1969 saw Honda introduce (what many feel to be) the world’s first true super bike, the CB750. Kawasaki fans have long disputed that claim, as the Z1 of 1972 certainly took the whole notion of a “super bike” to a new level. From 1969-1978 the CB750 used a single overhead cam (SOHC) engine, and from 1979 a DOHC engine was used for the CB750/900/1100.

However, towards the end of the 1970s, the notion of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM) was gaining some attention in that all four of the major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers had a line up that included large capacity, 4-stroke, inline 4-cylinder bikes, and the fact that those motorcycle were quite similar in their design and performance profiles.

Honda were all too aware that the concept of the UJM weakened their ability to stand out, and differentiate themselves from the other global motorcycle manufacturers. To that end, the late 70s saw Honda invest their substantial engineering resources into a new direction, and in the summer of 1981 a group of motorcycle journalists gathered at Honda’s request to witness the unveiling of the V4 powered V45 (750cc) Magna and Sabre (the sports focused V45 Interceptor followed in 1983).

The V4 was a ‘big-bet’ for Honda and they expected it to be the new standard on both street and track. In racing, the AMA lowered the popular Superbike class displacement limit to 750cc and required the base chassis to be essentially stock. This was Honda's target, and culminated in a 1985 Daytona 200 win with Freddie Spencer aboard. In his words, "Honda had built a bike to race first and be a street-bike second."

Streetwise, the VF750F was an instant winner, the magazines of the day singing its praises. Cycle magazine's first full road test of the '83 Interceptor ran for nine pages, with a technical dissertation that took another nine. Quote from Cycle magazine...."There's nothing like perfect teamwork...(and) the Interceptor is this kind of partner. As a sport bike it's nearly perfect...."

Underscoring its historical significance, an '83 VF750 Interceptor was one of the featured models in the 1998 Art of the Motorcycle exhibition at New York's Guggenheim Museum.

Honda went headlong into the V4 concept, generating a full line of cruiser, muscle and sport models in only three years:

V30 Magna (500cc)

VF500 Interceptor (derived from the Japan & Euro-market VF400)

V45 Magna & Sabre (in both 750cc and tariff-busting 700cc displacements)

V45 Interceptor (700/750)

V65 Magna & Sabre (1100cc)

VF1000F Interceptor

VF1000R

Honda had built a reputation over many decades for reliability and solid customer service, but not long after the release of the VF750F, rumours of significant problems with the V4 powered bikes started to circulate. Rather than repeat what has been well documented elsewhere, I will link to an insightful write up from Mike Nixon. Mike wrote this interesting article based on his first hand knowledge of working for Honda around the time of the V4 launch. My own short addendum to the V4 story is as follows.

In 1981 I was 17 years of age, and had just upgraded my Yamaha FS1-E to a brand new Yamaha RD250LC, I was in heaven, but on my bedroom wall were my two ultimate dream bikes. They were not big-bore 2-stokes, and they were not in-line 4-cylinders bikes, and this perhaps says everything about what Honda was trying to do in the market at this time. The first poster was of the Honda CBX1000, and for me, it represented the ultimate in engineering prowess, i.e. a 6 cylinder, 4-stroke engine developing 100hp+, it was like nothing else on the planet, but in 1981 that poster was joined by another marvel of engineering (at least in my 17 year old mind) a water-cooled motorcycle with a V4 engine…..a V4 engine in a motorcycle!! Honda had me hooked.

Over the past 40 years, I’ve owned 30+ motorcycles, but I had never owned a CBX or a V4, but to be honest, whilst the 17 year version of myself thought the CBX was an amazing engineering achievement, it was not a very practical motorcycle and the chassis (even with the Prolink) never lived up the promise of the engine. And on the V4 side, my initial love of the idea of the V4 died away throughout the whole ‘chocolate cam’ saga.

However, fast-forward to 2020 and my collection of Honda’s from the late 70s and early eighties had grown to several bikes and the thought of rounding out my collection with a V4 kept nagging away at me. So at the beginning of 2021 I set out to find a highly original, low mileage V4. Of course it had to be a Honda (as opposed to something like a V-Max) and in my mind the ultimate Honda road-focus V4 from the early 1980s was the V65 Sabre, also known as the VF1100S in other markets.

Unfortunately, Honda never officially imported the V65 Sabre in Australia, so my search took me to Europe and the USA. The story of the V65 Sabre that I finally found and bought to Australia is described on the “History of #9616” page.