Honda Adventure VFR800XA

[Great Escape]

I'm just in the beginning stages of planning trip and bike purchase.

Is there in any info available on members experiences on the above bike.. the good bad and ugly..
Thanks in advance

[chris gale]

My friend has the "Road" version of this bike, so same engine if nothing else. Valve checks would Def be a problem on a trip due to the V tech complexity. Some need doing at the scheduled mileage, others don't, best bet would be do it, change plugs at the same time then it's one less thing to worry about.

[Great Escape]

Thanks Chris... much appreciated. Ray

[AnTyx]

I've done three seasons and over 20k on the road version of the VFR800

The general consensus I've found on the owners' forums (and a lot of these bikes have gotten to quite high miles) is that the valve checks are a bitch, but you don't really need to do them. Unless you can hear something is very wrong, it's a very reliable engine. Of course my bike cost a little over 3k euros when I bought it, so the cost of a very expensive service compared to a very cheap bike is a different consideration than with a nearly-new Crossrunner.

The main thing to consider with the VFR800X is that it's not an offroad bike, or an adventure bike in the common sense of the word. It's got the styling of an ADV bike, but street tires and street suspension. Essentially it's a VFR800 with a vertical seating position, and no plastic fairings to take off every time you want to do an oil change. This makes it one of the best road-oriented long-distance bikes you will ever find - it takes an already very beloved model and fixes the only real downsides of it.

But it's not a bike for offroad. Of course, any bike will do light trails no problem - I've taken my plastic VFR on forest roads, farm roads etc., and if you go slow and it's dry, there is nothing to worry about - but it's no Super Enduro.

[Tomoli Travels]

Dear all. I took my Crossrunner from the UK to the top of Norway. As a travel bike this was a good choice but i did stick to tarmac. Bike didn't miss a beat and didn't need to do anything, beyond oiling the chain. The Honda 29 litre panniers are rubbish so fitted a couple of SW Motech EVO panniers.