Honda VFR750F-T

What can i say, its a very good bike. I've owned my 1997 Honda VFR750 for a few weeks now, Currently i also own a '01 Ducati Monster 600 and a Honda ANF125 Innova but wanted a bike that could cope easily with distances and had a fairing and also without a timing chain, my Yamaha FZS600 I sold to buy the VFR suffered like many Fazers with a stretching timing chain, so geared cams is very welcome!

In the first week I covered 400 miles and second about 250 miles so I've had enough time to give a good review on ownership.

There's not much bad stuff to report, brakes are weak for this size/weight bike, 2-pot sliding callipers aren't really my choice, but braided hoses and genuine Honda brake pads make a lot of difference, but watch out for warped discs, fairly common and at around £240-300 for a replacement pair they're not cheap!

The Honda build quality is exceptional, thick paint, perfect fit of panels, switches, dials, everything is nicely detailed and no complaints. My bike benefits from a new upgraded Nitron rear shock and fresh fork oil so feels very stable to ride, forks dive a lot under braking, but this also adds to the smooth ride as they're set on the soft side.

My MPG surprised me. A friend owns the earlier '87 VFR750 FK and gets around 45mpg, never 50. But my later '97 VFR(still carburettors not injection like later 800) has averaged 54mpg, best of 58mpg and worst of 52mpg. That's over 650miles logged on Fuelly dot com. 58mpg achieved from motorway 70mph cruising, worst was with local commuting in 30/40/50mph areas.

The VFR has everything you need in a bike. Decent fairing, Although screen is low it works very well and gives no buffeting, a centre stand is invaluable for maintenance, a proper dial needle fuel and temp gauge with a low fuel light too. Tank range based on about 52mpg gives about 240-250miles to dry, needle stays at full for ages then drops quickly but is still accurate with regards to fuel left in tank.

Seat is easily comfortable for 150miles or more, the dash has separate left and right indicator lights which is nice. Clutch in my opinion is heavy and gear changes feel precise but unrefined. Hard to explain, its precise with no play and snicks up and down the 'box with clockwork precision but there's no soft feel or lightness to it, my Monster is agricultural in comparison but despite feeling mechanical with longer lever travel it clunks positively/nicely into gear, there's no positive feel on the VFR but it always goes in gear? Never has it jumped out of gear.

My bike has a rear hugger, front fenda extender, Honda heated grips and scottoiler which is brilliant and adds 1000's of miles to a chain life.

If I had to say a negative its that there is little under seat storage available. Aside from the standard toolkit and handbook the only thing I can fit extra is a puncture repair kit. Not even a disc lock can fit sadly so storage is lacking which is odd for a bike designed as a sports tourer/all-rounder.

The engine is happy to go down as low at 1500rpm and pull cleanly, power builds respectively from 5k in a linear fashion, no power bands just more and more power. 5th and 6th gear lack Oomph for overtaking if below 4k on national speed limit roads so overtaking is 4th gear choice giving confident 'lock, load and fire' acceleration.

Overall tho I am very impressed with what a VFR offers, if I had to live with one bike a VFR would be it. The later 800's rely too heavily on electronics and injection for me, carburettors rarely give problems, lack of use is when they start causing issues.

If your looking to buy a VFR, I'd say check valve clearances have been done at least at the 16k miles interval, they tend not to go out of spec after that, and the regulator rectifier is a known weakness.

Aside from that, check it rides in a straight line, and service history shows its been looked after and you can't go far wrong.