Any VTR Owners?

Wanted one back in the day, bought a VFR instead. Now loosely considering hunting up one for track duty. Impressions?

Got a '98 sitting in my garage right now, with about 40,000 miles on it. Great bike for tight, technical back roads, with great mid-range and a not-too-bad riding position. Front suspension is junk from the factory. Fork springs are too soft, and the damping is too restrictive, so under braking (or small, sharp bumps), it feels like there's no suspension, or no air in the tires. I had Race Tech gold valves and springs installed, and it made an unbelievably huge difference.

Terrible gas mileage, between 28 and 32 mpg. Chassis is fine up until a 9/10ths pace, then things get a little wonky. Under extreme braking, (like just starting to raise the rear wheel), the chassis flexes, as intentionally designed by Honda. It just makes the bike wiggle around. If you started on bikes earlier than about 1984, you're used to the feeling, but it can become unsettling, right when you don't need any more issues.

As far as track use, I've been to four track days on mine. On top of the wiggling under hard braking, there is no slipper clutch, so you may slide the rear around under down-shifting, if you're not real precise with the clutch. I had a riding buddy with an R6, with a pipe and jet kit, and he would roll right past me on RoadAmerica's front straight. A lot of bikes passed me under power; any fairly current liter bike, strong-running 600s, GSXR 750s and such. For track use, it's just a fair bike. You could do a lot better.

That said, the bike has been bullet-proof, runs like it's new, doesn't leak or burn oil, and has a great powerband for tighter back roads. Due to the mid-range, you aren't thrashing the gearbox all day, like my friends on their 600s. It's a hoot to roll on the throttle at about 4,000 rpm, and just let the mid-range pull you along. Since I have my FJR, and at 57, with some arthritis starting, the FJR is now getting all the miles. I'd like to find a nice 954RR for track days, but other things have taken priority for now. To sum it up, the VTR is a great street bike, and a marginal track bike. You'll have fun on it at a track day, but you'll get wasted by anybody (at least on the straights) on a 929RR, 954RR, GSXR750, R1, and the like. Hope this helped.

SwollenRaccoon said:

Got a '98 sitting in my garage right now, with about 40,000 miles on it. Great bike for tight, technical back roads, with great mid-range and a not-too-bad riding position. Front suspension is junk from the factory. Fork springs are too soft, and the damping is too restrictive, so under braking (or small, sharp bumps), it feels like there's no suspension, or no air in the tires. I had Race Tech gold valves and springs installed, and it made an unbelievably huge difference.Terrible gas mileage, between 28 and 32 mpg. Chassis is fine up until a 9/10ths pace, then things get a little wonky. Under extreme braking, (like just starting to raise the rear wheel), the chassis flexes, as intentionally designed by Honda. It just makes the bike wiggle around. If you started on bikes earlier than about 1984, you're used to the feeling, but it can become unsettling, right when you don't need any more issues.

As far as track use, I've been to four track days on mine. On top of the wiggling under hard braking, there is no slipper clutch, so you may slide the rear around under down-shifting, if you're not real precise with the clutch. I had a riding buddy with an R6, with a pipe and jet kit, and he would roll right past me on RoadAmerica's front straight. A lot of bikes passed me under power; any fairly current liter bike, strong-running 600s, GSXR 750s and such. For track use, it's just a fair bike. You could do a lot better.

That said, the bike has been bullet-proof, runs like it's new, doesn't leak or burn oil, and has a great powerband for tighter back roads. Due to the mid-range, you aren't thrashing the gearbox all day, like my friends on their 600s. It's a hoot to roll on the throttle at about 4,000 rpm, and just let the mid-range pull you along. Since I have my FJR, and at 57, with some arthritis starting, the FJR is now getting all the miles. I'd like to find a nice 954RR for track days, but other things have taken priority for now. To sum it up, the VTR is a great street bike, and a marginal track bike. You'll have fun on it at a track day, but you'll get wasted by anybody (at least on the straights) on a 929RR, 954RR, GSXR750, R1, and the like. Hope this helped.

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Interesting that you mention inline-fours. I had a 929 for a year, and put less than a thousand miles on it, including one trackday. Just never "made friends" with it. The previous bike was a VFR, but that has entirely different character, despite being a four. I sold the 929 and bought a NOS Aprilia Mille. Great bike, stupid fast, good suspension and brakes. Not particularly comfortable. sold it after a couple years to buy the 675. Sold it (having not ridden it enough in the previous couple years) to buy the ...FJR. I just expect Japanese fours to have been ill-treated when you find them on the used market, and the newer ones still command more dollars than I really want to invest.

I may take a contrarian approach and upgrade the suspension on my F800R and take it. it'd be in the SV650 class in terms of performance, so it'd be a matter of riding a slow bike fast. We'll see.

Thanks!