Does the New Honda VFR1200F Revolutionise Motorcycle Riding?

The motorcycle market had all become a bit stalethe Japanese factory finally decided to release
and predictable over the last twelve months. Newsome details about the new Honda, which would
models were released without a great deal ofinstead provide the touring community with a new
modifications being made, old models weremotorbike to rival the likes of BMW who at
tweaked to make them seem more appealingpresent have the touring sector sown up.
and new concept models that actually lookedThe new Honda has been tipped to revolutionise
very promising on paper were scrapped.the market with a new automatic gearbox
Despite all of this, Honda has managed to comemaking riding a much simpler experience for the
through for the attention starved fans with thetouring generation. Although there doesn't seem
release of the new Honda VFR1200F, which hadto be a specific age limit, the touring bikes seem
its first outing at the Intermot motor show into be more reserved for elderly riders who
Cologne in October of 2008 as a rather bizarreprefer comfort over speed.
and confusing mould.Initially Honda claimed that the new machine would
However, just over twelve months on from thatmake a significant impact upon the market, similar
motor show the Japanese manufacturer hasto that experienced by the Fireblade back in 1992.
managed to turn that model into a new HondaWhether it can live up to the hype is something
V4 motorcycle that is set to take the world bythat we will have to wait and see, initial reaction
storm.to the bike appears to be like the popular food
The new Honda V4 was shrouded in secrecyspread Marmite, people are either loving the new
from the very beginning, with many claiming thatdesign and details that come out or hating it.
it was to be a new V4 style superbike to rivalThere doesn't seem to be a lot of undecided
the Aprilia V4 that had just been released. Thevoters.
configuration of a V engine has certain benefits toOne thing Honda should be applauded on is the
it, including the reduction in size needed to fit thefact that they have actually bothered to take the
engine, whilst also providing better traction out ofbold step of developing something new. They
the corners over the more aggressive inline fourhave strayed off the beaten path and I for one
configurations.hope it works for them.
However, after the rumour mill stopped turning