Kawasaki.“It’sproperEuro4,”says
Simon.“Jerky,hardtopickit upmid-
cornerwithoutlurching.I’mgladI haven’t
gota pillion,andso’sshe.”
AtLaMure,theroutepassesthrough
thetowncentre,dugupforroadworks,
thenheadsofftoourfirstsetofhairpins.
TheSXstillneedsa goodwrestletogetit
tosteer,butI’mgettingthehangofit
nowandit’sbotheringmeless.Westop
fora coffeeandI explainto Si howthe
SXworksbestif youtakehuge,
sweepinglinesthrougha corner,plotting
thewaywellinadvanceandaccepting
youhavelimitedresourcestochange
speedordirection.“Likea dogwiththree
legs,”hesays.“Youjustgetusedtoit.”
Si’shavinga greattimeontheVFR
— he’sthrashingit muchhardertokeep
upwiththelazy,short-shifting Kawasaki,
thanksto 25 %lessengine capacity and
30%lesstorque.It means, however, the
VFR’sV4spendsmore of its time
spinninginthemagic VTEC zone above
around 7 000rpm.With the Honda motor
runningitsfullfourvalves per cylinder
insteadofonlytwo,at full throttle the
deep-throatedexhaust and air-box bark
issurprisinglyloud.“It really does sound
likeanRVFracer,”says Simon. When the
Z1000SXisbeinghammered, it’s a lot
fasterthantheHonda,
butit soundsabout
80%lessinteresting.
TheN85windssouth,runningthough
valleyscrowdedbymountains,then
climbing and rolling over low peaks.
The surface is old and patched up with
mastic; this isn’t fresh tarmac and
constant use has polished it into an
average level of grip. But the riding
momentum is lovely, gently lolling
through the turns with minimum effort
and maximum pace. It feels so far away
from the hectic, gearbox-heavy
thrashing of the old, sportsbike-centric
days. Although the last time I rode the
N85 was also on a VFR; the non-VTEC
VFR800Fi in 2001;
and I remember that
being a fairly red-hot
ride. I also remember
that bike as being a
lot more comfortable
and, oddly, less
sporty than the
current VFR. It’s
developed a bit of an
attitude in its old age,
like a 50 year-old in
cycling shorts.
Just south of Gap
we step away from
the N85 for a brief
moment — it gets a bit
dull as it traces the
46 | JULY 2019
RIDE’S BEST
SPORTS-TOURING
DESTINATIONS
‘We dive along a bumpy, jagged
road near Les Haute-Alpes’
As the sun breaks
though, time to
remove some layers
