Living with the VFR1200X

[SteveM]

I thought a new thread made sense now that I have it.

Impressions at 300 miles.

Any abruptness in the throttle response was me, with attention and practice it's 95% gone.

It handles well, turns quickly (compared to the F6b) and predictably and cruises on the highway at 75 as if it is asleep. Airflow is much better in the warm weather and wind management is great, very little helmet turbulence at highway speed. The small screen is well designed and its range of adjustment is easy and useful. Honda really does "engineer" these things.

Gas mileage thus far - tank 1, 140 miles at 32.4mpg, tank 2, 171 miles at 41mpg. It prefers higher gears and lower revs for both smoothness and efficiency, but there's very little lost when in a high gear and acceleration is called for because there is so much torque down low it just pulls.

I mounted my Givi top box and Garmin Zumo to get the nerd/grandpa factor adjusted properly for my riding and have a center stand on order.

I took a little off road excursion on a rutted and crowned dirt road in Plymouth and was greeted by a box truck cresting a blind hill corner at excessive speed and in 1/2 my already narrow lane. I veered right and the front wheel found little purchase on the crown and exacerbated by my braking sent me on a tumble on the right side. I was 100% undamaged and the bike faired quite well. The hand guards did their job, taking some scratches along with the mirror housing. There's a dimple on the muffler guard from a stone and the engine case has some scratches. None of the bodywork was touched! Oh well, it's not "new" anymore.

What I learned was that I have ZERO dirt skills, but I don't think the Pirelli Scorpions were up to the job, at least not at street pressure. It was squirrelly at 25mph long before the truck surprise.

Thanks to a passerby, we got it lifted without drama, but as it was lying down into the road crown and therefore lower than just on its side, it was going to be a bitch to lift.

Overall, I'm digging it and looking hard at my schedule and the Curtis Ribs Ride.

[cdovego]

Good story, thanks for sharing. You don't sound the least bit put off by it so ride on and enjoy!

[e30addict]

Kudos on crashing a bike with 300 miles on it and just brushing it off.

I'd also agree the Pirelli's suck. They're the motorcycle version of an all season tire, basically meh all around. There are better alternatives that are more confidence inspiring when the pavement ends yet really don't give up street ability (other than a little noise), but that's another thread.

[Rossco]

I want that bike so bad.

[SteveM]

Kudos on crashing a bike with 300 miles on it and just brushing it off.

I'd also agree the Pirelli's suck. They're the motorcycle version of an all season tire, basically meh all around. There are better alternatives that are more confidence inspiring when the pavement ends yet really don't give up street ability (other than a little noise), but that's another thread.

Kudos not really. I'm certainly not happy, but no real damage $$$ and it is an "adventure" tourer!

When it's time for new tires I'll be looking very closely at alternatives. I tend to like Michelins.

[dankatz]

Congrats and keep the reviews coming! As for Pirelli, it's a great company and you just need a different tire if you plan on doing more dirt

[SteveM]

Hit 1000 miles today on first day of a 2.5 day trip in Maine. This is the first real daylong riding and it was generally very good. There was a mishap and two week's ago a traffic incident, so I'm beginning to think the bike is cursed. Also changed the oil, which required removal of very little.

A full update when I get to a real keyboard tonight!

[SteveM]

First the bad. two weeks ago I'm headed home from work heading toward a left onto Main Street in Brockton. As the intersection near the parking lane on the left become a left turn only lane. I'm on a one way street, so there's only sidewalk to my left. I follow a beat up minivan into the left turn lane. The van slows, I slow. The van stops, I stop 6 feet behind the van. The van's white lights come one, yup she's backing up! With nowhere to go, I'm off the brake so ill move backwards as the moment of impact approaches. I'm beeping, I'm waving me free hand, to no avail. She makes contact, but fortunately only snaps the front fender. "I'm so sorry, I never saw you, I thought I could back up to one of the parking spots, I'm late for a court date with me three kids, etc."

