Interceptor era

Forty years ago, the racing world was focused on the pending Daytona International season opener, and the AMA’s decision to change the displacement for the Superbike category from 1,025 cc to 750. At the time, this was considered necessary to open up the rules for the eventual World Superbike series. However, it is hard not to think that Honda’s influence on AMA decisions was crucial to the new class limits.

Other manufacturers were not ready for the new rules, and offered conventional, air-cooled models in the 750 range. During the winter of 1982/1983, Honda teased with test photos of their wild new 750, already on track in full-blown racer format.

The VF750F Interceptor was powered by a liquid-cooled, V-four DOHC engine, based on the ground-breaking 1982 Sabre. This engine went from shaft to chain drive, and the redesign forced the elimination of one gear, making the VF a five speed. The chassis was unique and looked it – still steel tubes but now box section for the first time.

There was a 16-inch cast wheel at the front, with an 18-inch hoop out back – not that unusual, and of course you could and would change the wheels for Superbike use. The front fork was a 39 mm Showa with TRAC anti-dive, and the adjustable rear Showa was air assist and worked through a sand-cast alloy swingarm.

The exhaust was a 4-into-2 design with big central collector under the bike. Hefty at 550 pounds wet, the VF came with a unique sprag slipper clutch, and would have made around 80 horsepower on a Dynojet dyno. The biggest strength of the design was torque, and a chassis way beyond other street bikes of the day.

It would be a year before Honda offered the full blown HRC kit that revolutionized American competition, so initially only their factory bikes were up front in AMA Superbike. Amazingly, Wayne Rainey on a very old-tech Kawasaki GPz750 managed to defeat the Honda squad for the 1983 Superbike crown, but that is another story.

In this era of competition, production racing was a big deal, and every year brought a new machine that changed the dynamics of at least one of the popular classes. In Canada in 1982, the Kawasaki GPz550 was the bike of choice, and as was typical of the day, the top Pros all got good pricing to move them onto the latest bike for that year.

In Canada in 1983, Yamaha’s new liquid-cooled, two-stroke RZ350 was everywhere, although most of the Pros stuck with the monoshock, air-cooled, four-stroke Kawasaki middleweight. Meanwhile Honda offered the focal point of the season, the new VF750F, as well as a air-cooled inline four-cylinder middleweight, the Japanese 400 cc market based CBX550F.

The 500 V-four Interceptor would arrive the next year, and also find considerable success on track and at the dealers. I am fascinated by the fact that current, younger motorcyclists are regularly excited by just the appearance of these Honda designs from forty years ago!

The Interceptor might seem an odd choice for Canadian racing, since at the time attention was focused on the tight and twisty Shannonville. While the Honda handled well, it was weighty, so hard to stop as well as using up ground clearance at an alarming rate. Remember, 40 years ago production racing was just that, and the bulky and complicated stock exhaust didn’t help matters.

However, racers used to having to rev their inline four cylinder sky high to get the most of the engine quickly adapted to the smooth, predictable and wide powerband of the unique-for-the-time V-four.

It had long been expected that Honda would flex their muscle and build a machine to prove their technical capabilities, and the VF was finally that bike. Serious sports riders were disappointed by the CBX1000 six-cylinder, slightly happier with the arrival of the CB750F, but absolutely thrilled with the high-tech, well-developed Interceptors.

A big part of the appeal of the Interceptor went beyond the strong spec sheet and straight to the overall appearance of the design. The top, half fairing and sculped chin fairing were well integrated, at a time when bikes still showed off their engine – especially if it was the only V-four on offer!

Honda would have lots of success with the format, moving through the second-generation Interceptor VFR to the RC30 and RC45 homologation special world championship winners. For a long time, the V-four was the signature design of the Honda lineup, although marketing considerations in the US forced the development of the inline four-cylinder CBRs in the early 1990s.

For decades, the “donor model” stock Interceptor (750 and 800, with the VFR800F phased out in 2017) represented a highwater mark in overall performance and build quality for Japanese motorcycles. It all started with the definitive sport bike and racer of 1983. IM