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Honda VFR800 for a commuter?

M

mrzuzzo

New member
Joined
Dec 9, 2013
Location
Los Gatos Hills
Moto(s)
The one outside of Starbucks
Name
Victor
Thinking of picking up one of these for the winter commute as they are cheap and have ABS. Looking at the last-gen only.

How is it as a commuter? Seems like it has a large gas tank and is pretty spacious.

Currently, alternate between Ninja 300 and Grom.

Grom is great but no wind or rain protection.

Ninja is pretty cramped and also little protection from the elements.

I know the regulator/rectifier on all older Hondas is garbage, but I assume if I pick something up with 40-50K on the clock, that would already have been addressed.

Any other advice?
 
Get an older gen with the gear driven cams and some nice pipes and enjoy that glorious, glorious mechanical V4 engine.
 
I commuted on an '04 VTEC for years, 60-mile roundtrip. It's a great bike, slightly sporty ergo for me, but still pretty reasonable. If you're looking for something with clip-ons as a commuter, it's about as good as it's going to get.
 
I remember there being a couple mods to made to get them good. The emission restrictions kinda ruined what they were trying to do with vtec.
Oh the valve adjustments are gonna be a pita/$$$
 
I rode 3,500 miles on a 1999 VFR in 5 weeks, including the Autobahn, French Alps, and one 475 mile day.

Outstanding machine.
 
What kind of commute? Seems pretty important for making bike suggestions.

As has been pointed out, valve check adjust on that VFR is a big deal. Has it been done? Is it something you want to do or pay for?
 
davidji said:
What kind of commute? Seems pretty important for making bike suggestions.

As has been pointed out, valve check adjust on that VFR is a big deal. Has it been done? Is it something you want to do or pay for?
Click to expand...

Good amount of filterting on 85/101.. Some twisty-ish riding on 17.

How often do the valves actually have to be adjusted realistically?

I've heard those motors run for 100K miles without needing a valve adjustment.
 
mrzuzzo said:
Good amount of filterting on 85/101.. Some twisty-ish riding on 17.

How often do the valves actually have to be adjusted realistically?

I've heard those motors run for 100K miles without needing a valve adjustment.
Click to expand...

I did mine at 50k (5th gen non vtec) and half the valves were out of spec.... Not sure if they ever we're done before

Depends on how you ride
 
I had mine checked at 32k (interval is supposed to be 16k), and they were all in spec, none adjusted. Never checked them again and it ran like a top up until I totaled it at 77k. It had been through 20-odd trackdays and regular trips to redline on weekend rides, so it's not like it was babied either.
 
I love the VFR and recommend a late model one for commuting. The older ones are also cool, but they are impossible to find parts for- plastics in particular are unobtainium. I had a friend whose VFR was totaled from a rear-ending by another bike where it cracked the tail fairings... which were irreplaceable. So, either don't care that the bike will look all beat up and crunchy if you have a minor mishap, or start sourcing replacement plastics for when it happens... or don't commute on an older model bike.

Honestly I love my FJR for commuting. Such comfy, easy riding, lots of storage space, but it's an '04, so it's got some crashy bits on it from the last minor incident.
 
mrzuzzo said:
Thinking of picking up one of these for the winter commute as they are cheap and have ABS. Looking at the last-gen only.

How is it as a commuter? Seems like it has a large gas tank and is pretty spacious.

Currently, alternate between Ninja 300 and Grom.

Grom is great but no wind or rain protection.

Ninja is pretty cramped and also little protection from the elements.

I know the regulator/rectifier on all older Hondas is garbage, but I assume if I pick something up with 40-50K on the clock, that would already have been addressed.

Any other advice?
Click to expand...

I’ve owned 3 and put many, many commuter miles on them. It’s a great commuter and cheap. I commuted SF to Oracle and back. If you can get anything 2000 and under. I believe that was fifth gen prior to vtec.

Big issues is the charging system. Battery, r/r, and stator. There are company selling something called a VFHarness which will bypass the old harness for a much beefier wires and connectors for the charging system.

Another issue I had was due to the bike being so heavy it left weird wear on the tires. Never seen cupping before and it was only on these bikes. More noticeable on post 98’.

Never had any issues. Valves always in spec to the point that you don’t even need to worry about it. Put a yosh pipe on it and enjoy the howl.

Even after owning a MV Agusta Dragster RR I still want another VFR.
 
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I drive a gen5, and I like it. All the caveats about replacement plastic are more or less true. There are aftermarket options on eBay, but fit is sometimes a problem. These are complicated machines. What has not been mentioned is overheating. On an open highway, I get low 30mpg, so even with 5gallon tank the range is a limited. Commuting will probably be slower and you will get over 200 miles per tank.

I like mine, but you can find less complicated machines to commute on. Good luck.
 
I'm surprised this question is asked, it's like the true commuter since the 90's.
 
davidji said:
Impressed that you do that freeway commute on a Grom! I see non-freeway-legal bikes like that on the freeway occasionally.
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I only take the freeway for a bit, but always on the 85/280 interchange.

My Grom has 143cc big bore kit and I can actually go freeway speeds. It's both fun and terrifying at the same time.
 
mrzuzzo said:
Yeah, I like the sound of those but I need ABS at a minimum.
Click to expand...

unpopular opinion: ABS is overrated. Get used to threshold braking. Especially for older ABS systems. I haven't tried the latest lean angle sensitive systems but I've either turned off or by passed the ABS on every bike I've had that has had it.
 
The ABS on my S1000XR was superb, especially in corners.

It's proven to shorten your braking distance in poor weather, even with pro riders at the handlebars.
 
mrzuzzo said:
The ABS on my S1000XR was superb, especially in corners.

It's proven to shorten your braking distance in poor weather, even with pro riders at the handlebars.
Click to expand...

In wet weather I'm sure it could. Not in the dry though
 
mrzuzzo said:
The ABS on my S1000XR was superb, especially in corners.

It's proven to shorten your braking distance in poor weather, even with pro riders at the handlebars.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you already had the perfect commuter bike! What happened?

The ABS system on the new BMWs is nothing like the old school ABS on some of these older Japanese bikes where it'd just let go of the front brake for you and you had to sort out the rest.

I commuted on a 5th gen VFR for a couple of years. Good bike. Typical Honda, did everything well but did absolutely nothing great. I had aftermarket suspension to help and of course exhaust to make it sing. Comfy position for a sportbike but so many better options out there now...including the S1000XR :thumbup
 
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