A lot of what's good about the VFR12 just doesn't stand out on a spec sheet. Like Paul mentioned, the wind protection and heat management are excellent. The build quality is off the charts, better than any other bike I've ridden. The chassis is exceptional. Traction is extremely good and the handling is confidence inspiring.
What Honda did wrong...the MSRP. There's a 1st & 2nd gear throttle nanny that cuts 30-40hp, but it's easily/cheaply defeated by the after market. The stock suspension setting suck, unless you weigh 350 lbs (pretty good for 2 up though). Honda's suspension setting are usually quite good, but they missed badly in this case...I actually did a write up on VFRWorld a few years ago http://vfrworld.com/threads/suspension-settings-dialing-it-in.46762/
Looks...ehhh, I've never bought a bike based on looks, but you'd be surprised how many people stop me at gas stations to talk about it.
Best thing I can say about it, is I've had it for years and I have no intention of selling...and I used to change bikes more often than @NinjaDoc