Honda VFR 800 VTEC (ABS) > Reviews > VFR 800 VTEC (ABS) - tremendous commuter

Author's product rating:   

Comfort	Excellent
Handling	Excellent
Looks	Excellent
Features	Excellent
Fuel consumption	Good

Advantages:	Ride comfort, handling, excellent braking system, feels planted
Disadvantages:	Slightly larger fuel tank would make this a 100% perfect machine

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Having owned this bike for just over two weeks now (March 2008), I have to say I am extremely impressed. I cover 100 miles per day on my commute into and out of London. It has proved to be smooth, responsive, extremely comfrotable and has handled itself with assurance. I have not had one day yet without rain, sleet, snow, or icy conditions and the M11 down into London is extremely open and blustery. Great UK spring weather then! The bike has been moved around in the wind a bit but feels planted and stable for the most part. The nice size tyres and excellent feel of the brakes have given me confidence to ride with no worries. The ABS is tremendous too, if you're riding the miles I do. Restricting the revs to 5,000 - 5,500 before the 600 mile service was very diffuclt. I'm now opening up the machine a bit more and loving it. Because I bought the bike during the March "luggage special" deal I got some really smart Honda panniers and top box thrown in (£925 rrp). I've unclipped the panniers (takes 25 seconds each side) and use just the top box. The framework used for the luggage is both rugged looking but discreet - a great achievement from Honda. My one worry is working out fuel stops... I seem to be getting about 40mpg, circa 195miles per tank... this is reasonable for my riding style (which is not manic but I like to keep up with or ahead of traffic). The fuel light starts to flash at about 180 miles and confidence has stopped me finishing the last 5 to 10 miles of my regular 2nd day commute and diving off for a splash and dash... If only I could guarantee I could cover the 200 miles I need to get me out and back for two days I'd be happy. When some of the Hondas have almost the same size tanks and 3 - 4 litre reserves and the pan european has a massive 29 litre fuel tank, I just wish Honda had made the VFR tank 25 litres or maybe given a reserve tank of 3 - 4 litres over the std 22 litre tank. Not a complaint though - I'll simply have to move house closer to work as I don't see me falling out of love with this perfect commuting / touring machine for a while yet. So 98 out of 100 for Honda - if it had a couple of extra litres fuel tank capacity it'd be 100 / 100 no problem.