VFR1200F test rider speaks

Honda test rider Dave Hancock is adamant the new VFR1200F is so good it will change the world of bikes for the next decade.

• More info on the Honda VFR1200

Hancock has been a Honda test rider for the past 20 years and had played a key role in developing bikes like the Super Blackbird, Fireblade, CBR600RR and now the VFR1200F. He believes the VFR1200 is going to have the same effect on bikes in terms of shaking up the opposition as the Fireblade did in 1992 when it was launched.

The biggest effect the Blade had in 1992 was that it forced rivals to react by redefining what a sportsbike should be. Hancock says the VFR will do the same for the sports tourer segment.

Hancock said: “People may think this is a big bike but I can tell you that feeling disappears once you are sat on it and moving; it just feels like it shrinks around you. Just starting the bike gives you an idea of the character of the engine.

“It really bursts into life and this was one thing I tried to make sure the engineers kept because that element of the bike was great.”

“The V4 is going to take motorcycles forward for the next 10 years. It will still feel like a sportsbike but without the feeling of needing to work at it.”

• The full version of this story first appeared in the October 14 print edition of MCN. Make sure you get the news first by subscribing for just £1.15 a week. Click here

Further reading:
Honda | VFR1200F | Super Blackbird | Fireblade | CBR600RR | Motorcycle insurance