolutely dumps on anything I'd ever experienced. Yes modern bikes are much much better than their 1980's predecessors.

But another flaw in my motorcycling master plan has arisen - this Z thou is kinda humiliating - it is so good at being a brutal hooligan bike I can feel it sneering at my casual riding style. I never felt we really 'cooperated' and frankly the riding experience was more like porno than the real thing.

The Z Thou had to go too - and it left me with the impression that new bikes are only great like an iPad is great, but they have no spirit... no validity.

What to do? I can't go back to wobbly gutless overvalued Jap classic bikes. I'm spoilt now; I love modern brakes, suspension, ergonomics, power, reliability. So I asked Google for a solution. And the oracle spat out the VFR750FJ-K.

Now I aspire to the school of thought that when buying an old motorcycle, buy the best possible example you can afford. Even a bike described as 'mint' won't be and you'll soon enough find plenty to spend your cash on.

In the UK, there were 1100 VFR750FJ's sold in 1988 and there are still 550 taxed or sorn'd today - at that rate there'll still be 250 left in the year 2048! What I'm alluding to is that sweet VFRs comes up for grabs quite regularly so no need for any haste.

On MCN Classsifieds, a VFR duly appeared. A careful look at the bike photos revealed no rusty nuts, and the carpet / radiator / upvc windows in the bikes home gave a clue as to this VFR owners respect for his motorcycle.

The deal was done for £950, a Motorcycle Transporter is engaged, and a very nice original black VFR with 20k on the clock finds its way into my garage.

First impressions... I cleaned and polished it halfheartedly and it looks about 3 not 24 years old - nice :-) I appreciate close-up the high tide of Honda 1989 quality & durability. That new Z Thou was like every new bike; well put together fit & finish wise - robots do that no big deal. Durable? I doubt it.

Sitting on the VFR, I find it low (I'm 5'10") and narrow after the 'mass centralised' Z1000 and the excesses of the old CBX. Nice natural reach to the Titanium coloured clip-on bars, and I slot into the bike just right.

Dammit! I notice the LCD Clock has missing segments!

OK ride on the VFR...

In town, easy to balance down to zero speed without feet down, with a bit of a wobble at nearly dead stop. That's something I did notice about the 'mass centralised' Kwak 1000 - I could stop dead - wait - then put my feet down.

Still, I'm an ex courier so lane splitting and never-stop is how I ride. The VFR is very undemanding for town riding, it's ultra trustworthy throttle response will put you easily where you want to be for the next move.

Heading out of town onto Devon's fine A roads, the VFR starts to take on an almost ethereal character. You almost forget about the bike; it's the fabled gear driven V4 engine beneath you that dominates the experience. Cruising along in the 50 and 60mph sections I'd swear I was riding an electric motorbike. I did build a couple of Electric Monkey Bikes a while back and the linear torque curve of the VFR is remarkably similar. What a great noise that VFR motor makes too.

What's truly brilliant though is the midrange roll-on on these bikes. The VFR is an overtaking king just wafting effortlessly past cars that just seconds before you were speed matched with.

One thing I like to do to see if a bike impresses me is the half max rpm half throttle test. That is... take this VFR to 5000rpm half throttle in 3rd gear then absolutely nail it to the stop. I can tell you these old VFR's really do shift and I have no hesitation in comparing the initial surge favourably with the z thou. Obviously the Zed romps away like a cat on fire as the revs build significantly, but in reality you're probably lining up for the next corner or roundabout by then anyway.

And that's where the VFR is so excellent - coming out of corners and rolling on the power you just trust it and you can keep up with anyone sane, and in such an effortless manner too.

Of course excellent is a word that can be applied to many aspects of this Honda motorcycle.

The Engine

It's like a v-twin at low rpm, mutates to a screaming multi above 7000 and has shades of turbine in between. Smooth, playful, indestructible, amazing!

The FJ-K motor is the one that makes the most power of all VFR models. All the later ones are soft, down below 98 horses, whereas the FJ-K chucks out 104. The earlier FG-H motor had the same 104bhp output, but smaller intake valves and carbs mean that it was down on power everywhere else.

The Chassis & Ergonomics

You really get to enjoy the ride on the VFR. A guy my age can ride 'with purpose' for a day out and not be distracted by aching body parts during or after. Pillions are happy too.

The bike is incredibly neutral at any speed and seems to flatter the rider whatever your current mood.

The FJ-K has 17” wheels both front and back, an alloy perimeter frame and monoshock rear – just like modern motorcycles. The earlier FG-H has 16” Front Wheel and an 18” Rear. The poor tyre choice, combined with 4mm skinnier forks and smaller brakes means that the earlier FG-H can’t really be made to handle.

When Honda introduce the redesigned VFR750L in 1990 it’s bloated up by 13 kg as well as loosing 6 ½ horses. The VFR’s perky character was forever lost at the same time.

