May 3, 2011

Despicably Cool

The 1997-2011 Honda VTR250 is one of the hippest motorcycles ever built. The faired, sportbike version of the VTR was imported into the US from 1988-1990, but it was too small (layout-wise) for most US riders and the 1989 pink graphics turned off anyone who didn't carry a purse. Being a lifetime courier bag kind of rider, I owned a 1989 VTR for several years and loved the bike.

I sold it to my brother and he went on to put even more miles on the little guy. He hasn't forgiven me for neglecting to warn him about the pink lightning bolt, though.

Honda intermittently imports the VTR to Europe and Australia, but their Asian sales of the little Monster-clone keeps the production line busy enough without bothering with EPA/Euro 1-5 export/import issues.

For my money, the red paint/black frame 2002 model is the coolest looking version of the bike, but I'd go for any iteration if it ever became available here. 2009-and-newer models have fuel injection, which makes them at least 200% hipper.

1 comment:

Chris said...

way cool bike. my wife would love the modern naked one.