Nothing wrong with that super fast in comfort :-)

It wasn't a criticism, world's fastest armchair is quite an accolade, lol. They're only a whisker slower than an early R1 in a straight line. I wouldn't fancy trying to hustle one down a twisty Yorkshire Dales b road though. Fantastic if you want to blast down the autoroute to the south of France in a day though.

Strangely enough I do quite like the VFR's. I rode my fathers earlier VFR750 and for an older bike it was lovely.

I think I will definitely try and find a show room with a VTEC model that I can go and sit on/ try.

Then it's the case of finding a nice example for the right money.

I'd like the bike to be used for Sunday morning rides, a little bit of touring and I've been to the TT twice.

I appreciate VFR's aren't to everyone's taste but it would be boring if they were. Thanks for all of your input.

Mk 1  Honda CBF1000, I love mine great handling, superb comfort and more than enough power just shy of 100 bhp and something like 98 lb ft of torque to boot mines the GT version so comes with heated grips and panniers and top box so you can tour if you choose too.

Mk 1 Honda CBF1000, I love mine great handling, superb comfort and more than enough power just shy of 100 bhp and something like 98 lb ft of torque to boot mines the GT version so comes with heated grips and panniers and top box so you can tour if you choose too.

98lb ft? Are you sure? Aha.

Id of thought itd be more like 70?

CBF1000 for me aren't that appealing, I still want something that looks sporty. I think the VFR800 will be a good all rounder and hopefully good for a taller rider.

The search begins!

CBF1000 for me aren't that appealing, I still want something that looks sporty. I think the VFR800 will be a good all rounder and hopefully good for a taller rider.

The search begins!

Im only 5 foot 9 so cant really speak for a taller rider.

But ive done 400 mile days on it n been spot on.

98lb ft? Are you sure? Aha.

Id of thought itd be more like 70?

 

Whoops my bad I was quoting what My dad had told me about it when he had it

 

you're correct 69lb ft

 

More than adequate enough to pull my fat arse around in a hurry 

CBF1000 for me aren't that appealing, I still want something that looks sporty. I think the VFR800 will be a good all rounder and hopefully good for a taller rider.

The search begins!

 

Personally I like mine in terms of looks, I think it's prettier than the mk2 version, try one you might like it 

 

Well Im 6ft 1" and  previously I had a VFR750 on an R reg and that was good for taller riders but you did need a bubble screen to send the turbulence over your head so I imagine the 800 will be the same 

Personally I like mine in terms of looks, I think it's prettier than the mk2 version, try one you might like it

Well Im 6ft 1" and previously I had a VFR750 on an R reg and that was good for taller riders but you did need a bubble screen to send the turbulence over your head so I imagine the 800 will be the same

Thats a point.

Mine does have a double bubble fitted.

But i dont know what its like without because it came with it

I am 6' 2" and both VFRs I have owned I fitted with a taller screen and they were fine.  There has been a lot of discussion on here recently about how good or bad the vtec engine is and I am not going to be drawn into that argument.  What I will say is for me I found it a very good bike to ride generally.  The vtec kicks in around 6000 revs and to be honest you will hardly notice it because at 6000 revs in any gear you are nipping along quite quickly thank you.  If you do notice it then you are riding quickly and you will get used to it.  I found it to be very comfortable and easy enough to move around although tyres play a big part in that and some can make it seem sluggish.

 

Only thing I did struggle with is the fuelling which like many other bikes makes it difficult to apply a smooth throttle once you have shut it.  For instance turning into a tight turn or on roundabouts and hence you had to be careful how you used it.  That aside I found it and the pre vtec VRR 80 on which I did 30,000 miles instructing to be very competent bikes and well worth considering.

 

Bikes like cars and many other things in life have their followers and their critics.  Some criticism will be fair and some will be pure prejudice often for no apparent reason.  Bit like Marmite really.  Have a look at a few, ride a few if dealers will let you but in any event sit on them and see how comfortable they are for your size.  Research is everything but if asking questions on a forum descends into argument between the various sides go somewhere else for an opinion.

 

Good luck!

Only thing I did struggle with is the fuelling which like many other bikes makes it difficult to apply a smooth throttle once you have shut it.

Unfortunately a feature of most bikes now, and only going to get worse, as emissions regs get ever more stringent. Another thing we have the EU to thank for...

I am 6' 2" and both VFRs I have owned I fitted with a taller screen and they were fine. There has been a lot of discussion on here recently about how good or bad the vtec engine is and I am not going to be drawn into that argument. What I will say is for me I found it a very good bike to ride generally. The vtec kicks in around 6000 revs and to be honest you will hardly notice it because at 6000 revs in any gear you are nipping along quite quickly thank you. If you do notice it then you are riding quickly and you will get used to it. I found it to be very comfortable and easy enough to move around although tyres play a big part in that and some can make it seem sluggish.

Only thing I did struggle with is the fuelling which like many other bikes makes it difficult to apply a smooth throttle once you have shut it. For instance turning into a tight turn or on roundabouts and hence you had to be careful how you used it. That aside I found it and the pre vtec VRR 80 on which I did 30,000 miles instructing to be very competent bikes and well worth considering.

Bikes like cars and many other things in life have their followers and their critics. Some criticism will be fair and some will be pure prejudice often for no apparent reason. Bit like Marmite really. Have a look at a few, ride a few if dealers will let you but in any event sit on them and see how comfortable they are for your size. Research is everything but if asking questions on a forum descends into argument between the various sides go somewhere else for an opinion.

Good luck!

Cant say fairer than that Chris (:

Apart from the vtec kicks on at 6800rpm .

And on the post 06 bikes (you can tell them apart by white indicators and white on the rev counter dial) has a smoothed out transition (abit) and it comes out of vtec at 6600rpm. The difference is supposed to make it harder to cycle between the 8v and 16v.

