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Test: Honda Crossrunner against VFR 800

Honda tourer in comparison test

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Honda grabbed the V4 engine that has been known for years from the VFR and built something completely different around it: the Crossrunner. Time for a wild encounter.

It’s not always easy as a PS tester. How do you test two very different, rather unsporting bikes according to horsepower standards? Preparation is only half the life, so let’s leave that out for now and go straight to the limit. Open the office door, extreme country road tester Jacko by the collar, conceal what awaits him, without going straight to the underground car park, onto the bikes and off. I ignore his wild grumbling. The guy prefers to take potent super athletes to the limits of what is possible on quiet streets – and so Jacko is exactly the right man for the VFR duel with 254.5 kg versus Crossrunner with ultra-high roller handlebars. Big cinema!

Jacko on the VFR immediately puts a lot of pressure on, brakes hard and lurches wildly. On the Crossrunner I use the hairpin, walk past, pull up and do meters. The Crossrunner looks like a duck that swallowed a scooter, but this move was really nice. Didn’t even have to change my sitting position. After three more 180-degree turns, I hurried. I’ll wait at the next crossroads and I would manage half a dump – but I don’t smoke. Finally, the PS chassis guru comes with the VFR.

"What’n going on, you have flies on your back?" Jacko is beside himself. “You are sitting on your litter, and I? Let’s swap! ”Start from the beginning – with roles reversed. Confidently I’ll let the VFR fly right away. Wow! That is a pound, in fact, and it is cumbersome. I row like a beginner. Sharp left, then change to right. When turning in, Jacko pulls through inside. So’n Sch… where was there room? No more pussy cruising now, no more stealing lollipops from children. Now the brakes are really late and hard! Jacko is still sitting upright on the Crossrunner while I have long been dragging my knee on the floor. Still, I don’t hit a line and have to constantly correct. Late braking on the uneven roads with the Honda ABS is no fun either, the soft fork tramples over the wavy surface and lets the ABS regulate again and again. In order not to clear the co-tester in front of me or to go down myself, I have to let it tear down. A little later at the summit cross, Jacko sits with a half-empty chocolate bar on the Crossrunner, legacy apart: "Oh, you there too?" I cook!

It’s unbelievable how different the two Hondas can be driven. It is effortlessly possible to cushion the VFR with the Crossrunner. It can do everything better than the VFR without joking – regardless of its sportier look.

Both Honda engines and transmissions are identical. The V4 switches on two more valves per cylinder at around 6500 rpm. The resulting sound is just as unpleasant as the significant jolt in the drive train. With the Crossrunner, however, this was ironed out a bit in the engine management. The engine works around the bottom, something to match the chassis design "punchier", which is probably due to the lower weight. But accelerating on both bikes doesn’t have any real fun, everything seems somehow lacking in juice. The Crossrunner even surpasses this with a stalled fifth and sixth gear. At a speedometer of 205 km / h it is over. Only in fourth gear does the X turn to full speed at 12,000 rpm and show 216 km / h on the speedometer. When you drive them over curved motorway bridges at 200 km / h, you know why. It rocks like after a hearty visit to the marquee. Both forks look the same. With a more precise measurement, however, the Crossrunner has ten millimeters more travel. Sit still and always press nicely, so the fork swallows the uneven road surface with a slight chatter. The shock absorber is similarly soft and can only be adjusted in rebound and spring preload. Sitting passively, the X steers in directly and circles dutifully around every imaginable curve radius in supermoto style. Unspectacular, effective goal – compared to the VFR, not a super athlete.

The VFR is simply too old for this discipline. Not only the completely superfluous love handles, but also the outdated tires hardly give rise to joy. She is reluctant to go into the curves. Here, too, the fork which is too soft prevents any sporty gasping, and the shock absorber tramples over ridges. When things go dead flat, she lies full and raised on the street due to her excessive pounds, but one wave is enough for a touching front.

Both bikes brake with the Honda integral ABS. But they interpret it completely differently. If you put the brakes on at the VFR, you first have to fight your way through an initial, undefined resistance. Three millimeters further, it’s easier again until the right pressure point finally comes. Completely outdated and unsuitable for sporty drivers. Only the braking effect is good. The Crossrunner can do better. Without an upstream pressure point, it brakes perfectly. Certainly not sporty crisp, but still vehement.

The seating positions can of course hardly be compared. If you are cruising there with the VFR, it sits leaning forward in a slightly sporty manner. The wind protection is good, the knee joint is relaxed and all levers are ergonomically correct. If you want to gasp, there is enough space for gymnastics and knee-dragging fun. The pillion also sits comfortably and has neat handles. Everything is cool, you just don’t get nimble that way. Contrast Crossrunner: high handlebars, scooter-like driving and sitting sensation. With almost the same distance between footrests and bench as with the VFR, the knee angle is significantly more acute. This comes from the forward sitting position. Embedded in this way in the bike, you can chase it through the asphalt jungle of bends in a relaxed or wonderfully lazy way. And this without moving a millimeter from his sitting position. If a VFR driver wants to follow suit, he has to give everything. Ask Jacko! He doesn’t have to have it anymore, he says! Neither do I.

