The Bike

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Figures first:

The VFR1200FD is a 1237cc water cooled 4-stroke 76° V4 motorcycle that delivers 127kW and 129Nm of torque. This is almost 3 times more than my TransAlp and only 4 kW less than the CBR1000RR Fireblade, but with 17Nm more torque. The extra torque should come in handy with my extra weight. This bike is revolutionary in that it has an auto gearbox, the first bike of this kind to feature this.

According to the Honda website the dual clutch transmission configuration employs independent clutches for the odd-numbered gears (1st, 3rd, 5th) and the even-numbered gears (2nd, 4th, 6th), respectively. The two clutches operate alternately to effect gear changes. For example, when changing from 1st to 2nd gear, the computer detects the up-shift and engages 2nd gear, then releases the 1st-gear clutch while engaging the 2nd gear clutch to achieve a seamless gear change. It’s a fast, smooth and efficient transition that delivers extremely quick shifts.

It looks "funny" when you look at the bike and there's literally no gear lever or clutch. Somehow it puts you on the back foot. It just doesn't seem right. How do I ride this thing? How am I going to stop? Well, that's what I thought last year. Luckily this year I knew what I was doing so I could hop on and ride off like I know everything about bikes.

The auto box (in "Drive" mode) is an absolute pleasure in traffic. It's literally "point and shoot" with this bike. You can concentrate on the traffic around you while the bike is seamlessly keeping you in the optimal gear and rev range. Unlike you might think you never get the impulse to reach for the clutch or gear lever. The bike is so progressive that the gears change before you get the impulse to do it yourself. Same thing when you slow down on approach to a stop sign / traffic light - the bike runs down through the gears effectively "braking" even before you get the impulse to do so. Amazing.

Leaving the city traffic behind I rode up Sir Lowry's pass and I couldn't help but to smile as I realized that I have 400km of open road ahead and a state-of-the-art 1200cc road bike to do it with.

I had to stop at the top for a pic of where this adventure started:



Now this is quite a different animal from a Dual Sport bike (obviously). The focus is different, the performance is much more pronounced and of course all of that means that the seating position is not upright. You sit forward, not as much as on a "supabike", but not upright by any stretch of the imagination. Surprisingly it's not uncomfortable. Comfort is not the first thing on my mind anyway. The adrenalin is making sure of that!

While the "Drive" mode is more sedate and "civilized", Sport mode is where it's at! In "Drive" mode (don't you ride a bike? Who "drives" a bike? Especially a bike like this! ) the bike gears up quickly and the revs is kept low. In sport mode the revs is kept between 7000 - 11 000rpm so you have instant power on tap all the time. No worrying about gears, touch the throttle and maximum power is at your disposal in an instant!

The bike has a tiptronic mode as well where you can change the gears yourself (semi automatic) but you run into the rev limiter quickly / easily and then you have to fiddle about again. At first I thought I'd be using this feature most as I prefer to be in control, but in the end I hardly ever used it. Sport mode - that's the one.



This bike is fast! Especially in my frame of reference. Having a helmet with a peak didn't help much either. The screen is higher and bigger than that of a Supabike but still no touring screen so I "had" to go fast in order to get the wind thrown over my head. The VFR comes into it's own at high speed. The fairing is designed to optimize engine cooling, to channel hot air away from the rider and to keep the bike stable. She starts getting comfortable at speeds where my TransAlp would have been hitting the rev limiter in top gear already... Funnily enough those are the speeds where my helmet also didn't bother me as much. The sweet spot.

I was really making good time despite the fact that I had to stop every 100km's or so (around 35mins) to stretch my legs. The bike is not uncomfortable, but you can't really change your seating position so you need to stretch every so often. Before I knew it I was at Mossel Bay and had George in my sights.



Rolling into my home town I had to fill up - again. On my trip here (just over 400km) I managed to burn two tanks of fuel. The VFR's tank is too small taking only 18.5 liters. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

What a thing of beauty. It's great to be alive. It's amazing I made it here alive.

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About Me

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By pure luck I was born on a farm in Africa. This particular farm happened to be in the Garden Route area of the Eden District, so I was literally born in the Garden of Eden.

I am happily married to a wonderful girl much prettier and smarter than I and have two great boys. The eldest, "Asterix", excels in Karate and the youngest, "Kermit", claims to be the "Star Defender" of his soccer team. As a family we have diverse interests and being South Africans the outdoors, camping, rugby, 4x4 and bikes all feature prominently. We absolutely love travelling but at the same time hope that we will live in the Garden Route for the rest of our days. Go figure.

