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Louis-Honda VFR 1200 F DCT "Lemmy"

Rolling homage to Lemmy Kilmister

The Louis-Honda VFR 1200 F DCT "Lemmy" is a rolling homage to Lemmy Kilmister, singer and bassist from Motorhead, who died at the end of 2015.

D.he USA elected Trump as its President in 2016. Honestly, the world has bigger problems than a noisy motorcycle. But actually the droning below me fits perfectly with the claim. Finally, the Louis screwdriver crew around front man Kay Blanke (he usually does PR for the shipping giant) built a motorized tribute to Ian Fraser, known as Lemmy Kilmister. He was the singer and bass player for Motorhead for 40 years until his death.

Louis-Honda VFR 1200 F DCT "Lemmy"

Rolling homage to Lemmy Kilmister

Ulf Penner took care of the torque

His first sentence at each of the damned many concerts was always a complete understatement: “We are Motorhead, and we play Rock ‘n’ Roll!” With their “Proto Metal”, the admittedly very loud band built a bridge between Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Punk and even blues. This particular motorcycle also eludes a simple classification. It’s a custom bike, okay, it has the style elements of a cafe racer: raised exhaust pipes, clip-on handlebars, one-man seat bench. But the fat V4 Honda offers a lot more.

Engine pope Ulf Penner (www.tuning-fibel.de) made the torque fuller with the Power Commander, modified software and fine-tuning on the test bench. Half the V8 breathes in and out much more freely than before. The four square, polished aluminum intake stacks have probably never been seen on a motorcycle before. To be taken literally: The fantastic aluminum tank provides a clear view of the radical airbox through ingenious slots on the left and right and also from above through a peephole. A peep show for petrolheads!

Louis-Honda VFR 1200 F DCT "Lemmy" with 175 hp

Have you ever watched the throttle valves open and close while driving? Here you go. In city traffic and later on country roads they only open in homeopathic doses. More is done with this surplus of power, Ulf Penner promises 175 hp, not necessary. The cladding, tank and hump formed and manufactured by the “aluminum god” Friedhelm Lammers (www.alu-tanks.de). If the open hoppers are the soul of this motorcycle, then the sophisticated fairing is its face. Inspired by classic half-shells from the 1960s, it looks minimalist, narrow and chic. A rudimentary MRA disc crowns them. This is how a motorcycle has to be so that it thunders straight from your soul.

Many parts of this mechanical sculpture are one-off and custom-made. For example the finely milled Kineo spoke wheels. The exquisite rear specimen has an exposed hub and off-center spokes. In addition to this filigree part, the original cardan single-sided swing arm looks downright clumsy. The backbone and peak of the madness is the tubular space frame made of untreated “natural steel”, artistically welded by the expert Sam Wassermann. Sitting perfectly like a made-to-measure suit, he clamps the fully loaded V4. Form: conclusive. Sexy but highly functional, the special frame leads in crossed lines from front to back and from the steering head to the swing arm. A brilliant concept, a masterpiece in metal instead of the rough series aluminum bridge.

Wacky, goalie mobile

The Louis-Honda VFR 1200 F DCT scurries lightly "Lemmy" through the big city. No wonder, the complete conversion with the dual clutch transmission only weighs 237 kilograms. That is a whopping 41 kilos less than the visually bulky series motorcycle. Meta-morphosis: Under the wide VFR series fairing once there were “a thousand cables and lines”, as Kay Blanke puts it, “relays, the hydraulic unit of the ABS, battery and so on.” Where to put it? Fuses and a microscopic lithium iron phosphate battery from Modellbau Fuchs went into the mini hump. Louis threw the ABS out of hand. Wacky, mobile goal.

The six-piston stoppers operated by the Gale Speed ​​radial brake pump bite tightly and firmly. If there is a god (of screwing), then he shows himself in the details. I have to crouch deeply, almost submissively, to get to the deeply clamped, super noble handlebar stubs from Gilles Tooling. The stubs could be set higher. But the playmate of the month doesn’t have to break the world record in potato peeling. The feet are well supported on the high Gilles footrest system. The demanding posture on the comfortable pillow of the Kinzlin saddlery is sensual and sporty. The bread crate-wide tank spreads its legs – the silver surfer needs some fuel somewhere.

