Best Edition Motorcycle Sporty

Ever since 1969, when Honda introduced the CB750 and established themselves as serious players in the superbike market, Honda have been often leading the way in innovation. One of the niches they have dominated since 1983 is in the V4 engine niche.

1983 saw the launch of the Honda VF750F. This was the machine that put Honda on the path of V4 ownership. At the time the engine was a revelation. A 90° liquid cooled V4 engine pushed out an astonishing 86 bhp which gave it the highest top end speed in its class but not only that, it had a remarkable mid range.

The great thing about the VF750F was that it wasn't just the engine that was exciting. The bike had mono shock rear suspension and anti-dive front forks. A 16 inch front wheel and brakes that were considered to be amongst the best in the world were additional technical details which combined to make a fantastic overall package.

When the VF1000R was launched in 19 a four, Honda already had six models in the VF range ranging from 400 to 1000cc. The VF1000R was completely based on the VF750F but without any of the weaknesses of the 750.

The bike looked fantastic with its carbon fibre reinforced full fairing and Honda racing colours. With adjustable polished alloy handlebars and a perfectly streamlined rear seat hump, the look was one of controlled aggression.

41 mm air assisted front forks with adjustable damping and TRAC anti-dive, together with twin floating 285 mm front discs with four pot calipers gave the VF1000R an impressive front end. The full fairing and gave both significant protection from the elements for the rider, and also good stability.

The V4 engine proved a great success, giving as was expected huge amounts of torque, high top end speed at 150 mph and an ability to cruise all day at 100 miles an hour. At these sorts of speeds handling was good to but at 238kg it was not as sharp as some of its rivals at low speed, particularly the Kawasaki GPZ900R which was 24 kg lighter than the Honda and nearly £2000 cheaper to buy.

The VF1000R was a limited edition piece of exotica, which whilst technically advanced and sophisticated was still too heavy to fully complete in production racing. However, Honda had committed itself to the V4 format and whilst models to date had been close to being best in class but not quite there, further research and development would result, in 1988, in the RC30 which would sweep all before it.