Topic: Okay, I've Heard Lots Of Talk About The V-4s, Let's Hear The Skinny On Them

[bill440cars]

       I've herard all kinds of talk about them and now, my curiousity is up, so let's hear it. For example, I've seen several of the V45s on ebay lately and have heard that they were really fast for their size, and compared to others of the same size. Were (are)they THAT good? And, if so, why aren't more of them being kept and run? Are there certain ones that are considered better than the others? If so, which ones? What about maintaining them? Just looking to "broadening my knowledge of the "other" Hondas. I know that they've been mentioned here now and then, bu not much.

[Steve_K]

I had a 92 VFR,  in 48k I never needed to change the value shims in her.  Carb sync never changed.  Wore out tires every 7 to  8k miles.  When warm the idle had the uneven pulses from the crank timing.  Sounded great! Under way the bike was like a locomotive, would pull from 25 mph in top gear.  Good for 400 mile days.  Can you tell I loved that bike?  It is one bike I should have kept.  BTW it also handled very well. It had a single side swingarm and very good suspension. 
Steve_K

[bert96]

 I had a 94 vfr with about the same Km.Never had a problem.It sound like a V 8,very awesome sound

[mystic_1]

My buddy had a 94 Magna that I really enjoyed driving.  Loved the sound too.

mystic_1

[Laminar]

The V65 Magna held the Guiness record for fastest motorcycle in the mid to late '80s. I believe it was beat when the V-Max came out. A good driver could get one into the 10s in the quarter mile - as far as I know that's faster than any Harley today (V-Rod runs an 11.3ish). not bad for a 25-year-old bike.

[The_Crippler]

The V-Max is a bike that has long been on my wish list, but one never comes along at the right time.  Beautiful, beastly bikes.

[bill440cars]

The V-Max is a bike that has long been on my wish list, but one never comes along at the right time.  Beautiful, beastly bikes.

                                                        I agree!

[markjenn]

It's important to distinguish between the early VF V4's and the later VFR's.

The 82-86 VF bikes were problematic for Honda and owners.  Honda made a big push to replace their entire I4 product line with V4 standards, cruisers, and sportbikes and it didn't go well.  The bikes were expensive to make, hard to work on, and had some nagging reliablity issues, especially in the valve train.  The 750cc V45 models seem to have the most problems.  The 500cc bikes were pretty neat (I had a couple), but the 1000cc sportbike was a pig, dramatically overweight.

In 1986-1987  Honda tossed in the towel and reverted back to inline engines with the CBR/Hurricanes, but did a really nice revision to the V4 with the superb geared cam VFR engine that appeared in a single sportbike and a single cruiser model.  Both models came and went over the years and the VFR sportbike is still being made today, albeit they've gone back to a VTEC chain-drive cam engine that most think is a step back from geared-cam bikes.  And they're very slow sellers.  VFR engines are considered very reliable and robust.  But I'd be cautious about the early models and do some research before jumping in.  And I don't think they have any noticeable performance advantage over similar displacement bikes of their era - they're mostly different to be different.

V4's are always a tougher bike to restore and repair than an inline-four.  Their are two heads, four cams, and the packaging makes things like heads, carbs and exhaust systems much harder to get to.  I literally have to use a crowbar to pull the carb bank from the vee in my RC30 V4.  And the aftermarket and parts support is weaker.  So not a good bike to be bringing back from the dead.  But a nice VFR that has been maintained and is running well is a wonderful bike even with very high mileage.

Honda is planning on releasing a new VFR1200 in 2010 that is going to be super high tech - variable cylinder management, totally drive by wire, etc.

- Mark

[Steve_K]

Damn, a RC30 now that was a bike.  I got a beat up GSXR75, because  I could not find or afford a RC30 or the even more expensive RC45.  GIXXER is good, but the V4 howl on the race track brings fond memories
Steve_K

[GroovieGhoulie]

The NC30 VFR400R is on my short list of "Bikes I MUST own".  MAYBE the later RVF400R NC35.

And I will have one someday, oh yes, I will.

[myhondas]

I have a 96 Magna VF750 CD. Love the bike! They call it a sport bike on a cruiser frame. FAST & POWERFUL !  Decent gas milage. Only weak points are the small capacity fuel tank and the brakes. Single disc on front and drum on rear. Bike just keeps running and running well. You can find the 95 or 96 CD for about 4K. There is the C model that will run a little less but just as good of a bike. You won't be disapointed with one of these machines.

[Frankencake]

Bill, I have a 1985 VF700F Interceptor (last year for the VF).  It has about 28k on the ticker.  The main problem with the VF models is a low oil pressure in the cam department at idle.  The 86 and up VFR models had totally done away with that problem and they went to gear driven cams.  Speaking about my bike. I can say that they are an absolute pleasure to run and drive.  My bike is longer than my 750F and has a good average seat height.  The motor has a smooth clean pull all the way from 2k to redline with no surprising jumps in power.  They are very torquey engines.  The sound is wonderful.  I can't say enough good thing about them.  If you really want to know more browse at vfrworld.com.  It is a website devoted to these bikes with a community just like this forum.  There is lots of info there for free and lots of folks who will answer any questions you have. 
I really recommend just going out and buying one but only if you can handle the riding position.  If you can deal with it you'll love the bike.  I think that you can pickup an 86 or better for shortish $$.