ABS is an option on all model years, worth noting for the OP maybe (:

Unfortunately a feature of most bikes now, and only going to get worse, as emissions regs get ever more stringent. Another thing we have the EU to thank for...

Why not all bikes though?  I have no problem with the Tiger Explorer so what is different about that set up?  Also the Triumph Sprint was ok as well.  I seem to recall reading somewhere before that the Hondas and the Kawasaki were the worst for it but that could either be wrong due to my memory or have changed since then.

 

It was so bad at times that on wet roads it made me very wary and was a proper PITA!

Why not all bikes though? I have no problem with the Tiger Explorer so what is different about that set up?

It's worse on some bikes than others, depending how well developed they were before being signed off for production. Early FI systems often had poor fuelling (the first generation Sagem system on my T509 Speed Triple is crap), then things got better as they got more refined, then things started to go downhill as emissions regs tightened up, and it got more and more difficult to get decent fuelling while stay within emissions regs. The reason your Tiger Explorer isn't snatchy like a lot of FI bikes are is that has a ride by wire throttle - it allows smoother delivery, while staying within emissions homologation targets. It's now all but impossible to get decent fuelling within emissions regs on big bikes (and particularly those with big pistons) without ride by wire (and particularly within the limited development time the project engineers are allowed before the production window comes around). The trade off being that with RBW throttles (apart from the too light action of some of them) is you have an ECU that thinks it knows better than you - with a conventional throttle when you open it 100% you get the 100% power that you wanted, with a RBW throttle you open it 100% because you want 100%, but the ECU looks at it's tables and says "you may want 100%, but, at this rpm, in this gear, and to keep the tree huggers happy, all I'm going to let you have is (for example) 70%".

Thankfully (for now at least), we still have the option of taking our bikes to be remapped by someone who isn't constrained by homologation regulations, and can give us the engine that we should have had when it left the factory, albeit with a few hundred quid less in our pockets for the privilege.

Edited 20 August, 201510 yr by StripleR675

Thanks for that.  I actually am happy with the Tiger as is and if I am not getting 100% throttle sometimes when I ask for it I will cope with that as it pulls your arms out as it is.  Not used to the Hyperbikes since I rode the first of the ZX10s many moons ago.

 

It is a bit like the Octavia VRS everyone I speak to says has it been chipped and when i say no they say is it going to be?  I am happy with the power it delivers and when I have put in an overtake and look at the speedo and see I am at 80 + (sometime more) I think why would I want to chip it.

 

So if the penalty I have to pay for the linear throttle is RBW then I am quite happy.  Good explanation though and thanks again.

No worries. Most modern FI bikes do benefit from a bit of dyno time and a good remap for any rider though - it's about improving power deliver and midrange mostly, not chasing peak bhp figures - at best you'll only see a very small increase in peak bhp, but can gain a healthy boost in midrange, where you use it most in the real world. For some bikes it's almost essential though, the fuelling from the factory can be so bad (some KTM big twins, MV Agustas, early FZ1s or MT-09's to name a few). Development time for the engineers is a finite amount (and time costs money), particularly on large volume bread and butter models, and modern production methods, with their just in time component supply, means that the production window is set early on in model development, and cast in stone, so when that time comes around the manufacturer has to say "sod it, that'll do", and the bike goes to production. Triumph's early T5 series models are a classic example - put into production before fully developed, with the customer left with an unfinished product, hence they were far less reliable than the earlier, over engineered, but dated, modular T3 series.

It helps that your Explorer is a big, heavy bike too - a snatchy throttle is more noticeable on a light bike than a heavy one, as you've got less mass to damp it out. The one notable fault my Street R has, as much as I love it (rather than things like crap steering lock, or being pants on a motorway, which are just the nature of the type of bike it is) is that the throttle is really snatchy when transitioning from a closed to open throttle. On smooth roads it's just an annoyance, but when hooning down a bumpy Dales B road it can be a liability - hit a bump mid corner and if it jars your throttle hand slightly you're jerking forward like a direct access newbie on his first day in the saddle, not helped by the fact that the bike is so light (getting on my Bandit after the Triumph, it feels like it's eaten all the pies, then the Baker, his family and their dog). But with smooth CV carbs and only 76.44bhp you don't need to worry about a snatchy throttle on the Suzuki, you just use it as an on/off switch, lol.

Yup. They run quite lean out the factory dont they.

A remap to richen it up can sometimes be good.

Supposed to completely change the twin cam boxer twin as they run a little too lean and hot from the factory.

Time will tell... .

We have a company here who do cars all the time and they are VERY good.  They do trucks tractors you name it so I shall see it they do bikes.  Worth a go and see what it does for the Tiger.  I love riding it and expect to keep it for some time so if I have chance to make it better it will be worthwhile as any expense will be good investment for the years to come with it.

It should make your engine last longer in theory.

Better running a little richer as appose to lean and hot.

We have a company here who do cars all the time and they are VERY good.  They do trucks tractors you name it so I shall see it they do bikes.  Worth a go and see what it does for the Tiger.  I love riding it and expect to keep it for some time so if I have chance to make it better it will be worthwhile as any expense will be good investment for the years to come with it.

I don't think you'll be able to remap your Explorer. Triumph introduced locked anti tamper ECUs that prevent remapping a while back (2012, iirc), and I don't think anyone's cracked them yet (not that I've heard of, anyway). Another reason I wouldn't buy the mk2 Street Triple.

I don't think you'll be able to remap your Explorer. Triumph introduced locked anti tamper ECUs that prevent remapping a while back (2012, iirc), and I don't think anyone's cracked them yet (not that I've heard of, anyway). Another reason I wouldn't buy the mk2 Street Triple.

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