Suspension & Brakes

Well this is where it all goes a bit Pete Tong. The VFR is comfy but squishy. I feel the rear bob and wallow on rippled curves, and the front dive – I can’t take that – not after modern forks.

And the 25 year old brakes too… meh.

However this was all expected, and part of the plan. Time to fit the collection of 21st Century kit I have been patiently accumulating.

Out came the oe Rear Shock, and in goes a Wilbers 640 with Remote Preload. Built by the German factory for my weight, my VFR and my riding style, it gives me better-than-new plushness at the rear.

At the front, the Fork Dampers and Antidive have been disabled, Racetech Gold Valve Emulators installed, the oe springs – notoriously weak – have been replaced with a stronger Racetech set and hey ho my Z100 type forks are back.

Finally the brakes – full overhaul, new braided lines, Brembo Pads and they’re now very good indeed.

So here we have it, the perfect road motorcycle. It has the manners of a flagship new bike combined with the organic character of a classic, all for about £2,000.

The VFR750 from 1988 and 89, I salute you!

Have had six vfrs including vtech 800and VFR 800 (1998) There is little to choose between the 750 and pre vetch 800 although the carbed 750 is definitely smoother at junctions and roundabouts, although a little slower in top end speed. The vetch fuelling I didn't like as it was very snatchy on my 06 model and I didn't keep it, although the handling and brakes etc were great. I understand that Honda fixed this after 06 although I havent ridden one.of this age All in all I would rate the vfr750 as the best bike I have ever ridden and considering mine is now 20 years old and in mint condition that is saying something. Problems are with rectifiers although I have never had a problem, and exhausts which are costly and difficult to replace. headlights are excellent and brakes adequate although the bike is quite heavy and doesn't stop as quickly as a modern sports bike. I intend to fit braided brake hoses in the future as it improves braking.

There is plenty of tongue and they will do 150mph if you are mad enough. Comfort is excellent and they are better in my opinion than in-line fours for motorway riding as they are not as buzzy. They have a fairly small fuel tank but with sensible riding you could achieve approximately 160-180 miles on a tank full of petrol.

They are so well appointed and everything is where it should be. For example many bikes have an awkward side stand. The Ducati 916 I had was a nightmare and an R1 I rode was hard to get my heel to. The VFR is perfect and can be done without any issue at all.

Seat height is low and weight distribution excellent probably due to the narrow V4 engine configuration. road manners are excellent and suspension soft and absorbant. They can keep up with virtually anything in the real world although modern sport bikes have much more power if you need that sort of thing.

Bought last year as my daily commuter, and it does a fine job. The engine is fantastic for the road. It has been totally reliable and needs nothing other than basic maintenance. Only 50,000 miles on the clock at the moment, so it has a lot of life left in it too!

I used it last year to do the RBLR Iron Butt ride - I did over 1500 miles in 36 hours. No problem.

The only things I would like to improve are the suspension and brakes. Things have moved on a long way in 23 years! But, for commuting and riding at 80% or so, it is perfectly OK.

I have owned my bike for the last 9 years and we are still the best of friends. 1991 FM, Now with 48,000 on the clock, but as sweet as ever. My bikes in pearlecent white, very tidy and still looks great. The build quality of these bikes was brilliant. Stays with most modern tackle on our "real roads", and in comfort too. The collector boxes do rot, a stainless version is the answer. I borrowed a bike lift to do mine, I would have struggled without. The regulators can fail, a smelly "overcharging" battery is a good sign, also, headlight going bright & dull in line with rpm. Easy fix & not expensive. It never uses a drop of oil and has been incrediby reliable. Ive only ever had compliments and heard good reports about these bikes. If you are thinking of buying one, just do it. If youve owned one, let me guess, fond memories?

I've been a biker since 1973 including 10 years as a Motorcycle courier in London and this is the best bike I have ever ridden.

It handles beautifully when fitted with Michelin boots and with a top speed over 150 mph it's quite fast enough. Build quality is second to none. It always gets admiring looks. This really is an all round super bike! Look out for rusty down pipes as they are expensive to replace but most VFRs will by now have stainless pipes fitted.

I have 2 VFR750's one 1990 and 1 1970 both are fantastic bikes the first I have had for 15yrs and it was written of 2 yrs ago with 235,138 miles on the clock, it never had a rebuild and serviced once a year just before the MOT. The 1997 bike had 10,000 miles on the clock when I got it now it has 57,000 in 2years again one service a year.

I dont look after the bikes but they look after me never let me down in any weather and I ride them in all weathers, I use the bike before I think of the car as its so good.

Cant reccomend the VFR 750 enough, the best bike I have ever had, glued to the road loads of power when you need it pulls in any gear, Ray

The Honda VFR750 is a magic Bike. 79000kms on the clock and still purring like a cat. Have owned a blackbird in the past and my 1990 VFR750 is all the bit as comfortable and well handling, with a touch less power but much more satisfying note to the exhaust. The gear driven cams and single elf swing arm are great. I can not honestly fault the bike it is an alround comfort, sexy sports machine.