[kpier883]

My older brother bought a V45 Magna in 1982, the first year they came out.  There has been a lot of talk about camshaft wear on these machines.  I think with proper maintenance and actually watching the redline, they are very reliable.  He still has that bike and it still runs fine.  The 1982 through ? or so were shaft driven.  Some of the later ones are not shaft drive. 

Basically, a shaft driven v four Honda is a very nice bike.  The engine is probably the smoothest I have ever ridden.  Perfect primary and secondary balance they say.  All I know is nothing vibrates on them at all. 

I bought an '82 KZ1000 LTD and they were basically neck and neck for street drag racing.  Top end was about 120 to 125 mph in overdrive (6th gear).  We went to a drag strip that was 1/8th mile or 1000 feet or something.  He turned in 8.20 index and I turned in 8.00.  First night there he won the event with only one breakout at 8.19 and the other guy broke out more.  I think the worst run of the night was 8.22.  It looked like it was bending downward in the middle on the 1-2 shift but that was an illusion caused by the shaft jacking the back end of the bike upwards on the shift. 

My 1000 would barely pull away on top speed contests.  He wrecked it once and broke the tach.  Do not run one of these without a tachometer if you are used to inline 4s because they sound like they are turning so slow.  The redline is 10,500 I think.  When he put the tach back on, we found out that by ear we were routinely shifting at over 12,000 RPM.  The engine never had a problem with that though.  The only time it ever outran my KZ was while the tach was off and it turned out it would go close to 130 in fifth gear, but you don't want to know how far in the red it is.

My guess is that the reason a lot of these had problems is because people were shifting "by ear" rather than looking at the tach.

That bike was a pig in the corners if you sat on the seat.  It would wallow and weave and just get worse and worse.  Mind you I am talking about taking corners way too fast when this behavior exhibited itself.  Comparatively my KZ was on rails.  However, if you basically leaned way forward and almost sat on the tank, it would put more weight on the front tire.  The back end would be behind you wobbling all over the place, but you could make it corner at insane speed without regard for what the back end was doing.  This did not look pretty to an observer.  I never rode it that way, but my brother still does so from time to time.

He always took time to let the engine warm up enough to get the temp guage into the operating zone before riding off.  This may have been a key to the long life of this particular engine.  If an engine has decent oil pressure and doesn't smoke or make funny sounds, I would say go for it.

My favorite thing about the V45 was coming on the cam and getting that extra rush of acceleration when the tach passed 8k or so, and as I said, the uncanny smoothness of the motor.  Least favorite things are the handling when being pushed too hard, and the intermittent hot starting issues.  Some have that problem and some don't. 

[kpier883]

Oh, and I think the magazines posted low 12s or so for the 1/4 mile in 1982 but I can't be sure.  I do have a Cycle magazine somewhere that has the test.  Finding it might be difficult. 

[Jerv]

The NC30 VFR400R is on my short list of "Bikes I MUST own".  MAYBE the later RVF400R NC35.

And I will have one someday, oh yes, I will.

Hi there.

I'm contemplating buying a 1992 NC30 these days, I find them awesome to look at even though I have never seen one up close... My biggest worry is that I am in no way skilled in the art of fiddling with any form of engines (changed the alternator on my 90' Mazda 626 once  ) and that the NC30 perhaps not is a good place to start (any thoughts).

This is what I'm looking to buy atm:



Asking price is 38000,- Norwegian kroner (about $5,500)

[Operator]

I had an 84 VF1000 Interceptor and it was one of the most powerful bikes I have ever ridden, and there have been lots. It is the only bike that I have ever had that I almost dumped because I came on to the throttle too hard and it actually pulled out of my left hand.

That beast would do Zero to Holy S$%t in a heartbeat!!!

It was probably one of the smoothest engines Ive had. In order to solve the cam lubrication issue I had a friend do the modification to route an oil line into the top end. It is easy to find the instructions online. Google VF1000 oil mod

Another issue was the overheating on these models. The rad fan wouldn't kick in until the temp guage redlined. I installed a toggle switch so if I was coming into town or traffic I could manually switch the fan on and run it continuously to keep it cool. Someone told me that you could switch out the thermostat from a Yamaha or Kawi but I found this was easier and cheap!

My two cents

[bill440cars]

I had an 84 VF1000 Interceptor and it was one of the most powerful bikes I have ever ridden, and there have been lots. It is the only bike that I have ever had that I almost dumped because I came on to the throttle too hard and it actually pulled out of my left hand.

