RETRO...SPECTIVE Honda VFR800 F-IW

Replacing the much-loved VFR750F was going to be a tough ask - but Honda did it and the resulting bike was 'top banana' even if you bought a red one ...

What you see here isn't a humble sports-tourer, but instead a hi-tech V4 using the guts of a homologation World Superbike racer ... Yes, the VFR800 F-iw's crankcases used an altered die made from the very same used to make the RC45 WSB racer. To top it all the fuel-injection system was an altered RC45 unit, too. A 2mm longer stroke to the motor gave 781cc, while the bike also featured Honda's semipivotless frames and side-mounted radiators fashionable on some of their other models of the time. The race pedigree continued as the bike's design team leader was Satoru Horiike. He had many conversations with previous VFR750 owners to get the new bike right. Horiikesan was in charge of building race bikes including the NS500 triple, all the NSR500S from 1984-1987, the oval-pistoned NR500 (and later NR750 road bike), as well as the RC45 and 1999 CBR600 F-X road bikes. At launch many VFR fans (including me) preferred the more characterful 750 over the 800, but many (including me) are revising this view. After all, just look at the prices... Sure, the bike feels a little bulkier than the 750 (and it is nine kilos heavier), but that motor is still the star of the show, so that - while it's down on power compared to the comparable Triumph Sprint ST, which was one of its main rivals of the time - the motor actually feels superior, giving lots of torque. Power is probably now a shade under lo0bhp at the back wheel. Issues: few, but Honda's regulator/rectifiers always gave up the ghost! Best of all is price. This amazing, do-it-all bike can still be had for as low as £1500 if you look really hard. Good ones start at around £2500! Put a loud end can on it, close your eyes and you could almost be Slight, Dunlop, Hislop, et