Since the beginning of its sales in 1986, the VFR750F was very popular in many press reviews as well as the riders. While it was originally intending to be a real sports bike, the introduction of lighter and faster competitors (like the GSX-R 750) pushed the Honda’s VFR into a mid-sized sport-touring bike in 1990. The sport-touring category of which the VFR became the de-facto benchmark. However, by 1997, Triumph and Ducati presented Honda with significant sports-touring competition, so Honda responded with a redesigned VFR800 in 1998.The sixth generation VFR was introduced in late 2002. For the first time it featured dual under seat exhausts, an optional ABS. It featured chain-driven cams rather than the traditional VFR gear-driven cams, and was the first motorcycle to have Honda's VTEC valve-actuation technology. For 2009, there were no significant changes to the VFR800, but a much-rumoured and anticipated 1200 cc version with V-4 V-TEC sophisticated engine will come into reality by 2010.