VOLUME 57 ISSUE 29 JULY 21, 2020 P77
But the V-twins were coming,
and perhaps with rules tweaked to
favor, or at the very least encour-
age, the European factories,
Ducati began its rise to suprema-
cy, something that miffed Honda
into a severe re-think of the RC30,
resulting in the fuel-injected
RC45.
But that is another story, and
here we shall concern ourselves
with a period in history that began
in 1987 when the first batch of
VFR750R Hondas was released
to a slathering audience in Japan.
Such was the machine's instant
charisma, and such was the effect
of the carefully manipulated pre-re-
lease marketing campaign that de-
creed the new V4 would be avail-
able only to selected dealers in
strictly rationed numbers, lines
formed outside dealerships,
and if you believe the folklore,
scuffles broke out among
line-cutters!
The Before Machines
Curiously, the V4 Honda con-
cept was not exactly covered in
glory by the time the RC30 broke
cover. The V4 had its origins in
the ill-fated NR500 project of
1979/'80, and in 1982 along came
the VF750S—a liquid cooled 90°
V4 with a 70 x 48.6mm bore and
stroke making for an extremely
compact unit that was just 16.2
inches wide. The engine featured
horizontally split crankcases, with
a one-piece, four bearing crank-
shaft. The 360° crank meant
the two rear pistons rose and fell
simultaneously, as did the front
pair. The twin overhead camshafts,
driven by a Hy-Vo chain from the
crankshaft's center, operated
four valves. Compression ratio
was a relatively high 10.5:1. Two
models, both shaft driven, were
offered; the cruiser-style Magna
with conventional twin-shock rear
suspension, and the single-shock
Sabre. But from the outset, prob-
lems plagued the design, ranging
from irritating stuff like erratic idling
to much more serious issues like
premature camshaft wear and
transmission glitches.
From this difficult birth evolved
a much better machine, albeit one
that had its own set of problems—
(Above) American
models are
distinguished by the
"RC30" on the seat.
European models ran
"VFR750R." (Above
right) Notice the little
Elf France badge?
As the inventors
of the single-sided
swingarm, Elf
received royalties
for each
swingarm
produced.
