You are reading a single comment by @Jung and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
pdlouche
@Jung
Haha, scraping hardware is always fun until something digs in and lifts the back tyre off the ground.
I've done about 800 miles on the VFR now, which for me is pretty astonishing in such a short time. By and large, I still really love it, though I'm torn on keeping it. For everyday riding, it is superb - easily the most comfortable bike I've ever owned. It's swift, quiet, does an astonishing job with even the most extreme shit roads.
For pissing around in the lower speed canyon twisties, it's way better than it should be. Brakes feel a little wooden but get it stopped and the suspension and front weight bias mean that you can keep it WFO on roads that have both the GSXR and Duc either squirming or bucking me out of the seat. With the new 2CTs fitted, I went from peg to peg a couple of times yesterday, totally unflustered. In fact, I consciously had to wind my neck in as the whole feel of the bike is so encouragingly playful. It WAS better for feel with the 180 squeezed on the back but I can't comment on edge grip as I had to be circumspect riding hard on the 15 year old rubber. A little more rear ride height would liven it up, I bet.
The only negatives boil down to power and weight. For a heavy bike, it hides the pork magnificently. It does NOT feel cumbersome, particularly on the slower stuff. However, faster sweepers, like 80+ are not so fun. By fun, there's nothing wrong, it tracks fine, steers easily and still feels confidence inspiring but trying to ride it hard on a fast road, is not all that rewarding. The only longer ride I've done (270miles) included the Highway 33, which is easily one of the best roads in California. It goes over the mountains from the badlands down into the Ojai valley and is an absolute SCREAMER. I don't get to ride it that often as it's further out but man is it worth the trip. Smooth, relatively wide, not really anything that tightens and a mix of medium to unmentionably fast corners that flow together for 30 odd miles, non-stop.
The last time I went over, was on the GSXR and it was mental. I stopped on the other side and was shaking and laughing, everything was amazing. It was one of those rides where you feel jazzed for days after. The VFR, no so much. Maybe because it starts at 4000' or so, the old viffer was already a bit wheezy just getting up to the sort of speed you need to carry along the road. Most places you can make decent progress between 6-9k but there, I was bumping into the redline everywhere. It can't hide the weight in the fast corners either, it's fine, if maybe a little wallowy once you get in, but it's not accurate like a sportsbike on turn in and for the really rapid stuff, the vagueness gets a little tiring. Half way over, I slowed down because I wasn't really enjoying myself and it seemed pointless to keep thrashing it.
Aside from a few cramps, I managed the whole 270miles in short order with an absolute minimum of discomfort. The same ride on the GSXR would have me creaking for a couple of days for sure....BUT, the GSXR is SO exciting to ride and so well suited to (most) of the route, it'd be hard not to favor it. For the slower, near by stuff, despite being a plank, the Duc is hilarious. It sounds absurd, feels better the more you spank it and makes you feel like a hero. For anything other than fast canyon riding, it sounds like someone chucked a bucket of bolts in the engine, it gets hot, the brake discs rattle alarmingly and are strong enough to pitch you over the bars with two fingers and it vibrates like a diesel dildo. Horrible.
As a do everything platform, if you can find a nice one, the VFRs are a special bike. Everything from the engine vibration, through the handling and ride comfort feels epically refined. The fit and finish from the frame castings to paint is impeccable. Bottom line, is that I have a nagging suspicion it's too nice for me. To modify it to address some of the things I dislike would feel wrong.
What I'd really like, is to toss all the fairing, seat and VFR bits. Fit a loud pipe, rejet, maybe add some emulators and a rear shock, some race RC30 bodywork and vestigial lights and have a proper fast, road weapon. Lose 20kg easy, pickup 10hp or so, retain the road manners and have an erzatz RC for a steal. Couldn't do it to this one though.