1984: Through the Crystal Ball, Excitedly
1984: THROUGH THE CRYSTAL BALL, EXCITEDLY
ROUNDUP
Well, it's spring, and that means spring-cleaning. And that means straightening up our rumors file.
Now, look. We're not bad-mouthing this year's motorcycles. In fact, they're the best line-up ever. Fast, powerful, agile. Sturdy, reliable. Attractive.
No, sir, There's some interesting stuff out there on the showroom floors. But if even half of the rumors we've heard about next year's models comes to pass, 1 984 will be a real pulse-quickener.
From high-placed, reliable sources
Honda Look for the unveiling of the VF1000F. A bore-and-stroke job on the VF750F Interceptor, the 1000 should bear as close a resemblance to the Interceptor as the 900F did to the 750F. Weight shouldn't be up by more than a few pounds over the Interceptor's weight. Bore and stroke? 75mm by 56.5mm, for an actual displacement of 998cc. Power? Between 110 120 bhp, with the higher number being more likely because of pressure from the competition. The 1000 should retain the impressive mid-range powerband of the VF750F, so it's probable that the bike will feel like a torquey 1 200.
Kawasaki Expect lots of new models, water-cooling and more valves per cylinder. One of the new models is almost certain to be a water-cooled, 16valve 750 Four. At this point, engine configuration is still speculation, but we'd place money on a cross-frame engine, with the crankshaft ends bare of any add-ons except, perhaps, ignition timing pickups. That design could be only 15 16 in. wide, narrower than Honda's V-Fours, and the engine could be placed where the chassis designer wants the weight instead of just w here it happens to fit. This'll be Kawasaki's attack on Honda’s 750 Interceptor.
The KL560 should show' up in the States in 1984. The four-stroke Single might be a little heavy for competitive off-road use. But with water-cooling, dohc and four valves, the dual purpose bike should be an excellent street mount. It could also be used in Camel Pro (or club) half mile or TT races.
Suzuki Here, we ll bet on a repackaging of the GS1 100. Word is that it'll look something like an oversized version of the new 750, complete with a 16-in. front wheel. We'd expect it to be lullfloater, lighter than the current 1100, and possibly powered by an enlarged version of the 750 engine. Steering should be much lighter, doing away with the sometimes-truckish feel of the current bike. Power? A claimed 120 bhp, that magic number that seems to be popping up on the spec sheets of all the 1 lOOec pretenders-to-the-t lirones.
Yamaha 1984 should be catch-up year, with a number of new models. Expect Yamaha, the only Japanese manufacturer left out of this year’s 750 sporting race, to field a new chain-driven, 750ec sporting Four. From what we un-
derstand, three design teams are studying three engine configurations for the new 750: an inline Four with watercooled head and air-cooled cylinders, a completely water-cooled inline Four, and a water-cooled V-Four. Yamaha wants to go Superbike racing in 1984, so counj on the 750 having four valves per cylinder.
At a recent dealer show in Japan, Yamaha displayed a new', across-the-* frame, 1 6-valve 400cc street bike. An enlarged version should be seen in the States as a replacement for the 550 Seca. Other details are scarce, but the watercooled Four w ill need 65 T bhp and midto low-12-sec. quarter-mile times to compete in the fierce sporting 550 class.
At the same dealer show', a new XT250 was exhibited. The new, aircooled engine had dohc, four valves and a twin-throat carb. The big Single should have lots of wheel travel and the rear suspension linkage of the 1983 motocrossers and ITs. Considering the success of Honda's XR350, speculation is that the XT250 might see the boring bar before it sees the U.S. continued on page 33
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Pure speculation and wishful thinking
Honda Is there a VF550F in the cards? It would make sense. This year, Honda released what essentially was a scaled-down version of the VF750F Interceptor in the VF400F.This 53 bhpbike has turned 13.69-sec. quarter-miles in Japan. A 576cc model would give Honda a nice line of Interceptors to sell in the U.S. Potential power of the 550 Interceptor would be near 70 bhp.
Guess-work also brings up an exciting possibility: a chain-driven Ascot version of the 750 Shadow. When a California dealer recently lobbied a delegation of Honda executives for just such a bike, he got a surprise. At the mention of a sporting 750cc-V-Twin, high-ranking Honda engineer Shoichiro Irimajiri broke into a smile. The bike could be an assemblage of parts from the 750 Shadow and the European market's XFV750 street/trail machine. American Honda reps tell us that the European dry-sump 750 bottom end can readily be converted to chain drive. Combine that with the watercooled Shadow top end and fine tuning; the result would be a very narrow' 750 sport bike weighing less than 475 lb. wet,
and producing almost 75 bhp, lots of torque, excellent handling and low-12sec. quarter mile times.
And, an XL350 street/trail version of the XR350 is so obvious that we hesitate to mention it. Honda often ignores the obvious in favor of big surprises.
Kawasaki An 1 1 OOcc V-Twin? There’ve been long-standing rumors about a big V-Twin, something the folks at Kawasaki would like to be more a modern-day Vincent than a Harley copy. It’s fun to imagine two KL560 cylinder heads (with twin cams, four valves and water cooling) wedded to produce a big Vee.
Suzuki A persistent guess is a big VFour. Suzuki developed a sohc lOOOcc VFour touring bike a few years ago, but decided not to produce it. One unfounded rumor is that Suzuki is working on a 750cc V-Four, which would see competition in 1984 endurance and Superbike races.
Yamaha Next year could be the time for a bigger Vision, a 650 version of the 550cc V-Twin. It’s possible that the bigger Vision might be redesigned, too,
emerging as a chain-driven bike with a new, sportier purpose in life.
And, just some off-the-wall thinking now: a 130 bhp superbike. Yamaha’s been without an open-class tire-shredder since the demise of the XS11. But, there’s some potential in the 1 200cc, VFour Venture engine. It could be tuned for less torque and more power, and placed in a lighter frame and body to produce a monster of a street bike.
