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Four Play
By PeteG
Honda VFR 750
Throughout the nineteen fifties and early sixties the
motorcycle was used mainly as a cheap form of transport by the general
populous and as a way of getting support services such as the AA, police
force and the army from A to B quickly. I remember fond days when the
mobile clog repairer would stop in our street with his whole workshop and
family of 13 children crammed into a sidecar and trailer propelled by a
Matchless 150 cc machine. What days. Much earlier than that in the dark
distant times of the birth of the Internal Combustion Engine the
motorcycle was used as an easy way to develop and experiment with motive
power.
Stevens Light Commercial Vehicle
Only more recently has the motorcycle become solely a
plaything, a toy. That isn’t to say that in those early days there were no
pioneers or boy racers, there were. The first TT was run in 1907 and some
fantastic, epic journeys were being undertaken as soon as two wheels had
been strapped together by bits of string and rubber pipe.
The machines of those days are so far removed form the
space rockets of today, typically heavy with massive engines pushing out
horsepower levels equally to an electric toothbrush, but the riders and
the reasons for riding have changed little. The risks have stayed about
the same too although in the past there was more chance of you being
killed by a piston flying through the head than a blind car driver at a
junction. The need for speed, the want for better handling, more
reliability, better brakes and the newest models are all things that still
drive us today.
True, gone are the sights of a friendly AA man on a Norton
or Triumph saluting as you pass, or ice cream served from a BSA Bantam and
there was even a 'Stevens' trike that looked more like a van than a bike
but the motorcycle culture is as strong as it ever was even if for
different reasons.
Even Alchoholics Anonymous had their own vehicle.
Today, the only people types that do their job from a bike
are those like Leon Haslam and James Toseland, and even bike coppers are
on the decline. Why do we ride bikes today? Play. that’s why. Oh yes I
know someone out there will be saying "I ride my divvy to work every day".
True but last time I visited my local bike emporium I saw very few blokes
in Bellstaffs trying to buy a 15 year old ER5, but loads of people selling
their souls through an obliging bank manager for the latest K7 or Rocket
III. Bikers now buy toys (in the main) and when we get them home we take
them out of the box and play with them.
Now we all want slightly
different toys and we are all sure that we know what’s best for us so
whether you choose cruisers, streetfighters, sportsbikes or tourers, we
are still playing and having some fun. My particular penchant is for bikes
that go fast and corner like a Louis the 15th bevelled bureaux. Not a
great analogy I know but the option would have been construed as racists.
But that’s the sort a bike I like so in writing reviews on all types of
bikes I have to be non-critical, just because it’s not to my taste doesn’t
mean I can’t see it’s plus points.
"Will you give my bike a review?" I was asked. It’s my
favourite seven words in the best order. "Yes." is my usual answer but
when I was told the bike in question was a Honda VFR 750 I doubted it
would be anything I could get excited about. This was mainly due the bike
press enlarging on the reputation of Honda for making ‘Bland’ bikes and
the VFR as a middle of the road sports tourer.
"What the hell." I thought, it couldn’t be as bland as they
make out - there are plenty of them out there. When I actually saw the
bike I was quite surprised as it was a 1991 and was beginning to look a
little dated but looking down at the ‘trick’ one sided swing arm and fancy
wheels it seemed more modern than it's contemporaries.
Once on the seat I found everything where it should
be and the riding position felt ‘Bog Standard’ sports tourer but the
surprise came when I fired up the bike. Now I have seen enough modern VRF
800’s to know that the exhaust note is far from inspiring but this thing
sounded like an F1 racing car, the Vee Four engine burbling and roaring
out it’s soul. Well if the performance matched the sound.......
I confess, I struggled to keep the front end down, this
bike was a wheelie monster of large proportions still wanting to ‘mono’
all the way up to fourth gear. The power to the back wheel seemed constant
and eager and yet silky smooth. Into the first corner and over she went,
doing everything I expected so given some confidence I took the throttle
slightly over neutral and steadily wound it out as the bike came back to
vertical, once again the front wheel tried to launch with just a hint of
rear wobble.
Here comes the weekly Wet Fish delivery.
On the straight the bike was stable and quick, very quick
but as I slowed under engine braking and slung the machine into the
entrance to a roundabout there was something I couldn’t quite put my
finger on, only a slight hesitation but it grew large in the back of my
mind. To be fair, it behaved well into the corner and flipped back the
other way to exit and for that matter was fine for the whole of the test
but there was just that slight edge of doubt. Maybe it was the tyres on
the bike or the set up, I don’t know but something in my gut told me not
to trust this bike as I would my own. It’s similar when you see someone in
the street or the pub and though they look like anyone else, you just know
they work for the revenue team commonly know as the Police.
At the time my own bike was a ZZR 1100 of the same vintage
and about the same weight and I have to say there was little difference in
performance, maybe right at the top of it’s range the Kawasaki would
gradually leave the Honda behind but off the line the Honda was quicker.
It sounded fantastic too, on full song with the after-market can the notes
are tremendous.
Back at base I considered the situation. There was a lot to
offer from this bike, the speed, reasonable handling, awesome sound, comfy
seat but on the other side, it’s ageing a bit, it’s heavy and that
collector box on the complex exhaust system costs about as much as a
Governmental bribe. True, it’s a lot of fun for little money but be sure
it’s a good one if you buy as that engine would soak up a small African
country's arms budget if it needed repair. Then there’s the fact that it’s
Honda. Okay, okay don’t all write in at once. Honda builds some good bikes
but they lack character, pizzazz, they lack foibles. I suppose that’s good
in many cases but I don’t want my bike to be ‘Everybike’ which Honda
machines can become. The exception to the rule is the SP2 but that’s
another story.
The test bike - 1991 VFR 750
In conclusion, a bike that has sold this well and stays
this popular must have something going for it. I enjoyed riding the beast
and the only obvious faults I could find were probably related to it being
a sixteen year old bike rather than true design errors. That said, I
wouldn’t buy one. The Fireblade is a far better bike and older ones not
that much dearer. Service cost can be high on the VFR and they eat tyres
just as quick as sportbikes, and you can get just as much luggage on a
Blade as on the VFR. If you can find a decent one going cheap then buy it
as a plaything to keep the mileage off your main bike, the sound of that
Vee four alone is worth it. Personally, I just like to follow someone else
riding one so that I can pretend that it’s my bike I can hear.
Copyright of the author. © 2007 Tricky Imp
Productions
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