Just thought I'd ask....

[Ancon]

Anyone ever ridden a VFR and care to comment?

There's a '98 for sale close to me and my brother wants me to go in 'halvsies'--I guess he thinks I'm made of money .

So's what say you? Any advice is appreciated.

[illzoni]

Yep, had a '96 before the HawkGT. The '98 you're considering would be the 800, in its first year. I absolutely loved mine. Wish I still had it. 'Course, I also feel that way about the HawkGT. And already got back into the ST1100.

I suggest some model-specific research. Try:

https://www.vfrdiscussion.com

Generally speaking, the VFR/Interceptor has been a long standing mainstay in SPORT Touring. The ST1100 and ST1300 would be considered in the Sport TOURING genre. It's not a cutting edge sportbike by any means, but is plenty fun to ride. I would often manage to catch guys on inline 4s offguard as I rolled in some torque from the V4. And in the era, the VFR was mostly superior to all the sportbikes for ergos.

As a HawkGT owner, I assume you already appreciate the single-sided swingarm. As many prior year VFR owners sought to reroute the exhaust to the left side or higher on the right, the '98 comes with the pipes tucked into the tale. That config really does show off the bolt-on rear wheel.

Good luck.

[Ancon]

Thanks for that input. The one I'm looking at has the pipe on the right side and not under the seat.

Something about the VFR just leaves me a little cold--I hear they do everything pretty good and nothing REAL well. Compared to the Hawk, at least it is 'money' in the turns and most people haven't seen one when you pull into the local gas station .

[DefTrap]

I tried an early SSA 750. Thought it a bit bland after the Hawk I have to say. Very heavy, physically bigger, actually quite ugly (especially if you peer under the fairings). Not as much like a v-twin as I'd hoped. It was plenty powerful though.

[motorcycleman]

A v-4 is much more fun than an in-line four.... and honda used to rock US superbike with the rc 45 and then the rc 51 under Miguel DuHamel.... having owned bikes with singles, parralled twins. v-twins, v-fours (suzuki madura) and in-line four I can safetly say the v-twin is the best of the lot at real road speeds.