Soul Survivor
Classic Motorcycle Mechanics|December 2016

Honda went out on a limb with its V4s in the early Eighties. One of the best examples of the early models was the 500cc version. John Nutting rides a survivor and recalls its launch in South Africa.

John Nutting
Soul Survivor

V4 engines have mostly been the design choice in Grand Prix motorcycle racing since the early 1980s. They are compact, smooth and deliver more easily-managed power in the premier prototype class. Yet there are barely more than a handful of V4 road bikes in production these days.

The virtues of a V4 racer are just as valid on the road, but they come at a price, which is why just a few large machines use the layout. It may be the ideal, but a V4 is tricky, and therefore expensive, to manufacture. And the smaller the V4 engine’s capacity the tougher it gets to sell, with a 500 costing almost as much to produce as a 750 or even a 1000, yet riders would reasonably expect the price tag to be lower.

A case in point is Honda’s VF500FII featured here which was launched in 1984 with a hefty £2550 ticket in the UK. This was almost as much as an exotic Ducati 600 Pantah from Italy, and more than Kawasaki’s GPz750 or Suzuki’s GSX750ES. And Honda’s own super-fast VF750F V4 cost just £400 more, which was worth stretching the wallet. At the same time, Yamaha’s Powervalve RD350LC offered the average Johnny almost as much performance at a much more affordable £1695. It was a no brainer. No wonder the VF500FII, a brilliant example of Honda’s engineering expertise, was a sales failure. Which makes surviving examples like the one owned by Dave Sheppard a rare treat to ride. He found it in mint condition with just 3000 miles on the clock in 2013, since when he’s doubled that on weekly VJMC runs. “It’s a lovely bike,” he says, and after a spin on town and country roads I agree.

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