PS rating

Jahn

The test winner: Honda Crossrunner.

Max. Points Honda crossrunner Honda VFR drive
acceleration 10 0 3
Draft 10 0 0
Power delivery 10 7th 6th
Responsiveness 10 7th 7th
Load change reaction 10 7th 7th
Running culture 10 7th 7th
Gear actuation 10 8th 8th
Gear ratio 10 5 7th
Clutch function 10 5 5
Traction control 10 – –
Subtotal 100 46 50
landing gear
Driving stability 10 8th 7th
Handiness 10 7th 5
Cornering stability 10 7th 5
feedback 10 7th 4th
Suspension tuning in front 10 6th 5
Chassis set-up at the rear 10 7th 6th
Braking effect 10 8th 7th
Brake metering 10 7th 6th
Righting moment when braking 10 8th 5
ABS function 10 8th 8th
Subtotal 100 73 58
Everyday life and driving fun
Sitting position 10 7th 8th
Windbreak 10 7th 8th
Furnishing 10 6th 7th
consumption 10 6th 6th
Driving fun 10 7th 5
Subtotal 50 33 34
Total 250 152 142
placement 1. 2.

Technical specifications

Jahn

The Honda VFR.

HONDA Crossrunner
drive 
Four-cylinder 90-degree V-engine, four valves / cylinder, 75 kW (102 PS) at 10000 / min *, 74 Nm at 9250 / min *, 782 cm³, bore / stroke: 72.0 / 48.0 mm, Compression ratio: 11.6: 1, ignition / injection system, 36 mm throttle valves, hydraulically operated multi-plate oil bath clutch, six-speed gearbox, G-Kat, SLS, chain
landing gear 
Light alloy bridge frame, steering head angle: 64.6 degrees, caster: 96 mm, wheelbase: 1464 mm, conventional telescopic fork, Ø fork inner tube: 43 mm, not adjustable. Central spring strut with deflection, adjustable in spring base and rebound. Suspension travel front / rear: 165/145 mm
Wheels and brakes 
Light alloy cast wheels, 3.50 x 17 "/5.50 x 17", front tires: 120/70 ZR 17, rear: 180/55 ZR 17, test tires: Pirelli Scorpion Trail, 296 mm double disc brakes with conventionally bolted three-piston floating calipers at the front, 256 mm single disc with two-piston floating caliper at the rear
measurements and weight 
Length / width / height: 2114/920/1300 mm, seat / handlebar height: 810/1105 mm, handlebar width: 715 mm, 239 kg fully fueled, v./h .: 48.5 / 51.5%
Rear wheel power in last gear
59.7 kW (81 PS) at 190 km / h **
consumption 
Fuel type: Super unleaded. Average test consumption: 7.2 liters / 100 km, tank capacity 21.5 liters, range: 298 km
Base price 
10,790 euros (plus ancillary costs)

HONDA VFR
drive 
Four-cylinder 90-degree V-engine, four valves / cylinder, 80 kW (109 PS) at 10500 / min *, 80 Nm at 8750 / min *, 782 cm³, bore / stroke: 72.0 / 48.0 mm, Compression ratio: 11.6: 1, ignition / injection system, 36 mm throttle valves, hydraulically operated multi-plate oil bath clutch, six-speed gearbox, G-Kat, SLS, chain
landing gear 
Light alloy bridge frame, steering head angle: 64.5 degrees, caster: 95 mm, wheelbase: 1460 mm, conventional telescopic fork, Ø fork inner tube: 43 mm, adjustable in spring base. Central spring strut with deflection, adjustable in spring base and rebound. Suspension travel front / rear: 109/120 mm
Wheels and brakes 
Light alloy cast wheels, 3.50 x 17 "/5.50 x 17", front tires: 120/70 ZR 17, rear: 180/55 ZR 17, test tires: Bridgestone BT 020 "BB", 296 mm double disc brakes with conventionally bolted Three-piston floating calipers at the front, 256 mm single disc with three-piston floating calipers at the rear
measurements and weight 
Length / width / height: 2130/870/1205 mm, seat / handlebar height: 795/930 mm, handlebar width: 650 mm, 254.5 kg fully fueled, v./h .: 47.5 / 52.5%
Rear wheel power in last gear
70.6 kW (96 PS) at 234 km / h **
consumption 
Fuel type: Super unleaded. Average test consumption: 6.9 liters / 100 km, tank capacity 22.0 liters, range: 318 km
Base price 
13 290 Euro (plus ancillary costs)

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