Honda Vf1000r

HONDA VF1000R

CYCLE WORLD TEST

SPORTBIKE EXOTICA; NOT JUST FOR EUROPE ANYMORE

IF THE STUDY OF MOTORCYCLIST PSYchology ever reaches the university level, one of the first lessons that students will have to cope with will concern the They-Get-The-Good-Stuff Syndrome—America’s irrational lust for motorcycles not available in this country. It’ll be a tough course, too, because nobody really seems to understand TGTGS; motorcyclists themselves certainly don't, and from all outward appearances, neither do the motorcycle manufacturers. And Honda’s VF1000R is a bike that perfectly explains how perfectly inexplicable this Ph enomenon is.

Last year, Honda tailored two different lOOOcc V-Four sportbikes for two different markets: the VF1000F for America, and the more racetrackoriented VF1000R for Europe. That, of course, triggered the Syndrome, causing Americans to view the Fmodel as second-best to the R. So while the VF1000F died on showroom floors, the VF1000R reached classic, object-of-desire status. Which explains why the R-model is available stateside in 1985 —American riders wanted it. Now all that remains to be seen is if American riders will buy it.

If they do, they won’t get exactly the same bike they lusted after last year, although the American version is very close. For one thing, the European model had dual headlights, a feature that the U.S. Department Of Transportation didn't know quite what to make of. Rather than go through the lengthy and expensive process of gaining approval for the dual lights, Honda simply redesigned the fairing to accomodate a single headlight. In addition, the controversial Bridgestone radial rear tire that was standard equipment on the EuroVF has been axed from the American model, which wears bias-ply Dunlop rubber at both ends.

There are quite a few other dissimilarities between the American and the European VF 1000 models, mostly in details such as the instruments and switches, but the differences between the new R-model and last year's American F-model are much more involved. While the R's engine still is the same basic V-Four as the F's, it has a higher compression ratio and slightly more radical cam timing. And the biggest difference of all is in the way those cams are driven. The R uses a gear-drive mechanism. as opposed to the more traditional chain-driven cams of the Fmodel. Honda has used gear-driven overhead cams for years in its racing engines, but last year’s European VF1000R marked the first application of this concept to a Japanese streetbike. The advantages of geardriven cams are reduced friction and more precise valve timing, but the use of such systems has been avoided on production bikes due to the increases in noise, weight and cost they bring. It takes a total of nine gears, for example, to drive the VFlOOOR’s four cams.

Honda got around the noise problem by using a second row of teeth on each camshaft gear, as well as on the smaller of two idler gears that link the crankshaft to each pair of cams. These narrower gear teeth are bonded to the main teeth with rubber and are offset a few degrees so that when the gear is meshed with its mate, there is no freeplay between the gear teeth. The elimination of slack between meshing gears does away with practically all gear noise.

Undoubtedly, Honda’s engineers also dealt with the weight and expense of using gear-driven cams. But it’s hard to determine how successful they were, for at 582 pounds and $5698, the VF1000R is both heavy and expensive. It only seems reasonable, however, to assume that the geared cams have little to do with the bike’s price and even less to do with its weight.

Aside from its cam-drive system, the R engine departs from last year’s Interceptor motor in a few; other ways, including its higher redline and more powerful alternator. But by far the biggest and most important difference between the F and the R is in overall appearance. A 1984 F-model seems almost prehistoric next to the racy, red-white-and-blue R. which looks like it just made a right turn off of the high banks of Daytona. This is, after all. a direct descendant of the tire-shredding FWS1000, the 1983 Daytona racebike that just might have been the most powerful roadracer in history.

But although riding the R-model must be as close as you can come on a streetbike to riding an FWS, it takes muscle even to begin to master its 582 pounds and 117 horsepower. The bike feels huge when you first climb aboard, mostly because it is a physically large machine. And once you're underway, motion does little to dispel the feeling of mass. So when you combine that with one of the most powerful pure-sport engines ever built, riding the R fast on a twisty backroad isn’t a pastime for the small or the timid.