The paintwork by Schrammwerk appears martial yet elegant. It looks like apocalyptic horsemen raced through a painter’s studio and riveted loads of paint buckets down. Danny Schramm hung up the aluminum parts and let paint drip over them from above – so the splashes run like a painting by Jackson Pollock. "Action Painting" is the perfect description for something like that! Lemmy is a pure driving machine that is not only defined by driving. She speaks to me, tells a lot. Friedhelm Lammers made the aluminum parts, yes. But the Louis team created their own holder and the brackets for the polished front aluminum mudguard from LSL. "The fine adaptation was detention!", Says Kay Blanke on the phone.

Drum roll from the airbox

The two oil pumps for the dual clutch transmission on the right of the V4 were given projectile-shaped covers. They used to be handlebar ends from the Louis range. Fittingly, the VFR goes off like a rocket. Because finally the city lies behind and the pleasure lies ahead of us. Tighten the tap and something really happens. Always ready to jump, sinewy like a panther, the 1237 cubic power cube leaps forward. The electro-hydraulic DCT shifts up without any noticeable interruption in tractive power. Lemmy has no clutch lever, just one mission: power and sound! At the Glemseck 101 motorcycle festival, stunt driver Mai-Lin Senf sprinted the eighth mile with it.

The shift algorithms are calibrated for violent acceleration – lower gears stay in for a long time. In city traffic, I manually shift up using Tiptronic. But now, on the track, the throttle valves are finally 90 degrees vertical, open to full flow. Kick down! Now Lemmy plays infernally loud rock’n’roll riffs, smoky-rough, with an aggressive note. He coughed the first dB eater on the A8 west, the second on the A8 east of Stuttgart. As steep as grenade launchers, the Shark exhausts point upwards at an angle: a double-barreled sonic cannon. In addition, drum rolls hammer out of the airbox like a world-class drummer.

Bridgestone rain tires Battlax W01 in the formats 120/600 R 17 and 190/650 R 17 without road approval are intended for use on the racetrack. But they flu like the devil at three to five degrees Celsius and damp weather. It couldn’t be better. In addition, this VFR rolls much more handily, more obediently than the series and at the same time very true to track and line. It circles the curves with high precision, like swifts whetting around house roofs. But on a wet road, the rear wheel sucks in completely after a few meters without any splash guard.

Tribute to Lemmy in the Schlesinger

On the B 295 I narrowly avoid a traffic control. What would have bothered the sheriffs most? The tires, the roaring pipes or missing mirrors? That is really dangerous "reckless" when threading onto the highway. Well, the five hidden Louis LED daytime running lights with preliminary stage have ABE, but are not suitable as main headlights. They look like the row of teeth of someone who has had to take a lot in life, but has also given a lot … It is evening, the tank is empty, my soul is full, enriched with many impressions. The "Schlesinger", a restaurant-bar in Stuttgart, welcomes us with open arms. There’s a portrait of Mister Kilmister on the wall here. Tribute to Lemmy!

Micha and Nolde, both from the “Schlesinger” team and moped riders themselves, are enthusiastic and admire the masculine motorcycle. Hey, this is Lemmy, not Louise! Wiry, sinewy, this sharp Honda promises acceleration and speed even when stationary. She is a real fisherman of people: bar visitors ask their way through to me, wanting to know everything about the horny VFR. Lots of questions, lots of conversations.

The night of kerosene begins – the “Schlesinger” has the largest and best beer selection in town. Oh yes, the start number "79" stands for the age of the Louis company, and in 2018 the people of Hamburg will celebrate their 80th anniversary. Thank you, Lemmy and the Louis screwdriver crew, for the emotional experience, thank you “Schlesinger” for always giving me a second living room: classy and good!

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