That beast would do Zero to Holy S$%t in a heartbeat!!!

It was probably one of the smoothest engines Ive had. In order to solve the cam lubrication issue I had a friend do the modification to route an oil line into the top end. It is easy to find the instructions online. Google VF1000 oil mod

Another issue was the overheating on these models. The rad fan wouldn't kick in until the temp guage redlined. I installed a toggle switch so if I was coming into town or traffic I could manually switch the fan on and run it continuously to keep it cool. Someone told me that you could switch out the thermostat from a Yamaha or Kawi but I found this was easier and cheap!

My two cents

   Man, all this talk is making me want to check one out! I've seen several V45s on ebay and I'd prefer the styling of those, to one with the fairing and all. Anyway, You all keep on talking and I'll keep on listening. Sounds like the Oiling mod AND the cooling fan switch (or thermostat) Stll might be good to have a switch wired in just in case it might be needed.


                                                                                          Later on, Bill  

[Frankencake]

I have a switch wired in on my bike.  I leave it on in the summer and turn it off in the coolers months unless I come to traffic.  I keep it real cool .
Go out and do it, Bill, you deserve a new toy!   Post pics.

[Operator]

This is one of the few photos of my Interceptor, pardon the "ghosts" in front....I don't post photos of my kids

[Really?]

I have a '85 Yamaha Venture Royale with a V4 1200 (yea I know, it's a honda club).  Basically a VMAX motor detuned a bit.  Runs like a bat outta hell too.  

These are generally good for over 200k without major issues and many have have been know to go over 400k without a rebuild.  There are a ton of these on the road still and people are wanting to keep them going.  I have owned mine since '94.

The 1st generation of this bike was around for '83 to '94 (leftover '94's sold in europe in '95) and then the 2nd generation came back in 1999 and is still going.

Ok, now, back to Hondas.

[Really?]

Another issue was the overheating on these models. The rad fan wouldn't kick in until the temp guage redlined. I installed a toggle switch so if I was coming into town or traffic I could manually switch the fan on and run it continuously to keep it cool. Someone told me that you could switch out the thermostat from a Yamaha or Kawi but I found this was easier and cheap!

My two cents

This seems to be common on many water cooled engines in the 80's.  Sometimes the best fix is a piece of tape of the temp guage, lol.  The manual switch is common too.

[Operator]

TipperT

I already used up my tape on the speedo....sometimes I really don't want to know

[GroovieGhoulie]

Hi there.

I'm contemplating buying a 1992 NC30 these days, I find them awesome to look at even though I have never seen one up close... My biggest worry is that I am in no way skilled in the art of fiddling with any form of engines (changed the alternator on my 90' Mazda 626 once  ) and that the NC30 perhaps not is a good place to start (any thoughts).

This is what I'm looking to buy atm:



Asking price is 38000,- Norwegian kroner (about $5,500)

Might be a little high.  But it looks clean.  In the UK, they are cheaper, but usually ragged out.  If you're not mechanically inclined, I would be wary, but of course, if you have a good mechanic, it's not as bad.  I work on everything I own, so I don't have to worry about it.

I LOVE those colors.  That looks like a clean machine.

[fastbroshi]

  I got a '97 VFR myself (last year of the geared cams) and GAWD do I love the sound the motor makes.  It truly sounds like a small block v8 with one of those huge blowers on top.  I've got a V&H pipe on mine and it just adds to the melody.  And someone mentioned the lack of vibration, and it's funny, I never thought about it because of the lack thereof.  Heck my 550 vibrates at the bars way more than the Viffer. 
  I do have to agree about the parts availability, it is sparce, especially fairings.  The one I have is considered a 4th gen and was produced from '94-97.  The bike was basically a good do over of the 3rd gen, made from 90-93.  Either of these generations IMHO is the best.  The newer generations got more and more away from the sporty side, not that I can't take mine to Kerrville and back from Dallas.
   Great looking, good ergos, fast, beautiful sound, huge tank (5.5 gal), and good mileage. 

[Jerv]

Hi there.

I'm contemplating buying a 1992 NC30 these days, I find them awesome to look at even though I have never seen one up close... My biggest worry is that I am in no way skilled in the art of fiddling with any form of engines (changed the alternator on my 90' Mazda 626 once  ) and that the NC30 perhaps not is a good place to start (any thoughts).

This is what I'm looking to buy atm:



Asking price is 38000,- Norwegian kroner (about $5,500)

Might be a little high.  But it looks clean.  In the UK, they are cheaper, but usually ragged out.  If you're not mechanically inclined, I would be wary, but of course, if you have a good mechanic, it's not as bad.  I work on everything I own, so I don't have to worry about it.

I LOVE those colors.  That looks like a clean machine.

Thanks for the heads up, mate. I think it's a bit pricey too, but this is just how it is here in Norway, it's ridiculous! Been looking for a CB550 for a while and people will demand £3-4000 for a run down total rescue object...

Sorry for the hijack btw