Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:13:02 -0700
Reply-To: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Technology evolves...( Honda V-4 moto no van content...
Friday)
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuJRrKAo9e9zsV-NXa1CSOG9rO2dTC-+8e+n0DkXhi6KwA@mail.gmail.com>
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You lucky bastard! Congrats on the Viffer, as I've heard 'em called. You got "the last good one" according to those who live and die by the VFR. Ever since they gave up the gear-driven cams...
My V-4 open meg encounter was on I-85 in Greensboro NC rush hour traffic many years ago. The guy was not at 14K but he was not wasting time or the bike's ability cutting through traffic. Awesome, indeed.
Enjoy the new ride.
Stephen
'89 Pacific Coast PC800 (recently wrecked but still in use)
--- On Fri, 10/21/11, Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Technology evolves...( Honda V-4 moto no van content... Friday)
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Friday, October 21, 2011, 10:23 AM
Always been something of a Moto-head since my first Honda Scrambler 250 in
my high school years. I recently revived my '88 Honda Hawk, a very nimble
mid-sized V-twin that I built as a track bike a while back and then stored
away. I'd forgotten how much fun motorbikes are, both to ride and to mess
around with. After much fussing with the exotic Keihin race carbs on the
Hawk, I got it running right again. I rode it out to a new road racing
track that was recently built nearby. Wanted to go for a test ride and to
see what was going on with this new road course venue. I put the bike on a
dyno at the track, to get the HP, torque and Air/Fuel ratio readings from
the semi-race motor we'd built but never final-tuned or quantified. As I
waited for my turn on the rollers, I watched the tech and the bike owner
tuning an almost new V-4 1200cc Honda Interceptor....and gain 15% hp in 30
minutes with just a laptop.(and the dyno, of course)
I have always been intrigued by that particular motor, which Honda has
been building for many years(since the '80s) and using in various bikes, in
many different forms.. This V-4 has a very unique sound....I recall seeing
a video of one racing at the Isle of Mann TT with four megaphones for
pipes.....Awesome! (sorry for the overused adjective, but no other word
comes to mind to adequately describe that 4 open megaphones-sound
at14,000rpms, racing over hilly country lanes in the British Isles)
Cutting to the chase: After researching the subject, I went to Craigslist
and found one, well used (65k miles, not excessive for a VFR) but in good
shape for <$2k.
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