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{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{PAGENAME}} Sabre V40: history, specs, pictures}} | {{DISPLAYTITLE:{{PAGENAME}} Sabre V40: history, specs, pictures}} | ||
{{Motorcycle | {{Motorcycle | ||
|name = | |name = Honda VF700S Sabre V40 | ||
|photo=Honda-VF700S-83.jpg | |photo=Honda-VF700S-83.jpg | ||
|aka = Sabre | |aka = Sabre | ||
|manufacturer = Honda | |manufacturer = [[Honda]] | ||
|parent_company = | |parent_company = | ||
|production = 1984-85 | |production = 1984-85 | ||
Line 120: | Line 120: | ||
**Black/Blue | **Black/Blue | ||
==Review== | |||
When the Honda Sabre was unveiled just | |||
three short years ago, it was a 750cc definition of the word "new." Its | |||
engine was a type that hadn't been seen in modern motorcycle history, a | |||
90-degree, liquid-cooled V-Four, with twin cams for each cylinder bank and | |||
four valves for each cylinder. Its bodywork was free-flowing Japanese | |||
modern, dipped in bright, candy-apple red paint. The Sabre didn't have | |||
simple instruments; instead it had a pod that used techy, grid-pattern | |||
instrument faces crammed with LCD displays for everything from fuel capacity | |||
to a stopwatch. The Sabre was Honda's entry into motorcycling's future, and | |||
it drew crowds just sitting in the showroom. | |||
But that was three years ago. A 1985 | |||
Sabre sitting on a showroom floor, or anywhere else, attracts no crowds, | |||
creates little excitement. The motorcycle that was 1982's show-stopper has | |||
become perhaps the most conservative bike in Honda's lineup. | |||
Some of the change in the way the Sabre is perceived is due to the way the | |||
motorcycle market has changed since the bike's introduction. Street-legal | |||
road-racers like the Interceptors and the GPzs have pushed the definition of | |||
a sportbike far beyond the reach of the Sabre. At the other extreme, factory | |||
cruisers have developed a loyal audience that bikes like the Sabre can't | |||
touch. And this turn of events has left the Sabre sort of drifting around in | |||
the middle. But the fringes didn't just spring up around the Sabre; Honda | |||
has helped move the bike toward the center, as well. | |||
The video-arcade instrumentation was | |||
banished for the 1984 model year, replaced with traditional, round | |||
instruments, and LCD displays only for the water temperature and | |||
gear-position indicator. Gone were the fuel gauge, the self-canceling turn | |||
signals and the stopwatch. A traditional round handlebar also showed up in | |||
1984, replacing cast | |||
handlebars that couldn't be changed by the owner. Some of the plastic body | |||
parts were replaced with metal ones by the factory, and the paintwork became | |||
more subdued. All of this was intended to place the Sabre closer to the | |||
motorcycle, mainstream, to make it more like what buyers thought a | |||
motorcycle should be and less like what someone at Honda thought it should | |||
be. Other changes were made in response to reliability problems or owner | |||
complaints. The 1982 Sabre wasn't the best-handling motorcycle around, | |||
especially once its tires became somewhat worn. Honda responded in 1983 with | |||
a new frame and different steering geometry. At the same time, the twin | |||
airbox extensions mounted alongside the engine were consolidated into one | |||
large airbox above the engine. That, along with new carburetor jetting, | |||
cured a midrange flat spot. | |||
And because early Sabre suspension was particularly harsh over smallish, | |||
sharp bumps (freeway expansion joints, for example), improving ride quality | |||
was another goal. | |||
The cure involved the fitting of slightly | |||
stiffer springs. | |||
How, you might ask, did stiffer springs improve ride quality? Well, | |||
first-year Sabres relied on a combination of coil and air springing, the air | |||
offering easy adjustability of overall spring rate. | |||
Unfortunately, the air also increased seal friction and thereby reduced | |||
suspension compliance. So, with stiffer coil springs, the Sabre could use | |||
less air pressure under most conditions, and the suspension could be more | |||
responsive. | |||
Most other Sabre updates are invisible, | |||
