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First Modern Superbike: 1983 Interceptor 750


Lorne

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Well written article. I like mine a lot, compared to what I was riding in the 70's this thing is a starship.

 

I bought mine 10 years ago as a non runner, cleaned the carbs and went through brakes, clutch, cams (good) and rode it down to western NC. The bike is a hoot on the backroads.

 

The only thing I have done to it since is swap the 18" rear rim for a 17", and only to make getting rubber easier. For the record a VF1000F rear rim using the 750's rotor and spacers will bolt right on.

 

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I am old enough to remember when the VF750FD came out in the UK in 1983/4. It wasn't particularly well received by the motorcycling press or the bike buying public. It was usually paired up against the Suzuki GSX750ESD in reviews, which was a warmed up version of the 16 valve GSX750. which was itself a significant modification of the 8 valve GS750. (I was fortunate enough to ride  the Suzuki bikes when I was a young impressionable student and they both blew my mind). As far I can recall the Honda and Suzuki 750s were evenly matched and despite the Suzuki being air cooled, the difference in performance was slight. I think the journalists  were not impressed by the weight of the Honda. Unfortunately, sales of the  VF750 in the UK were badly affected by the camshaft wear problems that came to light on the 750S and then were found to be affecting the 750F too. It was all over the motorcycling press at the time. Big pity as it's a fine looking machine even today IMO. 

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I had a rough intro to VF750F ownership when I crashed one whilst test riding it one evening. I'd borrowed it from the dealer I was working part-time for, and he kindly gave me the option of a good trade in for my bike (VF400F), cost for the now crashed 750, and parts at cost....or I could pay his huge insurance excess, not a tough choice. The 750 was a great bike, beautiful (once fixed up) and plenty fast for a 21 year old. I never had cam issues with mine but it did have the standard cam tensioner issues, which I decided were a bit much for an impoverished student, so I sold it and got another VF400F. I still miss the bike and harbour fantasies about a resto-mod project one day.

 

Hvf1983750-1.jpg

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I took mine to Daytona for racing and break in was to unload in Georgia and ride it to Daytona . First practice was easy next one let it rip and it shut down on the banking . The pistons went up against the plugs and closed the gaps ,had to run surface gap plugs in it after that . I thought for sure the camchains had broke .

 

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