Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eTEST e HondaMagn'--a_VF_75_0C he Magna is back! As the result of "Project Phoenix," Honda has reincarnated the Magna, a motorcycle that debuted in 1982 and marked the beginning of the performance "sport" custom era. It was called the V45 Magna, and at the time, it featured Honda's latest powerplant innovation - the all-new 750cc Vfour engine, which also made its debut in the sport-touring V45 Sabre. But mounted in the Magna, it gave something the world had not really seen before - a high-performance-minded sport custom bike. By 1987, Honda had upped the ante with another Magna, the 1l00cc V65, which was, for all intents and purposes, Honda's answer to Yamaha's firebreathing V-Max, but slumping sales figures unfortunately forced both the V45 and V65 Magnas into seclusion the following year. Gone but not exactly forgotten by the early '90s, Honda decided to bring back the Magna and thus formed an undertaking called Project Phoenix. The project was led by team of designers from Japan and the U.S., and they would join forces to redevelop the Magna from the ground up. But it couldn't be just another Magna. No, it had to be special, it had to have power, it had to handle, and it would have to have style. Ultimately, it had to be a motorl=}'cle that would knock the socks off of America's feet! What they came up with is the 1994 VF750C Magna. ~ _ T a 22 ro it comes to looks is the exhaust system. Starting from scratch, the designers The big question here was whether or knew they didn't want to power the not to go with easier-ta-adapt, four-intan Magna with just ~y old "thumptwo p;pes, or a difficult-ta-fit and more thump" motor. No way! So there was "American" (ala Harley-Davidson) little disagreement between the pipe-for-each-cylinder system. After Japanese and American designers as to what engine they wanted to use; they much debate between the Japanese and quickly settled on the water-cooled, U.5. designers, they decided on the four748cc, 16-valve V-4 engine derived from pipe system. Following some major the company's very popular VFR750F engineering to get the rear-cylinder sport bike. To make the engine a bit pipes to fit around the frame's midsecmore adaptable to cruising, the DOHC lion tubing, the four separate pipes were installed. 90-degree V-4 engine was tuned to increase midrange power and torque. Another question arose as to what Some of the more notable changes is a type of system would transfer the 360-degree crank (apposed to the 180engine's power to the rear wheel - shaftdegree crank of the VFR), and a slightly drive (like on the Magna of old) or lower compression ratio, 11.0:1 to 10.8:1. chain-drive? The engineers breathed a The Magna also uses cheaper-to-prosigh of relief when the designers opted for chain drive, knowing good and well duce chain-drive camshafts, rather than that fitting a shaft-drive system to the the cam gear train of the VFR. And, of course, since "looks" are a VFR engine would cause a monumental very big part of custom motorcycles, the headache, and the benefits of having a engine took on a major face-lift, via fins slightly smoother and quieter shaftincorporated into the water-cooled drive system just wouldn't be worth the hassle. But the bottom line was a chain cylinders, rounded off heads and side cases, and, of course, lots of chrome and drive system is a better design for polished aJuminum. "sport" -type riding. Perhaps the most imBy Kit Palmer No doubt the most heated argument between portant feature in the engine department when P h otos b y Kinney Jones the Japanese and the U.S. designers, was over the bike's general styling. How should it look? The battle dragged on for more than a year, and, during that time, numerous sketches of the motorcycle passed in front of the designer's eyes before they settled on the Magna that we have today. Even the checkeredboard logo on the tank caused long nights at the debate table. What they came up with was a motorcycle that reminds one of those flashy hot rod cars of the fifties. The chassis is designed to hold the engine down low in the steel double-cradle frame, which results in a low 28-inch seat height and better overall handling. Suspension-wise, the front cushion is handled by a 41mm, conventional, nonadjustable cartridge Showa fork, with 5.1 inches of wheel travel, while the back end is controlled by twin chrome-plated Showa shocks, mounted to a box-section steel swingarm, and boasts a whopping four inches of wheel travel Taking care of the stopping chores are a twin-piston, 316mm single disc brake up front and a drum brake in the rear. The last Magna model featured a disc rear wheel, but with little if any debating, the Japanese and U.S. designers agreed on going back to a spoke wheel. According to the American designers, the disc wheel just didn't have the "broad appeal" that would warrant bringing it back. So the new Magna features five-spoke cast aluminum wheels, with wide, low-profile 120/80-17 (front) and 150/80-15 (rear) tubeless tires. Our test unit came with Dunlop rubber.

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