Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

FIRST RIDE r-, 0\ 0\ ...... ~' N ... OJ ..a S OJ > o z 18 worthy than exciting. Honda has fixed that. Not only is the new RC45-ba sed motor more com pact and powerful than before (just under 110 hp at 10,500 rpm for a bike weighing 458 pounds dry), it also fee ls mu ch more resp onsive and eager-revving, than ks to th e PGM-F1 fuel injection's cris p fuel d eliv ery and light action of the bu tterfly throttles in its fo u r 36mm th rottle bodies . Th ose wh o a re unacc us to med to the deft r.,,;ponse of an EFI throttle might regard th is as ov ersensi tive a nd abrupt, but now that motorcycles are 'at last following the humblest of cars and gradually adopting EFI across the board, people are going to have to get used to coping with what is nothing more than added pr ecision. On the VFR, what you dial up on the twis t grip is d elivered insta ntly to the back w heel, making the bike accelerate harder and more cleanly all through the rev range. The power d eli very is smooth and flexibl e, wi th an ultraflat torque cu rve that most other manufacturers can only dream of. You can just thr ow a gear at it an d , so long as th e engine's revvi ng somewhere above fo u r grand, it'll get up and go. The result is a motor that w hile it' s qu ite h a p p y tilti ng a t th e 11,800 rpm red line (something the old VFR750 w as n't especially fond of) never really invites you ·to rev it that hard, even if you wan t to pretend you r last name's Kocinski. In st ead , y ou ride th e waves o f torqu e, sho r t-s hifting at around 8000 rev s a nd , with th e ave rage 12oo-rpm ga p in the six-speed cluster's mi d dle ratio s, alwavs find vourself back in the mea ty part of the powerband when you hit the next-higher gear, with out experiencing the hiccup or snatch o n power takeup that was sometimes noticeable on the old bike. TI,e shift action is abso lu tely perfect so precise and smoo th you can actu ally shift down without the clutch as well as - up, like w he n you' re cru ising on a freeway in top and need a little extra zap to pass a tru ck before it pull s out on you. Thou gh this is not normall y a recommended option, you can do this silently on the VFR and take advantag e of the clos en es s of the top two ratios tha t are just 800 rpm apa rt. Com bined with th e EFI computer, which selects a different map d epen ding upon wha t gear you' re in, yo u're pr esented with an extra kick of accelera tio n at the tou ch of a foot and the twist of a wrist - nothing more. But the VFR is pretty high-gea red : 100 mph takes o n ly 6800 rpm to obtain, and at 125 mph, the engine' s only turning at 8400 revs. Just lop ing along at 75 mph uses o nl y 5000 rpm . This is a ve ry lo n glegged (and presumab ly eco nomical) motor cycle, as befits its sport-tou ring status. But it's also a fast one : I saw 150 mph on the wa y back to the coast, befor e run n in g out of space, w ith s till an other thou sand revs to the redli ne. The VFR is certai nly a 155-plus-mph bike, in which case it' s as fast as th e BMW K1200RS with tw o-thirds of its engine capacity and 20 bhp less horsepower - but a lot less weight a nd bulk, and much mo re agile handling. And tha t' s be fore considering the pri ce difference... Or th e fact th at the Honda brakes superbly, even in the wet, thanks to the la test ve rsion of the Dual CBS linked system as is fitted to the CBR1100XX and to Aaron Slight's works RC45 racer, thoug h team ma te Kocinski op ted out and had it removed . The VFR has three differentially o pera te d three-pist on Ni ssin ca lipe rs w ith tw o independent 1998 Honda VFR Interceptor hyd raulic sys tems, with the hand lever operating the front calipers' outer cylind ers and the middle one in the rear (via a remote second a ry master cylinder ), and the foot ped al the others. This delivers a very bala nced feel that ga ve lots of confidence in the wet condi tions of the launc h ride: o t tru sting the cocktail of surfaces on Italian country road s, I was using the foot pedal mainly a t slo wer speeds on reall y treacherou s surfaces, and th e rear brake bias w orked well , and safe ly. But then , on drying roads, and es peciall y a t high speed s on th e autostrada, mainl y using the front lever made th e bike stop well in sporting mode, but withou t excess ive fro nt-end dive - even with the soft suspensio n settings chosen to ma ximize rid e quality . This ensures tha t the fron t suspension keeps wo r king properly and tha t th e steering geometry remains more or less cons ta nt. The re's more fee l w it h th e Hond a CBS sys tem tha n with a hub-Center bike like the Tesi or ASP, which also brake ver y f1 a t : You ca n better se nse w ha t the front tir e' s d oing. Th en , by usi ng both foot and hand levers and squeezing hard, you ca n stop rea lly qu ickly. Only, you need a dry road, (Left) Honda's Iinked~brake system- Dual CBS - Is Iitted to the newVFR. (Below left) The too... VFR Is st ll llitted w ith Honda's ProArm s ingle-sided sw in ga rm , but it is now pivoting in the rear of the en gi ne case , Just as o n the VTRlooo. But because the two brake systems a re m utually independent, not only a ll-a rounder excellence > a tru e multipurpose motorcycle tha t wa s good at everything, with no chinks in its armo r. Now, for su re, the best has become still bet ter, Jus t like one of tho se irri tating kids you had to d eal wit h at school, the one w hose feat of combining an A~ p lus gra de a ve rage with star sta tus on the foot ball field or spo rts track leaves his e peers fe ling hopelessly envious and / or inad equat e, Honda's new VFR is the b ik e that ca n do everyth ing - from scratching down Racer Road on a Sunda y morning to touring two-up into the far blue yond er, with the queen of the cheerlead ers behind you, clut chin g her anns around your waist. Well, we can all dream, can 't we ? f~ Honda VFR Interceptor Specifications Engine '" Liquid -cooled DOHC 90 ° V -four four -stroke wI gear-driven cams and four valves per cylinder Bore x st rok e Displacement Compres sion ratio Fuel i nduction .. 78 1cc 11.6:1 . . _ . _ .Diqrtal. computer-con trolled programmed fuel injection With four . 36mm throttle bcoe e Digita l 3·0 mapping. computer-contro lled with electronic advance Six-speed Ignition T ransmis sion Suspen sion Front Rear hav e yo u go t a ca r-ty pe dual setup' s extra safety, you can also d ial up different braking responses depending on the conditions, once yo u learn how to mix a nd match the two. I'll ad mit to be ing cy nica l about Hond a ' s linked -brak e package in th e pa st, and I'm still not convinced it has a place on a racer, or a sportbike like the CBR1100XX. But in its VFR a pplication , on an MPM , I've become a believe r. In th e p ast decad e, th e VF R750 beca me accepted .as the ben chmark for (Abo ve) Gauges are clear and easy to read , with the whhelaced tach In the center and an LCD information panel to the nghL The speedometer is on the left. Brakes Front 72 x 48mm _ , .41mm HMAS cartridge fork W ith stepless spring preload : 4 .7 inches travel .... Pro-Arm single-skied sw ingarm with rising-rate linkage. HMAS gas-charged shoc k With seven -position spong preload : and steplesa rebound damping adjustment 4.7 inches tr.Jvct . _. . Rear Ti res Front Re ar .Dual 296mm discs with LBS three-piston calipers Single 256mm disc with LBS three-piston caliper 120170ZR17 rad;al 180/5 5ZRI7 radial Wheelbase Rake/trail Seat height Dry weight Fuel capacq. Color Price . . __ . . .. . 56 .7 inches 25.5' /100mm 3 1.7 inches .458 .6 pounds 5.5 gallons Red $9499

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