Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1538363
H omo sapiens have had it easy. From Hominoidea to Aus- tralopithecus era beings, the ever-evolving players in the journey to become today's lineup of keyboard warriors have had millions of years to adapt to change. Take tails, for example. Scientists say apish humans sported them proudly for a few million years before taking another few million to realize that they would eventually get caught in something called a revolving door. That would be both painful and embar - rassing, so, realizing that they really didn't need them anyway, the tails eventually disappeared. In comparison to the gradual rise of the human, the evolution of the motorcycle has been but a mosquito's hiccup. Silvery-haired riders who mourned the recent passing of Ozzy Osbourne by recalling their Black Sabbath eight-track tapes ("I am—click, click, click—Iron Man") have watched motorcycle mutations, from standards to sportbike, and it has occurred over just a few measly decades. In the summer of 1983, the staff of Cycle News tested Honda's new V45 Interceptor VF750F. While the Intercep - tor wasn't the first motorcycle to force its pilot into a semi- crouched riding position, most of the forerunners came from com - panies like Ducati, which was still considered to be something of a boutique brand at the time. The Interceptor was a Honda, and if the king of the Big Four was ready to unleash such a machine for the proletariat, then this was likely something more than just a passing fad. But to the CN staff, this business of hunkering down behind a fairing for regular street duty seemed as uncomfortable as getting your tail stepped on by a mastodon. Proof? Check out these lines, straight from the text of the May 25, 1983, issue. • "It gets points off for a slightly too radical crouch seating position and a lack of a storage area." • "The VF was pronounced clumsy at slow speeds by one tester…" • "For longer rides, it was not the first bike out of the garage." • "…the bike had a top-heavy feeling in slow going." But the Interceptor wasn't built for going slow, nor was it sup - posed to be a touring machine. This was a motorcycle that, in stock form, was ready for Dayto- na, where no storage space was needed. When the CN staff took the new Honda from suburbia into the world for which it was designed, it was transformed. A CNIIARCHIVES P150 BY KENT TAYLOR LAYING IT ON THE LINE 1983 HONDA V45 INTERCEPTOR VF750F The Honda Interceptor VF750F was all about performance and fun. Practicality was thrown out the window.