Just rode my 2004 Interceptor home from the showroom floor. Had to call every dealer in the county to get one. Holy crap is this bike sweet. The power from 5000 RPM up is just awesome, especially with the 7000 RPM Vtec kicks in.
I've ridden my buddy's 2003 CBR600RR through some hardcore twisties, and a quick & early comparison of the bikes is as follows:
The cbr is a little lighter and more flickable, with a little more high end acceleration. The VFR rides like a sportbike, but it just didn't feel like it would be quite as easy to toss from side to side in the twisties. Then again, the tires only had 8 miles on them when i started home, so I wasn't really trying to toss it any where. Overall, the CBR is a little faster and pulls a little harder up top. However, the VFR pulls right away, and has a lot more lower end power. I think the Dyno shows like 20%+ more torque at peak for the Interceptor. This bike is extremely smooth. Noticeably smoother than the cbr. It is also a hell of a lot more comfy. Compared to the GS, it's a more aggressive position, so it'll require me to build up my back muscles a little before I'm used to it, but the leg room and full fairing will easily make up for it. Did I mention that this bike is fast? I haven't revved higher than 75% to redline and it just flies. Doing 70 feels like you're barely moving, especially in 4th gear. In fact, I hit 95 with a quick twist of the throttle before I even knew it. 95 on the GS feels like a roller coaster about to jump track. I think top speed is recorded up around the 150 mark. I don't expect to see that any place other than the track.
I'm in love. This bike is a keeper.
(http://powersports.honda.com/assets/images/model/model_hero_shot/motorcycles/2004/large/Interceptor.jpg)
yeah intercepters are sweet azz bikes. i thought of getting one as my next, it's deffinately in contention anyway. i love the flat look of both the red and the black. i liked the idea of getting the red, then stickering it to mimic kaneda's bike from akira. thought that'd be pretty slick. so yeah, good luck with your bike, i bet it's great.
Congrats! that looks awsome. I saw a red one one the road the other day and the drool began to flow, it was older though. I am really into the black on black thing. Nice choice, if you don't mind how much did it run???
It was pricey. Especially because there was only 1 left in the county. There were two when I was considering on Wednesday, but 1 of them sold right out from under me on Thursday.
I was originally offered 11,600 out the door, but ended up getting it financed at a good rate for 10,900 including tax, title and license. I didn't buy the extended warranty, but have an option to buy it any time within the 1st year for $475 for 48 months. That's about 150-200 down from the list price on Honda.com.
If you're not in a position to spend that kind of money, you can still get great deals on used models as well. I got 2 different offers for 2002 bikes with some superficial drop damage, both under $6k - go post on vfrdiscussion.com if you're interested (my name's Quickener over there). I just won't be in a position to buy another bike for a while most likely, and figured I should just go all out now on something I can be happy with for a while. I think I made a good choice.
Oh yeah, I forgot to throw in my shameless self promotion:
My 2002 gs500 (see pic below) is now for sale over in the classifieds board. It's currently in need of a servicing, but I'd either consider getting that done first, or dropping the price by a reasonable amount if a purchaser wanted to do it his/her self.
Here's the thread: http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10069
I won't be showing it until mid next week because I'm heading out of town this evening (not on my new VFR unfortunately).
oh yeah, how do you like the linked brakes? that's my only concern with the Interceptor.
Quote from: shep_bannisterDid I mention that this bike is fast?
hehe. My riding partner has an 02 red one he bought a few months ago ($6500, 4500miles). He's looking to get another bike though. Feels too heavy to him and he really hates the vtec kicking in at 7k rpm (he just needs to get used to riding higher in the rpm range though).
Very competent bike. Hope you enjoy it! Get the extended warranty-sells the bike faster when you do sell it. I'm sure you've seen the vfr fanatics over at
www.vfrdiscussions.com (I think, or
www.vfr-discussions.com , not sure).
Asphalt black looks kick ass too. Staintune pipes unleash the sound like no other.
Congratulations dude....
I love the the way the front and rear turn signals are integrated into the fairing and body instead of sticking out on most bikes so they can get damaged.
The colors are awesome: solid Red or solid Asphalt (Hey, Suzuki. Are ya taking notes?).
And you get the futuristic under-seat dual exhaust:
(http://powersports.honda.com/images/model/c028_029_030_031_photos_all/motorcycles/2004/Interceptor/LargeHoriz/Interceptor_large_03.jpg)
IMO this should be the direction modern bikes should be heading. Does anyone else agree with me or am I just crazy?
:thumb: nice choice. Just wait till you fit some aftermarket pipes and release that v4 growl, very 8) Then again I am a bit biased as have a '96 siting in my garage - gotta love the single sided swingarm look as well.
Cheers
Cnrad
91 or 92 I think came in pearl white.... exactly the same color as my 89 GS... wowee ... Now that the GS is blue, I'll take a red 750. OK shhhhh guys there is one that I am watching. Dude is all thumbs at fixing it, and it needs a valve adjustment, oil change, fork seals, chain and sprokets, tires, brake pads possibly and the usual "Carb cleaning" and tank flush ... and the dealer quoted him $1500+ and 2+ months before he can get to it.
