For the last few weeks I have only been riding the Hornet. I wanted to give it the best chance to convince me that it is a better bike for me than the VFR. Today I took the VFR to the shop to get the Pink Slip so that I could get it registered again and the short ride to Albion Park and back was all that was needed to convince me that the VFR has to stay.
I know that it is heavier than the Hornet, I know that it’s got 3 times the mileage than the Hornet has and I know that the Hornet is newer and has more farkles. The problem is that the Hornet just doesn’t have any character. Yes, it’s smooth, it’s easier to muscle around and it will probably last a lot longer. But the VFR is smooth, it’s refined, it feels like a luxury bike where the Hornet feels like what it is, a budget bike. The VFR is doing 4000 RPM at 100 km/h, the Hornet is doing nearly 6000 RPM. Both have a six speed gearbox but the Hornet takes you into 6th gear while you are still tootling around town. At 110km/h, the expressway speed limit, it is doing nearly 6500 RPM and it FEELS like it.
Yes, I know, the motor is designed to do that, but it just doesn’t feel like it is doing it EASILY, and a bike that is going to be used for quite a bit of touring should do that.
And the Hornet doesn’t have the addictive gear-driven cam drive whine and it doesn’t have the half-a-V8 roar when you give it some stick. Yes, it’s fast and it gets going when you hit it but the gearing means that you’re only ever going to be able to hear it at its best when you’re doing well over the posted limits and what’s the point of that?
So, the VFR is staying and I’ll live with its limitations. Bottom line? Its advantages far outweigh (did you see what I did there?) its disadvantages.
Anyone want to buy a low-mileage 2008 model Honda Hornet 600?
