No. 107 Special VFR1200F Issue Contents February/March 2010 | Special VFR1200F Issue 4 2010 VFR1200F Riding Impression 24 All Dressed Up and Ready to Go: VFR1200F Accessories 10 VFR1200F: Extending Honda’s Heritage of Innovation 26 Honda’s VFR1200F Headlines the Tokyo Show 16 The Dual Clutch Transmission 30 Kumamoto Factory Tour: The Fountainhead Comes of Age 32 27 Years of Groundbreaking V-4 Innovation 20 Day One Aboard the VFR1200F 36 Tracking Footprints of Racing Giants 38 The Stuff of Legends ON THE COVER: It’s a sport-touring bike more advanced in more ways than anything that has come before: The 2010 VFR1200F. In this issue of Honda Red Rider , you’ll find info aplenty regarding what might well be the most impressive new mount of the year. Photo by Kevin Wing. (Professional riders shown on closed course.) 2 Honda Red Rider February/March 2010 February/March 2010 Honda Red Rider 3 hrca.honda.com hrca.honda.com otorcycle journalists tend to be a jaded lot, naturally so as they get to ride everything new under the sun and have a good idea of where the line between mere promotion and true per - formance is drawn. Moto-scribes are not prone to heap hyperbole upon new products or pile on praise without good reason. Which is precisely why the superlatives sprinkled throughout the media’s first impressions of the VFR1200F from the recent press launch at the Sugo Circuit in Sendai, Japan, were so revealing: revolutionary, radical, flat-out amazing, fast, fun, a blast, flawless performance, will change the way we look at motorcycling... We understand. After our ride on the 2010 VFR1200F we came to the same conclusions: This is an entirely different sort of sportbike, one that combines luxury and performance like never before. It is the embodiment of new technology fused with Honda’s rich V-4 heritage to create a futuristic sport motor - cycle designed for experienced hands who ride hard, ride long, ride far and ride often. • Click here to view all of the 2010 VFR1200F coverage, including features and benefits , technical innovations and full launch coverage. 4 Honda Red Rider February/March 2010 February/March 2010 Honda Red Rider 5 hrca.honda.com hrca.honda.com Led by Large Project Leader Yosuke Hasegawa, the new VFR ® is powered by a light and compact 1237cc liquid-cooled 76-degree V-4 that incorporates Honda MotoGP technology and architecture. This engine includes a unique cylinder layout placing the rear two cylinders inboard in the center of the crankshaft, while the front cylinders are located outboard. This, plus the VFR’s lightweight and compact Unicam ® valvetrain that permits significantly smaller cylinder heads, nar - rows the engine right at the key rider/motorcycle inter - face—the seating area. This unique engine also utilizes asymmetrical exhaust lengths—a Honda first— between front and rear cylinders to help create a unique power delivery, an intriguing blend of V-4 torque and an aggressive inline rush. The VFR engine features a number of other firsts, including Honda’s first Throttle By Wire (TBW) fuel- injection system, and an optional industry-first Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT). This revolutionary auto - matic transmission features a manual mode actuated by paddle-style shifters on the left handlebar, and two fully automatic modes. The Honda Pro-Arm ® single- sided swingarm incorporates a next-generation shaft- drive system with offset pivot point and sliding constant-velocity joint that defines a new level of shaft- drive performance and control. And the VFR’s GP-technology layer-concept aero fairing provides unrivaled air management and a futuristic style. First impressions of the VFR drive home a feeling of directness to every connection—ergonomics allow aggressive sport riding yet also offer the kind of com - fort long-haul riders demand. You sit farther forward than is the norm on less aggressive sport/touring machines, so you feel connected to the front end and what it’s doing. It’s a feeling you get with everything on this new VFR. The brakes are super powerful but return great feedback, and the throttle seems hard-wired to the rear contact patch so you get precisely what you ask for. And the shaft drive? You have to keep reminding yourself there’s no chain driving this machine because the amount of chassis movement during throttle tran - sitions is so well controlled. 