About the blog:

Like most South Africans we too have a lot of family and friends that moved abroad during the last decade. This blog started out as a personal blog, a way to share our photos, stories and experiences with the loved ones we don't see so often anymore. I like to travel informed (with a special interest in history) so I usually include various stories about the area we are travelling in in my reports. As the content on the blog grew so did the traffic and soon the blog mushroomed into much more than a "family & friends" site. The collection of Ride Reports started popping up in Google searches and e-mails started pouring in with all kinds of questions about the bikes, routes and regions.

Frequently asked questions:

What do you do for a living?

My wife and I have our own business, an investment and insurance broking firm. These days I am a motor / motorcycle journalist also.

Are you Tour Guide?

I get asked this question weekly. No I am not a formal tour guide. I have organized several informal rides though and love riding with friends to far flung places. I get plenty of mail with questions about rides and routes and I do answer those as best I can, but as a fellow traveller without any commercial interest.

If I plan a ride in your area, will you join us / show us around?

Time permitting I would love too! I am always up for a ride. I have joined rides like that before and made wonderful friends in the process. But having said that business and family commitments will always take priority.

How did you get into Motor Journalism?

In 2007 a local paper, the George Herald, asked me to write a bike reviews for their motoring section. I have not had any formal training in writing, journalism or photography, but as an amateur blogger I saw this as quite an honor and jumped at the opportunity! Looking back at those reviews now I realize just how much of a greenhorn I was! I did this as a sideline for a while, but it was an unpaid position and as it started taking up a lot of my time I had to let it go.

In 2010 I was approached again by a bigger regional paper, Die Burger, to write weekly bike reviews for their Garden Route Motoring Guide. This time around it was a much more formal position as a paid freelance motorbike journalist. I had the freedom to choose what I wanted to write about and I got paid per article. I struggled with the "formal" writing style at first, but got more accustomed to it as time went on. Lets just say it's an ongoing process.

In early 2011 things really started happening on the journalism front. Out of the blue and in the space of 7 days I was approached by two national bike magazines and also got offered the job as Die Burger's motoring journalist in the Garden Route area. All of a sudden this was much more than just "a sideline". Almost all of my free time is being taken up by this new venture.

Why don't you post all the car and bike reviews on your blog?

This blog started out as a personal blog and I think I'd like to keep it hat way. Just an informal place where I get to share what I want how I want. I did post some, but decided not to clutter the blog with "formal" reviews. If I feel I want to share something of a particular vehicle I think I will share in the particular Ride Report.

Of all the bikes you have ridden, which was your favourite?

There are several in fact. The bike that most impressed me recently was the Yamaha Super Ténéré. What a fantastic bike. The bike that surprised me the most was the Honda Fury. Before I rode the Fury I would never have given a chopper a second thought, but the Fury broadened my horizons significantly. I really enjoyed riding that. As far as trail bikes go I think I would prefer a TTR250. The best pillion bike (according to my wife) was the Harley Davidson Ultra (AKA "The Couch" ) and I am yet to find an all round bike like my trusty TransAlp. I reserve the right to amend this post as time goes on.

You seem to be posting less and less on your blog. How come?

Well, that explanation is a post all on it's own! Click Here...



Feel free to comment on any post or e-mail me on tr@trail-rider.co.za. I like to hear from the readers of the blog.





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Knysna Hillclimb

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The next morning I had to be at the Knysna Hillclimb, an annual speed festival. "Pure adrenalin and fun filled action for the whole family". We'll see.

The event is sponsored by Renault and this is also the South African launch of the new Renault Clio Gordini.



This brings me to the second car I had to drive down from Cape Town this week - The Renault Megane RS:



This car was voted the best Hot Hatch for 2011 by both CAR and TopCAR magazines and boy, it's FAST!!!



I had to do a quick driving impressions article on the RS with the drive from Cape Town to Knysna and what a treat this car is! But I'd rather not say just how fast it goes on an open forum like this.

Back to the races.



Once these babies fired up it was clear that "Pure adrenalin and fun filled action for the whole family" was an understatement! Kermit loves the Mustangs!

I am more of a Ferrari man.



The fastest Mercedes of this model in South Africa:



Our spot next to the track:



That chopper probably got some GREAT footage.



The cars:

Some classics:



Some older models:



Some newer models:



Some powerfull cars:



Some lesser seen cars:



Some sports cars:



We even had an airshow:



And things didn't always go to plan.



Ouch!!!



Damn!





And this is even worse!




(Photo from the internet - obviously)

This just brings tears to your eyes.



In the end the day was won by the Nissan GTR's. And that Megane RS I drove - it made it up that hill only one second slower than the BMW M5!

We got home that Sunday afternoon tired and I still had to write all the articles to be submitted to the paper on the Monday morning. It's a busy life!

So that is why I fell behind with my blogging. I am working all the time!

Now please excuse me, I have to go ride a VFR...

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