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subject: The History Of Honda Vfr750f Motorcycle [print this page]


The Honda VFR750F is a sport touring motorcycle produced between 1986 and 1997. The fully faired motorcycle featured a reliable 98 horsepower (73 kW) liquid-cooled double overhead cam (DOHC) V4 four-stroke engine. All generations of VFR750 since 1990 employ an ELF-designed single-sided rear swingarm. Also characteristic of the VFR750 was durable gear-driven cams. The original VFR750F was first introduced to journalists after the 1985 Bol d'Or, and launched at Jerez. Introduced for 1986 as a complete redesign of the VF700/750F models in order to address some of the camshaft and bearing problems that had become associated with the first-generation Honda V4 engines, and to improve Honda's negative image concerning this engine. Compared to the VF750F, the new VFR750F featured greatly improved power output (105 hp up from 83 hp), lighter weight, a lower center of gravity, a wider front tire, a slightly shorter wheelbase gear driven cams and 6 rather than 5 gears.

Although not designed as a race bike, in 1986 British racer Ron Haslam took a standard VFR750F to third place in a soaked Transatlantic Challenge race at Donington Park, UK. In the United States Fred Merkel and Wayne Rainey disputed the 1986 AMA Camel Pro Championship, which at the time had both Superbike and F1 races but only one championship, with the best finish of the day counting. Merkel just rode in the Superbike while Rainey did the F1 as well. Merkel won two races and Rainey seven but the championship was won by Flyin' Fred Merkel by only two points. For 1987 Freds bike was passed to Bubba Shobert who took 3rd place in 1987, being beaten by Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz. The points he earned during the 1987 season gaining him victory in the AMA Grand National. In 1988 Shobert won 3 of the 7 races to win the AMA superbike championship. A very special VFR750F called the '6X', a full HRC prototype containing titanium valves and magnesium flat-slide carburetors and weighing even less than the factory RVF was first seen raced by Wayne Gardner at Suzuka against TT F1 machinery. Wayne trounced the opposition, smashing his 4 stroke lap record by 1.5s.

The VFR750F series all used 748 cc 16-valve gear driven DOHC liquid-cooled 90 V4 engines with carburetor-based air/fuel induction; the bore/stroke remained the same for all 750 models at 70.0 x 48.6 mm. The engine was made of cast aluminium alloy with the crankcase being divided horizontally, VFR750P and VFR750K models use slightly different crankcases with the lower casing being modified to allow for the gear position indicator in place of the neutral switch. The VFR750F was the first of the 750 class to feature an aluminum twin spar frame, weighing just 14 kg and the nearest thing on the road to the RVF, the GSX-R also featured an aluminum frame but it was of a conventional twin cradle design. First-generation VFR750Fs sported anti-dive on the damping-rod front 37 mm Showa forks (uprated to 41mm for 1988) and a conventional, dual-sided aluminium swingarm with a centrally located Showa damping unit with remote hydraulic pre-load adjustment at the rear. The VFR750F can be divided into three distinct "generations", with significant revisions having taken place upon the introduction of the VFR750FL in 1990 and the VFR750FR in 1994. The VFR750F ceased production in 1998 with the introduction of the VFR800Fi, marketed in the US as the "Interceptor" and the "VFR" in the UK. For more info about Honda Motorcycle Fairings,Honda VFR Fairing, please visit our website!

by: admin2012




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