VF 1000 F2 self-made Honda V4 exit

VF 1000 F2 self-made Xpresso V4

Honda V4 exit with mini cook

Content of

A gentle sun welcomed the fans and friends of the Honda V4 to the Classic ride with the refurbished VF 1000 F2 self-made.

D.he Saturday is fully booked – cleaning week, shopping, hardware store, cleaning motorcycle, whipping up the workshop. On this one Saturday, however, a pack of passionate V men postponed the compulsory exercises and hummed to the motorcycle meeting point at Glemseck near Stuttgart. As ordered, the sun dissolved the fog around the former Solitude racetrack and welcomed the Honda fans who had traveled on the road.

VF 1000 F2 self-made Xpresso V4

Honda V4 exit with mini cook

VFR 750 F with 530,000 kilometers

The Classic conversion Xpresso V4 quickly found a good-humored audience, which was also able to marvel at a few sensational pieces of cream. Jurgen Daun and his son Frank had come from the Odenwald. Frank, known to insiders for his wonderful RC 30 and NSR 400 conversions, had put the dream motorcycle on its wheels for his father – a six-cylinder Honda CBX 1000 converted into a RC 166 replica! This technical masterpiece alone was worth getting up early. Bruno Just from Simmerrath, a frequent driver on a VFR 750 F with 530,000 kilometers on the clock, used the return trip from Bol d‘Or in southern France for a stopover at Glemseck, warmly welcomed by friends of the VFR scene.

Video of the racer conversion Xpresso V4

30 mm shorter swing arm for Xpresso V4

After a steaming coffee, the group set out for a motorcycle ride in the northern Black Forest. Initially slowed down by the hectic traffic, the Hondas rushed a few kilometers later over wonderfully curved roads into the Nagold Valley. Of course not without going through the bends from Schellbronn to Unterreichenbach. The best opportunity for Andreas Jager (Honda VF 1000 R) and Ralf Rechberger (Honda VFR 750) to subject the Xpresso V4 to a test drive. “Nice engine, drives great, only the brake is really poisonous”, commented Andreas Jager on the small sample and added: “Visually, the Xpresso is a bit too long. The 30 millimeter shorter VF 750 swing arm would look good on it. ”He’s right, the tip with the short swing arm fits in well with the concept. And thus into the next expansion stage of the Xpresso V4.

There are reasons why the Honda V4 scene is still very much alive. Although the beginnings in the 1980s were marked by engine damage and overheating, Honda had created a unique selling point with the 90-degree V4 concept beyond the Japanese four-cylinder monotony. The sound of the four asymmetrically firing cylinders alone is a real radio play, the elaborate construction makes every technician’s heart beat faster.

Honda V4 with slipper clutch

With the rocker arm valve control and an anti-hopping clutch, the Honda V4 was a step ahead of the competition. Great tuners loved him too. First and foremost Roland Eckert, who is still involved with the V4 engines to this day. Because after the laborious beginnings and countless improvements and product recalls, Honda’s V4 engines in the VFR series have properly polished up the image. Just two years after the presentation of the VFR 750 F, Fred Merkel thundered in 1988 with the RC 30 to the first Superbike World Championship title in history, making the VFR 750 R a legend. The scene around the unique Honda V4 engine also lives from this – to this day!

review

markus-jahn.com

Honda Xpresso V4.

In autumn 2015 I set out to knit a stout Honda VF 1000 F2 into – let’s say – a cafe racer-like motorcycle. Acquired for 680 euros in running but miserable condition, the chassis was specially trimmed to "modern". 17-inch forged wheels (around 1,600 euros), a specially made Wilbers shock absorber (around 800 euros), used Brembo brake calipers and Beringer discs (around 600 euros) as well as the latest radial tires (around 280 euros) made the VF 1000 chassis proper legs. In order to maintain the status of the Xpresso V4 as a youngtimer, the look was modified with aluminum mudguards, a 160-millimeter round headlight and the VF 750 F’s smaller tank in the 1980s look.

Related articles

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *