Giving the VFR1200 a European look

The reason the VFR1200 looks European is no coincidence. The design team was headed up by Teofilo Plaza, a Spaniard based in Italy. ‘I like to think of this bike as a Porsche, 911’ Plaza told me. ‘It has every day practicality -– capable of pottering about and maybe commuting, but when the mood takes you it should be like a GT car and be totally adept at covering huge distances very quickly.’ Mass centralisation was a key concept and is part of the reason the VFR doesn’t feel as heavy as its kerb weight would suggest. Heat management was a major design headache, according to Plaza.

‘It’s a big powerful engine that produces a lot of heat and because it’s totally enclosed we had to really think about how we removed that hot air efficiently. Those ducts all have a purpose.’

The layered fairing assists this solution but also, they claim, adds to high speed stability. As a design trick it also helps to break up the big expanses of panel area.

At the front the headlight, mirrors and air ducts are designed to mimic the human face – an image the human eye is naturally drawn to. Honda’s research claims this makes a motorcyclist more visible to car drivers.

That chrome exhaust end-can is yet another example of the effects of draconian noise regs. A servo operated flap knocks the edge off the noise below 7,000rpm presumably to get it through drive-by noise tests. The exhaust, however, does appear to be a bit of a concern to our forum members, although it has not been universally condemned, there is some concern over the looks. Presumably exhaust manufacturers are rubbing their hands together with glee…