What you want is the '50th Anniversary' edition with the yellow/black/white old-style graphics. It comes with Ohlins suspension and a few more little upgrades, I reckon because they want to improve on the 'stock' bike for 1000cc Supersport racing.

Me. I have a '95' VFR750, not extreme now but lovely from a technological point of view. I never want to be without a motorcycle.

Cheers

Barry

Hey Joe,

I've been riding since I was 18 when I bought an 86' Yamaha Radian. Since then I've had a Katana 750, CBR1000F and now a Gold Wing. Joanne and I did a 5300 mile tour in August. Next project is to remove the cargo box on that trailer and attach two bike mounts, turn it into a modular system :-) When I get a few business things settle around here I'm going to pick up a Suzuki DRZ400s dual sport and an SV650 v-twin. I should be able to pull the DRZ behind the Wing :)

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Rich Strauss
Endurance Nation Ironman 2013 and 2014 World Champion TriClub, Div I
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I've been riding since I was 12 (53 now), and have owned numerous motorcycles. Most recently, I've had a garage full of dirt bikes, and a Honda Goldwing (took me a while to adjust to the Wing; it was so quiet).

My most memorable bikes were (1) my first "big" bike, a 1963 Harley-Davidson DuoGlide. It was the first Harley with rear suspension. I loved that thing...bought it when I was 16 years old...my younger brothers still talk about it. It pissed oil on my leg, and left parts of itself all over the western US, but it was true love; and (2) a 1972 Truimph Bonneville 650 I bought at Leach Motors in London. I was stationed in northern Germany at the time. Rode it all over Great Britian and Europe. I still kick myself for not bringing it home with me.

I've had 4 other Harleys, a number of street bikes, and a couple enduros. Ironically,I currently don't have a motorcycle...just sold my last one this summer...a situation which I will likely remedy soon...I do have 9 bicycles in the garage, however.

Joe,

You may want to consider a sport-tourer. I ride any bike aggressively but I know I would never touch a large percentage of the abilities of that R6. But in the end you need to ride the thing to and from where you're going to 'ride' it. I've ridden a buddy's R6 and it's a pretty aggressive seating position. For me, motorcycling has always been about riding far or riding far and fast. There is nothing quite like loading up the bike and doing a 3-4 day solo sport-touring camping tour. That's what I did on my CBR, taking a 6 week, 12000 mile tour in '94. The VFR is a great bike for this and has a ton of aftermarket support. A '98 with Givi hard cases, GPS, radar detector and iPod, you'll all set.

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Rich Strauss
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That's actually the R1. Again, I had the 99 version and don't think I'd be happy with anything less than the torque a liter-bike can provide. I was thinking on the way home, driving up the 330 (mountain road), that I'd probably hurt myself on that R1 around here. That thing was as close to personal time travel as I've ever been. I like the VFR, and the Triumph Sprint ST as well. They are more likely what I'm after because I want to be able to take 1000 mile trips semi-comfortably. Plus the Sprint ST is now a 1050cc and has better midrange torque than the R1.

Hopefully it'll happen sooner rather than later, I love the freedom experienced on a bike.

Yeah, i think the tendency with sport touring is to think you need a bigger bike. My CBR1000 was a BEAST. 0-60 I had to really work to stay on the bike and going from 35-80 took about a heart beat. But it also weighed 550+ pounds and could be a bit of a pig at times. I think the 750 class is often overlooked as possibility. If you're not riding 2 up, 750cc is usually enough.

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Rich Strauss
Endurance Nation Ironman 2013 and 2014 World Champion TriClub, Div I
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Yes, I love my VFR750. Having owned a lot of bikes, too, road raced or motocrossed (and ice raced) most of them, riding on the road has its limitations :-) Living in South Florida, I need to travel about 300 miles before I see a decent corner, so an all out road racer isn't practical and way too frustrating. Hence the VFR.

Cheers

Barry

the VFR is a sweet ride

I am 20 plus years riding now - including time as a Highway Patrol Motorcyclist in another country where we rode BMW's and Honda's.

Current ride - 04 HD Road King Classic - white

Keep the shiny side up folks - my bike is nearly going into storage for the winter!

In terms of pure race track performance I believe the latest Suzi 1 litre are the best....for the moment. I also hear that the latest MV Augusta never proven on the racetrack is also pretty awesome. Mick Doohan made the comment after testing the latest Suzi that this production bike can literally do whatever his Honda GP World Championship machine could do just a few years back.

Are they going to lower the capacity to 800ccs for the MotoGP next year? What's up with that? If they kept up the 1 litre regs then the 1 litre class of production bikes would benefit even more.

For thrills people do crazy things like bungee jumping. I would never do that cuz you have no control over your own fate and there's no skill involved. Yup, Superbikes ... that's really an awesome sport and my fav cuz thrill is one thing but mastering these bikes, able to use their full power is so rewarding. To me? Car racing doesn't come close. Many a retired motrcycle racer goes on to do some succesful car racing. Latest example, look at what Valentino could do with Schumi's Ferrari after just a few cursory rounds of practice. Ever hear of a retired car racer getting into motrcycle racing cuz it was easier?

Motorcycle road racing in my opinion is the ultimate speed sport. The only one which can reach such speeds and involves your whole body becoming one with the machine.

My jealosy rears its ugly head, Rich. Nice rig.

Have you read Neal Peart's book "Ghost Rider"? Nice story of his 14 months trekking around on a BMW GS1100.

No, but my next hobby will be dual sporting. This year I did a cycling trip through UT and that monster tour on the Wing, saw lots of dirt roads that I couldn't ride. That's probably my project for next fall :-)

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Rich Strauss
Endurance Nation Ironman 2013 and 2014 World Champion TriClub, Div I
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Call me an asshole if you will, but, why not just buy a car to pull your stuff???

If I have to explain it you wouldn't understand :-)

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Rich Strauss
Endurance Nation Ironman 2013 and 2014 World Champion TriClub, Div I
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And I do have a car, '94 Honda Accord with 165k miles. But I'd like to figure out a way to tour/travel/go to races pulling my bike behind the motorcycle, just because it would be a cool thing to do.

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Rich Strauss
Endurance Nation Ironman 2013 and 2014 World Champion TriClub, Div I
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That's what I figured. It's like anything else ...

"Why do you drive all the way down to the shore to surf in the rain?"

"'Cuz that's where the waves are."

"Why don't you just wait till it's nice."

"'Cuz the waves aren't as good."

"I don't get it."

"Exactly."