‘The first dream bike I owned’
This is 1994, and Bike’s chief road tester Phil West has pulled rank, as befitting a man courageous enough to wear those leathers in public. He’s on the new VFR750FR and has told the gibbering staff writer (that’ll be me) to try and keep up on a Suzuki
RF900. I can remember the day clearly because of that VFR – the first dream bike I genuinely promised myself I would own. I couldn’t believe how much it looked like the NR750 in the flesh. The new nose, tail unit and louvres transformed the old VFR from a gloriously-engined, but slightly old-farty, sports tourer into a dreamy vision of motorcycling’s future. It looked like it should be the preserve of people with trust funds and horses, yet in ’94 it cost £400 less than a ZX9R and only £600 more than the RF900. It was the Athena poster tennis girl you might actually stand a chance with. When Phil eventually handed over the keys, my over-riding memory is one of quality. The paint looked thicker than most bikes’ fairings, the suspension moved with a precision I’d never felt before and the V4 was plain astonishing. It was fast, comfortable, sexy and built so well it would surely be immune to the aging process, like a motorcycling Kylie. Ten years later I finally got my act together and bought my dream for £2000. At that money I knew it wouldn’t be perfect, but the basics were there – the V4 still howled like Joey’s RVF, the paint looked like new and it used precisely zero oil in 5000 miles. I replaced the rear shock, greased the linkages, serviced the forks and what do you know… it handled just like I remembered. This issue is filled with dreams, from buying a BMW HP2 (p36) to riding with Colin Edwards (p68 ) to travelling round the world three weeks at a time (page 62). I hope you’re as inspired by the stories as I am. Note to self: don’t wait ten years to make the next dream come true. Enjoy the issue…