Vara VA9 review

[africajim]

Well, first day out with my new Vara, it certainly seems different from my old 51 plate one I had prior to the Tiger!
The seat seems to be quite firm, especially compared to the old Vara, but the Tiger had a firm seat and over distance I found to be excellent, hopefully the Vara one will be as good. The suspension feels quite hard at standard setting and even two up nothing seems to upset the bike. The Trialwings it came with purr quite loud and you feel the tread through the bars! The fairing gives great cover from the weather. Over all it was a good run and the bike feels well put together, it doesn't wallow like my old Vara and even less than my Tiger did.
It took a while to get back into the swing of things, it feels a little agricultural compared to the smoothness of the Triumph motor, but once I got back into the swing of it I really enjoyed it, I'm sure it'll feel less lumpy once it's over 5000rpm. Offroad the stones hitting the belly pan sounds familar to the old @T! Oh the nostalgia! It feels less "sporty" than the Triumph, that's not a criticism of the big Honda, it's a different beast. It's still big and lardy compared to the Tiger but I think it feels better than my last Vara. It feels like a bike you could tour the world with, not do track days, which may be easier on the licence than the Tiger!
So, to summarise, the first 100 miles have been a learning curve, I've taken it reasonably easy so far and will do for the first 600 miles, no tail sliding offroad, yet! Or wheelies! But that will come! On the road it's very solid, feels very positive, as you'd expect from Honda. After a couple of hours I got used to the twin torque and was just getting settled in to opening it up out of corners, I was just beginning to enjoy myself, roll on another 500 miles so I can open it up a bit more. Crash bars coming this week along with 12v power socket, luggage still to be sorted out but getting there, roll on the summer!
Pics to follow.

[africajim]

As promised, pics!



Bike on the beach looking East towards Spey bay.



That's me and the bike.



Parked in my home town of Lossiemouth, home of the Tornado fighter/bomber.



Looking East towards the firing range at the Boar's head.



A hard struggle to hold the bike back? Or push it on to the beach for a good pic? You decide! Ha ha!
It needs some bling and my XRV stickers and it'll be cool!



Here's the old one for comparison

[Buggles]

Looks good Jim!

Many happy miles, keep the rubber side down!



JB

[steveR]

Wots the Missus think, Jim??

[africajim]

Fiona was with me on Sunday, best of 100 miles. Even the offroad bits! She found it a bit bouncy offroad, but onroad seat comfier than Tiger, also the pegs are lower making legs less cramped.
Compared to my Tiger, less wind noise, less cramped and better suspension. On the Tiger's merit though, sportier, sexier and the sound of that triple! OMG! Both great bikes in their own rights. I think long distance the Varadero would be the better bike, especially if it's on tar!

[Freerangestormer]

Congratulations Jim. Lardy though it is unarguably, it can still wake up dozy Scoobie drivers when the hooligan wins out and really pi$$ off Boxster and Cayman owners as one found out to his cost a couple of weeks ago .

Unlike us more mature gents, it'll loosen up nicely .

[steveR]

Fiona was with me on Sunday, best of 100 miles. Even the offroad bits! She found it a bit bouncy offroad, but onroad seat comfier than Tiger, also the pegs are lower making legs less cramped.

I think long distance the Varadero would be the better bike, especially if it's on tar!

I am sure the sussies can be tweaked after you are kitted with panniers etc. The seating position will be the winner I am sure for longer trips which we know you guys enjoy!

[AncientAndy]

Fiona was with me on Sunday, best of 100 miles. Even the offroad bits! She found it a bit bouncy offroad, but onroad seat comfier than Tiger, also the pegs are lower making legs less cramped.
Compared to my Tiger, less wind noise, less cramped and better suspension. On the Tiger's merit though, sportier, sexier and the sound of that triple! OMG! Both great bikes in their own rights. I think long distance the Varadero would be the better bike, especially if it's on tar!

Jim,

Did you have the 955i or 1050 Tiger?

I had a look at the 1050 and wanted the orange one soooo bad! However, I found the peg position further back than the Varadero and therefore too cramped for my 6'5" legs. I also found a feeling of being considerably unprotected in comparison to the Varadero.

I did however fall in love with the Ducati Multistrada. It has a sportier seating position than the Vara, but my goodness it felt so right in so many ways. In the flesh, it isn't half as ugly as the pics.

However, at £6500 for a brand new 09 Vara, including topbox and grips, it was a no brainer.



Andy

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Thanks for recording your impressions.

[allyw71]

I had a look at the 1050 and wanted the orange one soooo bad! However, I found the peg position further back than the Varadero and therefore too cramped for my 6'5" legs. I also found a feeling of being considerably unprotected in comparison to the Varadero.

6'5" legs, how tall does that make you in total