Researching VFR’s

I know the 750VFR is renowned for being an awesome all around do everything bike. The 800VFR awesome as well. I know about the chain tensioner issues of the pre-2003's. 
What is it with the 1200VFR's?  There are many nice 750 & 800's for sale with 20k, 40k, 50k & even 60k miles. The 1200's for sale have really low miles. I know they are newer but there just seems to be a huge difference in the amount they get ridden. Did Honda just make the 1200 to compete with BMW & Aprillia 1200's & others & the Honda magic just didn't transfer?  
Also what would the mileage difference be between a 800 & 1200- noticeable of negligible? 

Okay, pre-2003 VFR800's don't have chains, they have gear drives for the cams.  The pre-2003's also don't have the VFR implementation of VTEC. 

The VFR1200 is an entirely different bike with a common engine configuration, that being a V-4, but I don't think much besides a few fasteners would cross over.  That bike should have been something... but it's not. Gas tank got a noticeable drop in volume (like 1.5 fewer gallons) and highway mpg's went from around 45mpg to about 38.  Shaft drive with the plusses and minuses that brings.  It's heavy.  It's really not that powerful.  I don't think they sound that good.  It's basically a touring bike you can't really tour on.

The 6th gen VFR (which is also the 8th gen... more on that in a bit) is the version I owned.  I had a 2004 and it was both awesome and a bit not.  The changes to the engine to add VTEC caused stator cooling issues due to oil being directed away from the stator, so these bikes end up needing stators about as often as they need primary drive chains.  The chain tensioners started to 'clack' around 30k miles but apparently this isn't a problem, it just sounds bad.  Valve adjustments are a *huge pain* so I never had them done.  I both miss that bike and don't.  When the 7th gen VFR failed in the marketplace globally Honda decided to change some things around and brought out the RC46 chassis (5th gen and 6th gen both share the same frame) only they gave it a new code and juggled some things like a better radiator setup and called it good.  I don't think the 8th gen's have sold well either as they're just gluing different stuff to a ~25 year old bike. 

That said, if you want a good all-around "old man's sports bike" the 8th gen might not be so bad, like a 5k mile "used" example with a nice discount attached, or left-over dealer stock. 

I'm either finding my old bike and performing a resto/mod operation on it which defies logic, or better yet, a good condition version of the 5th gen and start working out how to get a single radiator setup going and some other tasteful tweaks.  Out of the fuel injected bikes I think the 5th gen is the most desirable although the styling isn't exactly sexy and the bike can feel a bit cramped for taller riders with this frame.

The 750 also has cam gears and not chains. They were designed to salvage the reputation of the Honda V4s, as especially the smaller ones (like the 400 and 500) are from Honda's "can't design a camchain tensioner to save their lives" period.

IIRC they went back to chains with the VTEC 800.

The 750 especially has a reputation of being almost unbreakable (at least in Europe) as long as you keep on top of the maintenance and feed it the occasional rectifier.

Cam chains used on the VTEC 800 and 1200, yes.  5th gen is an 800 without VTEC and uses cam gears for drive.  5th gens, based on anecdotal evidence from a forum I used to frequent for these bikes, are extremely reliable and easy to live with as they're fuel injected.  Cooling system is still a bit overly complicated (pair of radiators on either side of the bike, pile of cooling system hoses, etc) but manageable. 

I love my 6th gen VFR800 ABS. I bought it to play with and then flip, but ended up liking it too much. The combination of the powerband and the sound is addictive. Mine is a 2006, the first year of the revised VTEC curve. It sounds awesome, it looks good, it is fairly comfortable, fairly fast, fairly smooth, fairly good handling (I had the suspension tweaked at both ends,) fairly sporty, fairly good for light touring, and fairly good for commuting. I get around 40mpg or a little better. The range and comfort are pretty good for long rides. Having a center stand is nice at times.
I bought it with somewhere around 80,000 miles on it and it has been dead-nuts reliable. The previous owner was the original owner and had a new stator put in somewhere along the way.

Minor nits to pick: it isn't the easiest bike to work on, but then you aren't going to find a naked air-cooled single that blocks wind and gobbles up highways and backroads at extra-legal speeds the way the VFR does. The linked ABS requires a particular work flow when bleeding brakes. Occasionally fueling is a little jerky, mostly when cold and when getting lightly back on the throttle after several seconds of trailing throttle. Many people report improvements by deleting the exhaust air injection, or adding a tune...it hasn't bothered me enough yet to warrant the effort.

I've never experienced a VFR1200, but I think they look ugly and sound funny with the weird firing order. My guess is they occupy a weird niche that doesn't match many people's real-world use case. i.e. the VFR800 doesn't have enough grunt and they don't like chain drive, but they also don't want the bigger windshield, slightly more upright ergonomics of most bigger-displacement sport touring bikes on the market.

I certainly think I don't represent the VFR1200 target audience, but if I wanted something a little bigger and with shaft drive and more features, I think I'd be shopping used BMW K bikes.

I had a high mileage (80K? IIRC) VTEC for 2 years or so. Sounded great, rode well, even did a track day on it. VTEC transition was a bit annoying, also not really into linked brakes. I wasn't doing longer rides or riding 2 up, and was buying a house, so I sold it. It burnt up some kind of wire, probably the reg/rec. Patched it up and kicked it down the road. 

Not to hijack mdshaw's thread, but if anyone following along in the audience is intrigued by the 800 and has room for a parts bike or ambitious project, I have rough and ratty one that I'm stalled on and ready to move along for cheap, located in Portland, OR:

Wish you were closer to Florida.

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:

Not to hijack mdshaw's thread, but if anyone following along in the audience is intrigued by the 800 and has room for a parts bike or ambitious project, I have rough and ratty one that I'm stalled on and ready to move along for cheap, located in Portland, OR:

I'm always interested in stalled projects... How much are we talking here?

In reply to iansane :

Distinctly challenge priced. Open to all offers. I'd happily load it for you and give you all the small parts I have for pretty much any offer with four figures. Non-runner with mystery electrical issue. Pump runs when powered directly, sputters and runs briefly when spraying ether into the airbox. Pump won't prime when keying on....?? It has some suspicious wiring and the ignition switch has been berkeleyed with, but comes with a separate intact used wiring harness and a new aftermarket ignition switch. Also new chain and new-ish battery, plus some new hardware for the ratty bodywork. Extra used fuel pump as well. Bodywork is scraped and upper fairing has some cracking. Aftermarket exhaust and bar risers plus an aftermarket rear rack. I've also sourced a number of small parts (uncracked windscreen, uncracked instrument surround, mirrors, etc) that will be included. The frame has a small crack, but my buddy sourced a good replacement frame. Titles for both frames, one in each of our names. The buddy has moved to some mythical land know as Florida (completed bike was going to be for him) so he can no longer work on it and is on board with dumping it as it isn't worth shipping and he doesn't have work space in Florida. Open to offers on the whole enchilada. Could be a complete runner with some elbow grease and troubleshooting, or a great parts bike or BEC donor.