the kinds of small fixes that make well-developed models more reliable than | |||
brand-new designs. New mufflers appeared in 1983 that were less likely than | |||
earlier ones to have their baffles rust and fall out. The cams received a | |||
new hardfacing in 1984 to improve durability; and needle bearings replace | |||
bushings in the shock linkage in 1985 models for the same reason. | |||
Of course, the biggest change to the Sabre over the last three years came in | |||
1984, and it had nothing to do with customer wishes or reliability. The | |||
748cc version of the Sabre was replaced by the 699cc version, a move made to | |||
avoid the over-700cc tariff that went into effect in April of that year. | |||
Shrinking the displacement was simple enough, requiring only a destroked | |||
crankshaft, along with longer rods and pistons with slightly higher domes. | |||
No changes were made to the engine block, but camshafts with less duration | |||
were used to recapture some of the low-end and midrange power lost by the | |||
displacement reduction. Peak horsepower suffered through this detuning, | |||
dropping from 82 bhp at 9500 rpm for the 750 to 76 at 10,000 for the 700. | |||
That may help explain why the 700's | |||
engine performance doesn't seem particularly impressive, although 76 | |||
horsepower is nothing to scoff at. The V-Four is rubber-mounted, unlike an | |||
Interceptor's engine, and is extremely smooth, about as free of perceived | |||
vibration as a motorcycle engine can be. And the Sabre always starts easily | |||
and carburates cleanly. But it just doesn't feel particularly willing or | |||
powerful. The exhaust note is uninspiringly flat, and the power curve is so | |||
smooth that nothing spectacular ever seems to happen. Peg the throttle open | |||
with the engine turning 5000 rpm, and the bike gathers speed rather than | |||
lunging forward. It gathers its speed quickly, mind you, so much of the | |||
non-willing feel is due to the rider's perception of performance rather than | |||
to any actual lack of performance. | |||
The 750 Sabre was deceiving in that same | |||
way, and the 700, due to its lesser displacement, is even more so. | |||
Handling is similarly deceptive. The Sabre can be made to go fast down a | |||
twisty road, but it never feels as though it encourages such behavior. The | |||
motorcycle is long, and its steering geometry indicates stability rather | |||
than light steering. But the steering is, in fact, fairly light and, at a | |||
moderate pace, perfectly acceptable. Go faster, though, and the steering | |||
will also feel tentative, as though the front wheel isn't completely sure of | |||
what line to follow. When the Sabre is cornered smoothly, this imprecision | |||
serves mostly to keep the rider from feeling completely confident. But if | |||
the rider delivers a jerky input into the steering anywhere in a turn, the | |||
Sabre will punish his indiscretion with a low-frequency wobble, at least | |||
when the suspension is at the soft end of its adjustment range. | |||
Using the proper suspension settings | |||
helps steady the Sabre's handling. With the air pressure in the rear shock | |||
up to 30 psi, the rear rebound damping on No. 3 and 5 psi of air in the | |||
fork, the Sabre is a lot more forgiving of a less-than-smooth pilot. Ground | |||
clearance is much improved with the stiffer settings, too, with | |||
nothing more than footpegs dragging when the Sabre is cornered hard. | |||
Actually, the tires might impose the greatest limit on cornering speeds, for | |||
they're biased more toward long life than traction, and the rear tire often | |||
slips noticeably when exiting corners. | |||
Those increased suspension pressures only | |||
marginally impair ride quality. The ride is a little firmer over small | |||
bumps, but that's partially offset by the fact that the rear suspension no | |||
longer bottoms over large dips in the road. But while Honda has succeeded in | |||
improving the 700's ride, no one will be likely to mistake the Sabre's | |||
handling for an Interceptor's, and no amount of suspension | |||
tuning will change that. | |||
Then again, no one will ever mistake the | |||
Sabre's seating postion for an Interceptor's, either. The Sabre is a | |||