The R’s intimidation factor is magnified by its racetrack orientation. The very low' and narrow' clip-onstyle bars are adjustable, but aren’t adjustable enough to get the rider out of a full-race crouch. And the narrowness of the bars doesn't give the rider much leverage on the front wheel. But despite its size and riding position, the R doesn’t require all that much input to set up for a turn. Its 16-inch front wheel and fairly quick steering geometry combine to make it a relatively easy-steering bike. But a 10-inch front wheel wouldn’t make the motorcycle weigh any less, and it’s weight that makes the VF feel oversized and top-heavy on a tight, twisty road.

At least the 1000R has race-caliber brakes that are quite effective at dragging all of that weight to a stop. The double front and single rear discs are gripped by calipers that each use four pistons—two opposing each other. The front end is equipped with Honda’s TRAC anti-dive system, which still is the best device around for preventing nosedive when the front brakes are grabbed hard.

Another aspect of the R’s roadracy personality is the location of its footpegs; high and to the rear. Dragging a peg shouldn’t be a problem on this Honda, for you're more likely to run out of nerve before you run out of ground clearance. But the high pegs mean, of course, that the VF is less comfortable for casual street riding. The rider’s knees are bent more on the 1000 than they would be on any other full-size superbike since the 1 lOOcc Suzuki Katana.

Unlike the riding position, though, the suspension offers a near-ideal compromise between hardcore sport and casual everyday riding. The front fork has a three-way adjuster knob atop the right stanchion that controls the rebound damping in that leg only, and an air valve on the left fork is used to regulate air pressure in both legs. We used 0 psi. though, and felt that adding air would have been necessary only if we had ridden the bike on a racetrack.

The single-shock rear suspension is just as easy to live with. It features a remote damping adjuster and an air valve on the left side of the bike, just to the rear of the fairing lower. For street riding, we set the air pressure in the shock at 12 psi and the rebound damping on the middle of its three positions. And we found that at those settings, we could use the VF for a wide variety of riding circumstances, from droning down the interstates to blitzing the backroads, all without laying a hand on the suspension.

The same thing can be said for the engine’s power, for there's virtually no condition that the R’s motor can't handle with ease. The engine is deceptively potent, though your first impression might be that the bike has tremendous low-end power, then kind of fizzles out on top. But the truth is that the VF is as strong on the top-end as any sportbike made, if not stronger. And the reason for the deception is the nature of the power delivery. Instead of having a comparatively anemic low-rpm ou tput preceding a sudden power rush, which is the case with many street racers, the R hits with brute force at low revs, and then climbs in a steady, linear fashion to a climax that's as strong as any other sportbike’s. In other words, a screaming rush of power doesn't arrive suddenly, because its already there.

It’s unfortunate, then, that a bike with such stellar power and suspension is penalized with so many minor annoyances. The removeable seat cowling, for example, is strictly a cosmetic piece. With the average rider seated in the average position, the cowling’s pad doesn’t come even close to his tailbone, rendering it worthless for any kind of support. What's more, the bike has no centerstand, the engine runs hot and toasts the rider's legs regardless of whether the fairing vents are open or closed, the mirrors are too close together to allow much in the way of rear vision, there’s a disturbing amount of backlash in the driveline, and the exhaust note has all the emotion and inspiration of two lawnmowers locked in a tug-of-war.

So despite some spectacular high points, the R has enough low points to insure that it won't ever be thought of as exceptional. The bike offers superb power and excellent suspension, and the most outrageous appearance this side of HRC. But what the Rmodel lacks is a niche in this country. It’s clearly not a bike for the masses; it’s too specialized. It won’t become the king of the canyons; it’s too big. It’s not likely to find a place on the racetrack, either; it’s too heavy. So in the final analysis, the VF1000R is exotic. but not much else.

Chances are, however, that the VF 1000R will prove to be well worth Honda's while. It won't be that company’s best-seller, but it might do one thing that the 1000F couldn’t; draw people into the showrooms. If so, they’ll undoubtedly be the same people who desperately wanted the VF1000R when it wasn't available here. And those are the same people who, after they finish looking at what they once couldn’t have, just might buy some other model while they're in that dealership.

If they do that, they'll be demonstrating one of the first lessons from Motorcyclist Psychology 101: Having is never quite as much fun as wanting.

HONDA

VF1000R INTERCEPTOR

$5698