Clearly she was in worse shape than me, no claim, no grief, $150 for a fender out of my pocket.

Today I'm pulling into the parking lot where I'm staying at Shawnee Peak, as I put my left foot down, it slips on some loose grave and the big, top heavy girl starts listing to the left. I couldn't stop it's momentum and down it goes... The knuckle guard on the left ALMOST saved the $30 clutch lever, but alas, it snapped, leaving me about 2" beyond the pivot. Not a scratch anywhere else and I powered the bike up without much trouble. Not a problem, but a bit tedious to pull in the clutch with only my index and middle fingers and with a lot less leverage. Clutchless upshifting will be honed tomorrow!

The bike is not cursed, and I've never ridden trailer queens, but I am getting reminded that the F6b made me a bit lazy in some respects and that there are some things I know have to be more conscious of with this bike.

Onto the good!

It has smoothed out almost completely and is easy to ride at any speed up to 85. I'm still working on the right approach to being smoother through curves with a different geometry and handling package, but I can feel progress. This is truly different than what I had become used to. The engine is terrific, really solid pull everywhere, not scary, but confidently there when called up. The suspension is certainly more adept on bad pavement, tonight's ride hit several miles of surprise road work where Rte. 302 became slick unpaved dirt and poorly graded and it was fine plowing along at 25-30, including the return trip in the dark.

Consistently averaging 42+ mpg in mixed roads and the oil change was quick and easy. It may just be me, but it seems smoother with the new 10/30 and the original oil was very low viscosity when I drained it/ It was warm, not hot, but it flowed more like water than oil. Maybe I'm imagining it, but is it possible Honda uses something different for the break in?

Ergos were not a problem today and I ended up at about 200 miles. Hoping for double that tomorrow. The only slight trouble was the seat making my butt sore, but we'll see how tomorrow goes.

Finally, after having music for 3 year with the F6b, I didn't miss it at all today and found the lack of it had me paying more attention to what I was doing. Also, the exhaust note is really great.

[SteveM]

A DucDave moment this morning. My gps led me to a dirt road which became an Atv trail. I was a mile and a half in, believing I was only half a mile from pavement when Twitter old timers came by in a pickup and told me no paved roads unless I bactracked.

3 miles of rocky sandy crap with a two inch clutch leve has my left forearm singing the blues right now

[SteveM]

All done, 325 today. a loop to Stratton, ME, Rangeley and back.

Another 15 miles of off-road near Rangeley and 4 more near Waterford. Confidence is coming. Not surprisingly, things go better when I:

relax
stay off the front brake
let 2nd gear manage things
put the front wheel on better vs, worse stuff
let Honda handle the rest

Ergos great, very little butt-ache. The 2" clutch lever sucks, but that's on me.

Picking up speed on the sweepers as well.

Tomorrow I'll head over to the Kanc and then 93 it home.

Maybe some ASV's and keep the OEM as spare levers?

[Chippertheripper]

All done, 325 today. a loop to Stratton, ME, Rangeley and back.

Another 15 miles of off-road near Rangeley and 4 more near Waterford. Confidence is coming. Not surprisingly, things go better when I:

relax
stay off the front brake
let 2nd gear manage things
put the front wheel on better vs, worse stuff
let Honda handle the rest

Ergos great, very little butt-ache. The 2" clutch lever sucks, but that's on me.

Picking up speed on the sweepers as well.

Tomorrow I'll head over to the Kanc and then 93 it home.

Maybe some ASV's and keep the OEM as spare levers?

Check with Mike and see if he has anything before you goose on the asv's.

[SteveM]

Tricky Mike?

[Chippertheripper]

No. Mike Weyant. I forget what his user is, slowsomethingorother.

[Chippertheripper]

Painfullyslow

[SteveM]

Thanks, I'll PM him

[carsick]

Mike's site-

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