The chassis was equally revolutionary, using Honda’s Pro-Link rising-rate rear end and TRAC (Torque Reactive Anti-Dive Control) anti-dive front fork.Īt the time, U.S. Also in 1984, the 1,100cc V65 Sabre joined the V65 Magna, and the VF1000F Interceptor joined the VF750F in the sports range.Īll of the V4 bikes, though, shared the same basic layout: a crankcase cast with the cylinders cast iron cylinder liners chain-driven double overhead camshafts four valves per cylinder and valves actuated by adjustable rockers rather than direct-acting shim-and-bucket. The 400s became 500s for the 1984 model year (in both V30 Magna custom and 500 Interceptor sport versions), while the 750cc V45 Magnas and street-standard Sabres became 700cc in the same year (to avoid new import tariffs on bikes over 700cc). Some had shaft drives, some chain some came with 6-speed transmissions, some five. Between 19, Honda released a bewildering array of V4s in custom, street-standard and sportbike style in capacities of 400cc, 700cc, 750cc, 1,000cc and 1,100cc. The V4 seemed to be Honda’s new golden boy. They were initially acclaimed as a technological tour de force: the short stroke cranks, 4-valve heads and narrow included valve angles were all state-of-the-art, and buyers anticipated high-revving, high-power performance. Both had (for the time) radically oversquare engines of 70mm x 43mm, 6-speed transmissions and shaft drive. The first Honda V4 was the 1982 V45 Sabre for the U.S. It’s generally acknowledged that Honda’s range of liquid-cooled, 4-valve, overhead cam V4s was rushed to market in response to an aggressive strategy by Yamaha to usurp Big Red’s title as number one in U.S. Honda sales brochures - though perhaps not because of the clamoring of American consumers. They might have added, “… but be careful what you ask for,” because in 1985 the Honda VF1000R finally appeared in U.S. What Cycle Guide was referring to was Honda’s 1984 decision to sell its full-on, race-based, liter-class sportbike, the Honda VF1000R, in Europe only, while bringing the more touring-oriented Honda VF1000F to the North American market. “And always the piteous wail remains the same: ‘give us the good stuff.'” “Every year the hue and cry of frustrated American sporting riders rises anew, with fresh moaning and weeping and gnashing of teeth,” wrote Cycle Guide in July of 1985. Claimed power: 117hp 10,000rpm (92hp 10,000rpm as tested by Cycle)Įngine type: 998cc DOHC, liquid-cooled 90-degree V4