Cool.
Srinath.
I really like the way the VFR looks. Good lines. The exhaust cans need to be redesigned. But aftermarkets will take care of that. The matte black is awesome.
Why does it have a 6 spoke front wheel and a 5 spoke rear wheel? :dunno:
hm, well no one answered my question about linked brakes, but i want to kind of go off on a tanget about them since this bike has them. wouldn't linked brakes make wheelying really dangerous? as you tried to keep balance with the rear brakes, you'd be slowing down your front wheel as well, making it a whole lot slower for touchdown at the end of your wheelie. sounds like no one should be doing wheelies on a bike with linked brakes. anyone else know about this?
It looks like a 919 with a fairing and a single sided swingarm. I have never seen one before. Is it the 919 enginge? Anyhow sweet bike dude, matt black rules.
never mind about the engine, I didnt know it was a v 4. very cool.
Quote from: Zarathustrahm, well no one answered my question about linked brakes, but i want to kind of go off on a tanget about them since this bike has them. wouldn't linked brakes make wheelying really dangerous? as you tried to keep balance with the rear brakes, you'd be slowing down your front wheel as well, making it a whole lot slower for touchdown at the end of your wheelie. sounds like no one should be doing wheelies on a bike with linked brakes. anyone else know about this?
Well, the weight distribution of this bike alone would keep you off of it if you were really concerned with doing wheelies, but besides that, the front tire will often come to a complete stop on a bike without linked brakes leading to a nice(read:scary) smokey landing, so I don't think that would really be too much of an issue unless you were still applying the break when landing, which wouldn't be too productive on any bike.
A buddy of mine just got one of these last month, and it gets all the attention for being so different looking, I'm not to sure if I'm a huge fan of the rear end (comes off a little bulky to me), but to each his own, and points for innovation... Best of luck with your new ride!
Sorry, was out of town all weekend, so couldn't answer about the linked brakes. the bike currently only has about 110 miles on it, so I can't really give too much insight about it yet.
So far the linked brakes don't bother me at all. I personally don't understand why they do that, but I also rarely use the rear brake without the front, so it's not to big of a deal. I know that dragging the rear brake is a pretty common practice for experienced track riders, but since I never really bothered to learn to use it, I won't miss it.
As for the engine, so far I like it. I don't have any problem with the VTEC kicking in at 7k rpms. I notice it if I'm hovering right around the 6800-7200 range, but then if I'm highway riding there, I'll usually just shift up for better mileage anyway. I haven't really had to deal with it much in the twisties yet, but I don't really see it being much of a problem once I get used to it. As pablo mentioned, if I was riding really aggressively, I'd probably rather just try to keep it up in the 8000+ range anyway, where all the power is.
The bike is heavy, but I can see myself getting used to it pretty quickly. It still handles better than the GS at higher speeds. It's just way more stable. The GS would respond to every single little twich because it was just so flickable.
Overall I'm stoked with the purchase. Though I could definitely see myself getting a dedicated track bike to thrash around with someday.
considering that you should be using your rear brake a bit more when riding in the rain (and you being in WA that might be quite some riding) the linked brakes may become more an issue. You wont want the front coming on when you use the rear in the rain. Racers actually use the front brake into turns (called trail braking bus is actually the act of staying on the front brake into the apex). This is more common than rear brake use on track.
My buddy doesnt mind the linked brakes but hates the vtec. He's looking to sell actually.
My uncle(2002 Vtec VFR) and a good mate (1998 VFR) ride with the linked brakes. They use a bit of rear trail braking into some corners and the linked brakes don't hinder them. My uncle in particular is a damn good rider (fast too) and pushes that bike hard. On rides my mate and I can't keep up with my uncle and dad when they pick up the pace. I did an advanced training course a few months ago and one of the students was on a Vtec VFR and he didn't have any problems with trailing the rear brake through corners.
I have also read a few reviews of the VFR with linked brakes tested on circuits and most of the reviewers didn't have any complaints. The linking applies different forward/rear ratios depending on which brake is been used.
As a sport tourer the VFR is still one of the best picks IMHO, it does everthing well. Although after my dad picked up a BMW1100 GS I want one. On tour we encounter a few dirt roads and the BMW eats them up plus the BMW easily hounds sportbikes through the twisties (Dad loves it when he stops and the xxx1000 riders comes over and says "I never realised those things were so fast!"). This is a combination of the bikes torque curve and excellent suspension.
Cheers
Conrad
Quote from: pantabloMy buddy doesnt mind the linked brakes but hates the vtec. He's looking to sell actually.
how many miles does he have on it? i'v ebeen reading up on some boards about it,a nd everyone says that it gets much less noticable and annoying once you get some miles on the bike, as in, over 5k. so if he doesn't have many on, he may want to hang onto it for a while longer, get some more miles on and see if he likes it more.
Z-
He bought it with 4500 miles on it and now has about 9k on it. His issue is that he isnt comfortable riding in high rpms and tends to stick it near 7k, so he has trouble in turns when its near 7k rpm. he has been trying to keep it above 8k and its not quite such an issue but he's not happy about it.