My New Bike

I woke on my first morning in Australia to a sound that was both familiar and at the same time out of place here. Rain. It didn’t last long, though, before the sun came out and the ground started to dry.

Then it started again, and this time it really came down. The good news is that after today the weather’s getting drier and warmer, although to be fair it’s tee shirt temperature now. Overall very reminiscent of a Manchester summer in fact.

It’s fair to say that a bike ride was looking to be out of the question, so come 12 o’clock I gave in to my jet lag and crashed out for 3 hours. When I awoke my brew had gone cold, but more importantly the rain had stopped and the sun was coming through and drying everywhere up. Conor came in from work shortly afterwards and a bike ride was once again on the cards, heading south to avoid any lingering rain showers.

So what do I think of the bike? Well it’s 30-odd years old so has a few cosmetic issues,  (but then again so do I), and as soon as you sit on it you notice it’s age due to the proper dash, big analogue dials and a sizeable seat, but it rides like a much younger machine. The V4 engine is smooth as silk despite having done over 60,000 kilometres, and the steering is quick and the handling precise.

Honda over-engineered the VFR750 to completely salvage its reputation after the disastrous, unreliable "chocolate camshaft" issues of its predecessor, the VF750, that had damaged their golden standard for reliability. They replaced failure-prone cam chains and tensioners with precision gear-driven overhead cams, dropped heavy steel framing in favour of a rigid, lightweight aluminium twin-spar frame derived directly from endurance racing, and utilised high-end components like hand-forged needle bearings and robust internal tolerances, reportedly losing money on each unit sold due to extreme production costs just to ensure it was "indestructible"

 This looks like the model to have then.

We just did about 60km today (37 Miles) to give me a feel for the bike, and it ticked all the boxes. It redlines at 11500rpm according to the tacho, and although I didn’t take it there  it was keen to try. Crank the volume control up and it delivers in any gear. It’s quick, comfortable, stops as you want it to and didn’t deliver any surprises.

Apparently, some users report that the bike feels heavy and awkward during slow city manoeuvring, but that’s not what it was built for. Any speed below 80 km/ hour is hidden behind the clutch reservoir, and with a speedo topping out at 280 km/hour (approx. 175mph) you know it means business when it gets the chance. We rode through the centre of Port Douglas and there were no dramas in traffic.

Conor’s taken the panniers off the bike, and I’m happy with that. We’ll just put them back on if we need them, for example a long ride in the Tablelands, to save wearing backpacks. The bike also has a helmet lock and a centre stand, both useful things that I haven’t had on  other bikes for some time.

Overall, the bike could be restored, but it doesn’t need it and I don’t want a showroom example. We’ll maybe touch up some small cosmetic bits, but it’s not urgent. Conor came across somebody recently with the same model that had done around 280,000 kilometres, so with regular servicing mine will be around for a while yet.

You’ll have gathered that I’m really happy with the bike, and I’m also glad that I went down this route rather than trying to hire or borrow whenever I come out. I’ll stick a good few Australian miles on it over the next month.

Pictures below show the rain coming down into the pool in the morning, and me, Conor and the bikes in the afternoon.