Honda 500 Interceptor
Thu, April 29th, 2010
Click image for larger view.
IT’S HONDA WEEK!
Featuring a different Honda street bike each day.
| 1984–86 Honda VF500F Interceptor | |
|---|---|
| Performance |    |
| The littlest V-4 Honda made mad power for a 500 of its era, and its 68 HP (SAE crank) is still plenty to push around its light, compact chassis. | |
| Handling | |
| This bike is probably the last sub-600cc motorcycle to have top-shelf chassis components through-and-through. A production-class terrier that regularly nipped at the heels of contemporary bigger bikes at club races. One of the few bikes that made a 16-inch front wheel really work. | |
| Looks | |
| Yes, ma'am! I just love the looks of this bike, even though the square silver frame tubes are a bit inelegant. Along with the not-for-U.S. VF400F, the 500 'ceptor is rare proof that a liquid-cooled V-4 motorcycle can be pretty. Again, one of the last of it's era: a sportbike not completely wrapped in a candy-coated shell. | |
| Reliability | |
| Yea, there's always a catch, isn't there? The 500 motor had quite a bit of trouble staying together. Honda reworked it and launched an extensive recall to fix the problems, so any surviving examples should be sorted out...but still not a bulletproof engine by any means, and complex enough to give shade-tree mechanics pause before ripping into the cases. | |
| Practicality | |
| Gee, a light, small, maneuverable corner-strafer that isn't temperamental in traffic and doesn't require you to fold yourself like a piece of origami to ride. | |
| Desirability | |
| Few mid-sized bikes quicken the pulse like this one does. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| The 500 Interceptor harkens back to the days when a 500cc bike didn't have to be dirt cheap and automatically get classed as a 'beginner bike.' | |