Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ ;1;0;; C(j 00 'l; O"l ...... ~ l!;) c-r >- C\l ~ (Abov e) T he Honda resting and playing . (Beh)w L to R) Brakes were great, TRAC hardly noticable. Controls and petcock were nice to use. En gi ne Type 90 0 V-4. liq uid coo led f our-stroke . D isp lacem ent 748 cc. Bo re x strok e 7 0 m m X 4 8.6 m m . Compression ratio 10:5:1 . St arting sy stem Elect ric . Ignition -, ;, So lid st at e. Transm iss ion : Five- speed . Carburetor Four 3 2 m m CV. Frame Type : . . Rectang ul ar section double downtu be . Front t ire 120/ 80-M16 tubeless. Rear tire 130/80-M 18 tubeless. D imens ions Wheelbase 5 8 .9 in. Seat height 3 2 .3 in. Dry weight (c lai m ed ) 487.2 p ounds. Fuel capacity 5 .8 ga llons. Oi l capac ity N .A . S ug gest ed retail price $ 3498. J I J !JI ,j '; .I ' J JI) JJ t IJ )" o{( l )J~ I. J l .1 l l I I I I ' ~ (. I J '.l p etco ck. T he pe tcock is easy to find an d use. The sea t is very com forta ble. The rema inder o f th e fram e is th e a ir-a ssisted P ro-Li nk rea r suspens io n system . The rising-rate sin gle-shoc k set-up p ro vides a p lus h , yet co ntrolled r id e. Freewa y complia n ce is good as is hi g h- speed ha ndling . R o ug h pave- ment han dlin g is o n par with th e fin- est. T he sp r in g rat e ca n be s tiffen ed with a ir pr essure and th e rebo und da mpi ng is a dj usta ble fo ur wa ys. A dis c bra ke s lo ws th e rear w he el a nd th e tire is a n -l Svin ch er . T he VF has bla ck-chromed u p swep t ex hausts, o ne o n eac h sid e, th a t pro- vid e exce ll ent clea ra nce, bu t th ey ca ll for sacr if ice o n th e part o f th e. pas- sen ger. T he leg roo m in the rea r is su ita ble for py g m ies o r sho rt j aun ts a t best. ' H o nda could h av e bu i lt this fra m e with last year 's en g ine o f th e V o r in -line va ri ety a nd h ad a wi nner. In stea d, H onda built a n en g ine th at is as impressive as the chass is. It look s like a Sabre en g in e wi th th e sha ft dr ive taken off , but th e V o f th e cylin der has a d ifferent rela tionship to th e fr ame to en a b le a sho rter whe elb ase. The cases a re n ew , as are th e carbure to rs. Since th e cylin de rs a re par t o f th e case s, it is o bvio u s th at th e VF has essen tiall y a new engine. Wh at a n en g in e i t is. The power is th ere to ma ke this th e fa stest p ro d uc- tion 750 a ro u nd , ye t th ere is no pipy- n ess o r per forman ce g l itch es. T rac- ta ble power lets th e VF rider g et o n the gas ha rd thro ugh turns with o u t su dd en ru shes of power to brea k th e rear wh eel lo ose. T h er e is a fain t th ro bbing a t the han d lebar , but th e vi bra tio n is a lmost unn ot icabl e. The h yd ra ul ica ll y ac tu ated IcI u tch has a light feel a n d typi ca ll y Honda sddde'n'ehg'ageme'n't.' Oear : ch a ng es a re lig h t a n d easy . T he cl u tch has a one-way d esig n th a t keep s rea r whe el tra ct ion loss to a m inimu m during dow n sh ift ing . It seems th at in every co m p o nent o f th e bi ke the fir st tho ught wa s per- form a n ce. Wh en trade-off s h a d be made , lo ng d i s tan ce com fo rt ' was scr im ped a li ttle in fa vor of the sp ort- ing edge. T h at seems a wi se move. Stat isti cs show th at m os t r ide rs do n o t r id e their bik es as man y m iles as we wo uld im agine. After the leathers are on As th e loo ks o f th e Int ercep to r promise, th is bi ke is a perform er. T he steer ing is ligh t, bu t pr ecise, a nd th e h a ndling is en ha nce d by tw istin g th e th ro tt le. Off- th rott le or sem i-th ro ttl e corn er ing ca n pr oduce so me fro n t wh eel slid e. N on e th a t we co u ld rea ll y ge t dis co n cert ed ·a bo u t, but enough to scu ff th e sides o f the t ire prett y we ll in a d ay' s ri de . The sides o f o ur boo ts were th e o n ly th in g tha t to uc he d g round o n th e Int ercept o r ; th e lea n - a n g le is a ma zing. We h it some ro ugh swee p - er s a t pa ra- legal sp eeds an d had th e su spe ns io n bu cking a little, bu t n ot eno ugh to try to im prove it. An y in clination to exceed th ose spee ds was not welc omed by the p r ima ry tester. Acceler a tion is stro ng for a 750, fai r ly strong fo r a 900. Th e b rak es sto p po si ti vel y a n d smoot h ly, tho ugh a good d ea l of mov em en t is need ed a t the lever. All co nt ro ls fall readil y to g lo ve, a n d n oth ing interfe res wit h t h e r id er ' s co nce nt rat io n wh i l e stra ig h teni ng ca nyons . After a good do se of a cce ler a tio n a n d th e acco m pa ny ing stop, we cou ld n ot rea ll y feel th e effect o f th e a n t i- dive in the brak es. We co u ld feel th at ' th e VF ' s'tb p s cHa riL'm d st ra lg hr. 'O n ' the one oc casi o n th at we lo cked th e fro n t w heel , the steer in g is a li ttl e mo re crit ica l th a n on a bi ke with a n 18 or 19-inch fro n t whe el. Witho ut lapsi ng into superbo le, we ca n say tha t everyo ne th at ro de th e VF was seri o us ly i m p ressed wi th th e h an dl i ng a n d th e po wer. O ne tester felt th e bike ha d n o " so u l" as it did every thi n g so effo rt less ly. H e als o felt tha t the bike ha d a to p- hea vy feelin g in s low go ing. Go ing slo w is th e o ne a rea th at Int ercep tor do es no t sh in e. T he m in - u te th ro ttl e o pe n ing s th at a re required to keep th e bik e with in th e lega l spee d limits ca use di scom fort i n th e thro ttle hand after a few m iles. Also , th e ergo no m ics are wron g for s peeds under 80 m p h . Specifications By stringi ng ma n y o f o ur fa vo r ite ca nyons toget he r wit h rest s to p s, we co m p iled nearly 200 mi les in o n e da y wi tho u t serious Iatiq u e. T o do tha t m any mi les on th e bik e without m a n y tu rn s wo u ld be a serious chore. Wh ose garage has o ne7 The bo tt o m line h ere is th at ma n y o f us wou ld lik e o ne or even love o ne. H o wever , th e la ck o f ways to ca rry th i ngs a n d th e ea se o f in itia ting co n - versa tion w ith th e p o lice wi ll keep thi s m od el o u t o f th e garages aro u nd h ere. Ma ybe. A few a re weak ening as we r id e th e bike more. For th ose wh o like th e style an d the ~rouched ,rid in g po si tion , yo u r bi ke I S h ere. It smoo th ly a n d effort less ly perfo rms all that is as ked o f i t. • 25

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