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Difference between revisions of "Honda VTR1000F"
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== History == | == History == | ||
In 1997 Honda began producing a street-oriented twin cylinder GT motorcycle using a historically important name: Superhawk. The previous (60's) Superhawk was a parallel twin motorcycle that [[Robert M. Pirsig]] rode in "[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]". The original Superhawk was a commercial success, hence the name being recycled. | In 1997 Honda began producing a street-oriented twin cylinder GT motorcycle using a historically important name: Superhawk. The previous (60's) [[Honda CB77|Superhawk]] was a parallel twin motorcycle that [[Robert M. Pirsig]] rode in "[[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]". The original Superhawk was a huge commercial success, hence the name being recycled. | ||
Outside the United States the motorcycle was named the "Firestorm" . The new Superhawk was introduced after the [[Ducati 916]] made [[V-twin]] [[sportbikes]] popular again. The new Superhawk uses an all new 90 degree V-twin. The bike introduced several new design concepts such as the "pivotless frame", side [[radiator]]s, single casting [[engine]] case, [[connecting rod]]s with cap [[screw]]s instead of [[nut (hardware)|nut]]s, and the largest [[carburetor]]s Honda ever put on a motorcycle. The "Pivotless frame" meant that engine was a stressed member with the [[swingarm]] bolted directly to the engine. The bike was released in 1997 as an early release 1998 [[model year]]. One motorcycle magazine suggested (circa 2000) that this bike was the fastest 0-60 mph production bike at the time. A [[racing]] version of the bike was expected from Honda. In 2000 Honda introduced the [[Honda RC51|RVT1000R]] ([[Honda RC51|RC51]]) known outside the [[United States]] as the [[Honda RC51|VTR1000SP]], though the bike had only four engine parts in common with the modern Superhawk. The [[Honda RC51|RC51]] was an entirely new V-twin racing platform that won the World [[superbike racing|Superbike]] championship its first year racing with [[Colin Edwards]] and the [[Castrol]] team. | |||
For the model year 2001, Honda introduced a number of improvements. These included a larger 19 litre tank (the original was 16 litres), internal modifications to the front forks, an improved riding position thanks to less steeply raked clip-on bars and an LCD display for elements such as fuel level, engine temperature, trip meter, odometer and clock. A HISS immobiliser also became standard at this time. | |||
Early models suffered from premature failure of the cush drive, probably due to the high impulses of power produced by the big V-twin engine, but Honda soon rectified this with improved material. Another weak point of the motorcycle is cam chain tensioner (CCT) failure. This type of failure rarely results in engine damage and simply requires the CCT to be replaced. Of the two tensioners, the front is more likely to fail and it is, unfortunately, the more awkward of the two to replace. Replacement is comfortably within the capabilities of a competent home mechanic, but the valve timing must also be checked after CCT failure. | |||
==1998== | ==1998== | ||