[ST] ST vs. VFR vs. Mothra...

["Marc Danziger" <marc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

So on the way down, my friend Blas was kind enough to swap bikes, trading
my 00 ST (w/Penske shock, racetech forks, aftermarket can & tune) for his
98 VFR800 (w/aftermarket can).

Some impressions:

Ergonomics: I liked it a bit better at first - shorter reach to the bars,
flatter & harder seat, but after a while, the reach to the bars was _too_
short, and my body a bit too upright. It started to make my back sore (when
added to suspension issues, see below). Similarly, liked the Gameboy
digital dashboard, but at speed it became hard to just glance at it and
quickly get the info I wanted. I'd probably get used to it, but I'd call
this a draw.

Engine. No contest. ST blew it away in midrange and responsiveness. VFR
revved amazingly quickly, but that didn't translate into the "right now"
highway acceleration of the ST. This would also prove true in canyon
riding, where drive matters. On the track or ridden at full tilt boogie,
it'd be closer, but that's not where/how I ride. I loved the "whine", but
there was a bunch of higher-frequency buzzing in the right peg and bars.
Think "small block V8 (Sprint) vs OHC V6".

Suspension. As ridden, no contest again. But not a real match...Blas weighs
215# to my 185, and he has the thing set up like a rock. At one point, I
actuallty pulled off to see if there was a problem with the rear tire...it
was Ok, but the suspension was so over preloaded and underdamped that the
tires were bouncing on the joints between the freeway slabs. This was
really thrilling when the road was wet...and hitting the wet Botts Dots
launched little slides from the front or rear, as opposed to the Sprint
which just "thumped" over them. In general, the mass felt a bit more
centralized and responded a bit more quickly.

Fit/finish & details. Honda by a lightyear. Every small detail was
engineered and worked over by someone smart (Squish, you listening?).
Shakes head, wonders "how do they _do_ that?".

I'd worried that I would walk away feeling like I'd bought the wrong
bike...not so. I'm sure I'd be happy with a VFR with a properly set up
suspension, and Tenacious G (aka Grace Midori Tanaka Lee) bleeds Honda red,
so I'd get those big relationship points...

MracD


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