RC as a commuter?
I've owned both. Still have the VFR, probably always will - put ~$4k in goodies to get the RC 'right' (mostly suspension) & ~15k miles (incl. several trackdays) on it & then moved on. The RC is a very sweet, very unique, downright
visceral ride. But happy tooling around town at low speeds it is NOT.
- The motor likes to be ON or OFF throttle, and tends to stumble & lurch at slight throttle opening.
- The side mounted radiators guarantee that it gets HOT, FAST at low speed, and as Mike & Marko pointed out, a lot of that heat goes straight to your nuts. It was bad in NC summer heat - I imagine Houston would be much worse.
- The ergos aren't bad
for a race replica, but for just cruising around/commuting, it's a torture-rack compared to the VFR or a more 'street oriented' bike.
- The turning radius is pretty bad, largely due to the big bulbous tank which tends to make you contort your arms to get it to full-lock.
- Fuel mileage/range sucks. I averaged 32~35mpg on the street & as low as ~20mpg track.
In summary: as a weekend-warrior/track-duty bike - hell yeah, but as a commuter bike to replace a Viffer - put down the crack pipe!
But if you do get one, throw on a set of Sato low-mounts and then prepare to enjoy all the WTF?!? looks from the Harley guys!