6 Honda Red Rider February/March 2010 February/March 2010 Honda Red Rider 7 hrca.honda.com hrca.honda.com The VFR’s sophisticated brake technology comple - cruise or the kind of aggressive track riding displayed by the media at MODEL: VFR1200F / VFR1200F with Dual Clutch ments its sporting abilities. Powerful new six-piston Sugo. Blake Conner from Cycle World said it best: “I didn’t realize that Automatic Transmission calipers act on large floating discs (320mm at the front motorcycling was missing out on this technology until I rode the VFR.” ENGINE TYPE: 1237cc liquid-cooled 76° V-4 and 276mm at the rear), and Honda’s Combined In Sport mode, the DCT responds to aggressive throttle inputs with Braking System (CBS) creates the optimal balance of extremely quick and seamless shifts just shy of redline. As an added BORE AND STROKE: 81mm x 60mm front and rear braking forces. Also, the addition of a bonus, the shifts are so quick and smooth there’s almost no discernible COMPRESSION RATIO: 12.0:1 compact and lightweight ABS supports both the motor - change in chassis attitude during shifting, and this added smoothness VALVE TRAIN: Unicam SOHC; four valves per cylinder cycle’s exceptional sports-riding potential and its long- is a boon to less-than-expert riders, especially when riding two-up. On distance proficiency. the track, the most fun was had utilizing the VFR’s manual-transmission IGNITION: Digital transitorized with electronic advance The engine oozes sophistication. It’s exceptionally (MT) mode. MT allows the rider to select shift points manually via pad - INDUCTION: PGM-FI with automatic enrichment circuit, smooth; no balance shaft is necessary as the crank dle shifters on the left-side handlebar. Upshifts are executed with your 44mm throttle bodies and 12-hole injectors uses 28-degree-offset throws combined with the 76- index finger, while downshifts are actuated by your thumb. Mode TRANSMISSION: Six-speed / Six-speed automatic with degree Vee angle for perfect primary balance. Power changes can be done on the fly via a right-bar-mounted index-finger- D and S modes and manual mode is everywhere you want it with that familiar lumpy V-4 actuated switch. Or if you’re already in auto mode, you can switch over SUSPENSION torque beat pushing you forward at the bottom of the to MT mode by simply utilizing the paddle shifters. Front: 43mm cartridge fork with spring preload adjustability tachometer. With more than 90 percent of peak For the kind of aggressive track riding we did at Sugo, the MT mode and rebound damping adjustability; 4.7 inches travel engine torque kicking in at a mere 4000 rpm, the introduced a whole new dimension to high-performance riding that Rear: Pro-Arm single-side swingarm with Pro-Link single VFR1200F boasts incredible roll-on acceleration in took all who experienced it pleasantly by surprise. Aboard the DCT gas-charged shock with remote spring preload adjustability every gear. From around 6000 rpm to redline, the version, the fastest riders at Sugo went faster more easily than with the and rebound damping adjustability; 5.1 inches travel VFR turns into a horsepower screamer with an standard manual-transmission machine, and even the less aggressive BRAKES almost inline-four kind of power rush. It’s a unique riders preferred the paddles to the conventional toe-shifting VFR. The Front: Dual full-floating 320mm discs with CBS power texture that’s complemented by the TBW sys - fully automatic mode, however, is so intelligent and refined in its exe - six-piston calipers with ABS tem. While some TBW systems can have a removed, cution that on a ride around a street circuit at Sugo that reflects real- Rear: Single 276mm disc with CBS two-piston caliper disconnected feel, the VFR’s TBW has a rheostat world conditions, most riders preferred to let the system make the with ABS quality about it, direct and precise. shifting decisions. TIRES While the VFR is doubtless a high-capacity sport - Intelligent and refined: Here are two more superlatives that go far in Front: 120/70 ZR17 Dunlop Roadsmart radial bike, on the road it accomplishes that amazing Honda describing every aspect of the new VFR1200F, a machine that sets new Rear: 190/55 ZR17 Dunlop Roadsmart radial trick of shrinking before your eyes. It feels lighter, industry standards for fit and finish, and has taken a giant leap forward WHEELBASE: 60.8 inches (1545mm) smaller, more agile and far more sporting than its in technology designed to redefine the sport-riding experience. The RAKE (CASTER ANGLE): 25°30’ specifications imply. Steering is light and neutral, and VFR1200F is everything you would expect of a machine created by the you can trail-brake deep into turns without the chassis greatest engineering minds at Honda. TRAIL: 101.0mm (4.0 inches) resisting, thanks in part to the stout 43mm inverted The VFR1200F will be available at Honda dealers in spring of 2010. SEAT HEIGHT: 32.1 inches (815mm) cartridge fork. For more information on the VFR1200F, go to powersports.honda.com . FUEL CAPACITY: 4.9 gallons At the Sugo launch, the media was impressed by the manual-transmission VFR they rode in the morn - To read what the media who attended the VFR1200F press launch had to say, go to: ESTIMATED FUEL ECONOMY: 31 MPG ing, which features six speeds and a slipper clutch.