It was the first sportbike born with racing
DNA. Seventeen years ago, you either rode an Interceptor®
or you were way behind.
There
were two kinds of sportbike riders in 1983. Those who owned
a VF750 Interceptor, and those who lusted after one. Armed
with newly developed Honda Grand Prix technology, such as
a track-inspired fairing, 16-inch front wheel, rectangular-section
perimeter frame, single-shock rear suspension and anti-dive
front suspension, the Interceptor was a back-road rapier among
pocket knives.
Power
was cutting edge. As the first liquid-cooled engine in any
sportbike, the Interceptor's 90-degree V-four spun out an
amazing 86 horsepower, making the bike quicker in the quarter
mile and faster on top than its peers. In a top-gear roll-on,
the Interceptor flat crushed them, and, in so doing, exploded
the notion that high-performance sportbikes had to have narrow
powerbands crowded close to the redline. Those triple-disc
brakes were regarded as the best brakes on any mass-produced
street bike. When the pavement turned twisty, nothing else
measured up. And if you felt like crossing a time zone or
two, the Interceptor was versatile, smooth and comfortable
enough for the job.
Still,
its toughest job was racing. New AMA rules required that Superbikes
be built from street-going 750s, so Honda's radical Interceptor
arrived with the heart and bones of a champion. Losing 70
pounds and gaining over 40 horses in race trim, the new V-4
was equally omnipotent on the track. In 1983, its rookie year
as an AMA Superbike, the VF750F won eight of 14 Nationals,
and would begin a legacy of Honda V-4 dominance unequaled
in AMA Superbike racing.
That
original Interceptor, through its racing and sales success,
proved that Honda's integrated design approach worked as well
on the track as it did on the street. Fast, agile, comfortable,
perfectly balanced, the Interceptor began a Honda design philosophy
that created a line of sportbikes with tremendous performance
and street civility, a line leading straight to the aluminum-frame,
fuel-injected 800 Interceptor in Honda's 2000 lineup.
Even
if you weren't old enough or lucky enough to experience the
Interceptor in 1983, the magic lives on in Honda's sportbike
line, and it's better than ever.