throwback to the days of standard motorcycles, bikes that were neither | |||
choppers nor roadracers. The Sabre rider sits just short of bolt-upright, | |||
feet slightly forward, arms extended, hands high. It's a position that works | |||
well around town and while cruising the highway at or near legal speeds. At | |||
speeds much above 75 mph, though, wind blast can be countered only by | |||
hanging on tighter to the handlebar, and that alone discourages scofflaws | |||
from practicing their highspeed trade for very long. | |||
Despite the near-touring-bike seating position, however, Sabre comfort could | |||
be better. The seat is flat, but narrow and slightly hard. It's an | |||
acceptable saddle, but certainly not plush or inviting enough to encourage | |||
anyone to spend an entire day sitting on it. And for a motorcycle with a | |||
wheelbase almost 62 inches long, the Sabre could have a more expansive | |||
seating position, with more footpeg to-seat distance to prevent | |||
leg-cramping during a long ride. | |||
If you're starting to get the impression that the Sabre is a | |||
middle-of-the-road motorcycle, it's only because that's what it is. Aside | |||
from engine smoothness, the Sabre isn't outstanding in any category, be it | |||
power or handling or over-the-road comfort. | |||
But it's also far from being the worst in | |||
any of those categories. The Sabre is like the decathlon competitor who wins | |||
no single event, but places highly overall by consistently good, if not | |||
spectacular, performances. What the Sabre might be is the most versatile and | |||
least specialized motorcycle in its class. It will travel down a twisty | |||
backroad easier and faster than most custom bikes, drone down an endless | |||
interstate more comfortably than most sportbikes, andVc this all while | |||
requiring little routine maintenance or regular care. | |||
And unlike a cruiser or a sportbike, the | |||
Sabre can easily be tailored to suit an owner's needs or wants. Honda offers | |||
a CBX-style fairing and saddlebags, allowing the Sabre to be molded in a | |||
sport-touring shape. And there are numerous aftermarket companies offering | |||
other alternatives that allow a Sabre owner to inject some of his own | |||
personality into a motorcycle that doesn't come with a strong pre-defined | |||
image. | |||
So it's true: The Sabre no longer defines "new," in the 750 class or in any | |||
class. Instead, it defines "versatile" by offering competent all-around | |||
performance in a package that can be tailored to suit the wants and needs of | |||
a wide variety of riders. All that the bike asks is that the rider have | |||
middle-of-the-road tastes in motorcycle performance; because that's the only | |||
flavor that the 700 Sabre is able to provide. | |||
==Specifications== | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
!Make Model | |||
|Honda VF700S Sabre | |||
|- | |||
!Year | |||
|1984-85 | |||
|- | |||
!Engine Type | |||
|Four stroke, 90°V-four cylinder, DOHC, 4 valve per cylinder | |||
|- | |||
!Displacement | |||
|699 cc / 42.6 cu-in | |||
|- | |||
!Cooling System | |||
|Liquid cooled | |||
|- | |||
!Bore X Stroke | |||
|70 x 45.4 mm | |||
|- | |||
!Compression | |||
|10.5:1 | |||
|- | |||
!Induction | |||
|4x 32mm Keihin | |||
|- | |||
!Ignition | |||
|Transistorized | |||
|- | |||
!Starting | |||
|Electric | |||
|- | |||
!Max Power | |||
|81 hp / 59. kW @ 10000 rpm | |||
|- | |||
!Max Torque | |||
|62 Nm / 6.2 kgf-m 44.8 lb-ft @ 8500 rpm | |||
|- | |||
!Clutch | |||
|Wet plate | |||
|- | |||
!Transmission | |||
|6 Speed | |||
|- | |||
!Final Drive | |||
|Shaft | |||
|- | |||
!Front Suspension | |||
|37mm Air adjustable forks | |||
|- | |||
!Front Wheel Travel | |||
|150 mm / 5.9 in | |||
|- | |||
!Rear Suspension | |||
|Swinging arm, single shock | |||
|- | |||
!Rear Wheel Travel | |||
|116.8 mm / 4.5 in | |||
|- | |||
!Front Brakes | |||
|2x 274mm discs | |||
|- | |||
!Rear Brakes | |||
|Single 160mm disc | |||
|- | |||
!Front Tire | |||
|110/90-18 | |||
|- | |||
!Rear Tire | |||
|130/90-17 | |||
|- | |||
!Seat Height | |||
|810 mm / 31.9 in | |||
|- | |||
!Wet Weight | |||
|235 kg / 518 lbs | |||
|- | |||
!Fuel Capacity | |||
|18.2 Liters / 4.8 US gal | |||
|} | |||
{{motorcycle-stub}} | {{motorcycle-stub}} |