All Tests – 2014 VFR800F Test: episode 6, the legend continues! – Sporty ergonomics, enchanting engine

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VFR800F 2014 test: episode 6, the legend continues !

All Tests - 2014 VFR800F Test: episode 6, the legend continues! - Sporty ergonomics, enchanting engine

Twelve years after the arrival of the VFR 800 VTEC, here is finally the new generation of the legendary Honda sport-road motorcycle. Lighter, sleeker, better equipped and still as high-tech as ever, this rolling legend holds its place perfectly. ! Test.

Sporty ergonomics, enchanting engine

The 2014 VFR800F does not get bourgeois: it always imposes on its pilot a position reasonably tilted forward and a more "sport" than "GT" leg fold. Motorcyclists looking for more aspects can opt for an optional riser kit (93 €), which raises the handlebars by 15 mm and brings it closer to the rider by 6.5 mm.

Well designed, the saddle allows a pilot of 1.80m to put both boots on the ground in the high position. A reassuring aspect, because the almost 240 kg of the VFR are felt during maneuvers at a standstill…

From the first few meters, the bike’s balance quickly makes you forget this feeling of heaviness and it appears above all that Honda has worked admirably well on its famous VTEC system. So much the better, because many fans of the model had not found themselves in the last version of the VFR, both because of the abandonment of the distribution by cascade and the relative brutality of the VTEC.

Well gentlemen VFRists, rejoice: this new VFR800F will be the vintage of reconciliation! We indeed find all the roundness and smoothness of the original V4, but with all the pleasure of a modern motorcycle! When accelerating, the triggering of the VTEC no longer causes any jerk, nor when it cuts off during deceleration.

The result is a high-level engine approval: flexible and smooth under 5000 rpm – even if it is a little hollow: it remains an 800 cc developing 75.1Nm of torque -, the V4 becomes frankly nasty above. Although stifled by antipollution standards, the sound of the exhaust is also in tune with this good mechanical health..

Soft, precise and fast, the gearbox attracts nothing but compliments, while the protection offered by the non-adjustable bubble is sufficient to support a motorway journey at legal speed (in France in any case!) Without suffering. . Full box, therefore, for this new opus !

Truly Fixed on a Rail

As on the previous vintage, the VFR800F’s handling is really impressive. The suspension tuning offers a particularly appreciable comfort / stability compromise, whatever the appearance or the state of the asphalt..

On the Spanish roads taken during this first contact, particularly tortuous, it is necessary on the other hand to "spit" a little in the hands to make it turn at a sporting pace. VFR requires engagement in tight pif-paf and angle changes, situations where its weight and stability-oriented geometry (25.30 ° caster angle) slightly restrain its ardor..

On the other hand, it will be happy to swallow the big curves at completely prohibited speeds, except on circuit or on German highways. An exhilarating quality, but so dangerous for the French driving license…

In case of excess optimism, the VFR800F allows you to remain totally relaxed: it brakes perfectly well from the front as from the rear and its ABS is completely forgotten. The rear brake pedal – now independent – allows you to tighten your trajectory finely.

TCS traction control also does an admirable job: it relieves acceleration when needed, but without causing sudden and unpleasant ignition cuts. The feeling therefore remains excellent between the throttle grip and the rear tire: a treat !

Verdict: Really Damn Success !

Like its predecessors, this new VFR800F is neither the most powerful nor the lightest of the motorcycles of its time … but it remains one of the most efficient machines to knock down the bollard without fatigue and at a high rate..

This sixth version of the VFR therefore has everything to remain the queen of sporty road cars … But is this type of motorcycle still of interest in these times of repression? The question deserves to be asked, especially as the declining sales volumes in this category indicate that MNC is not the only one to wonder.

Independently of this situation for which it is in no way responsible – and which is not the same everywhere: England remains for example fond of sports cars and "fast road" -, the VFR800F 2014 is a real success. The VFRists will lend him everything they liked in their 750 or their 800 EFI and may finally be convinced by the VTEC.

Everyone could therefore find their account … Especially since speaking of "account", precisely, the deal offered by this novelty has something to seduce: its price is 12 599 €, or only 100 euros more than the promotional price currently enjoyed by the old version (€ 12,499, against € 13,499 list price for the 2013).

A good effort on the part of Honda which could very well have used technological contributions to justify a price increase. The VFR800F does not know the crisis !

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