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Difference between revisions of "Defining the '80s (Honda)"
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In the touring segment, prior to Honda's launch of the [[Honda GL1100I|'80 GL™1100 Gold Wing Interstate™]], major manufacturers left it to riders to build their own full-dressers; even Honda made no fairings or saddlebags. This all changed with the Interstate, Honda's first standard full-dress touring bike. It was the beginning of a touring legacy which, 19 years later, reveals the [[Honda GL1500|GL1500 Gold Wing]] as the most popular tourer ever built. | In the touring segment, prior to Honda's launch of the [[Honda GL1100I|'80 GL™1100 Gold Wing Interstate™]], major manufacturers left it to riders to build their own full-dressers; even Honda made no fairings or saddlebags. This all changed with the Interstate, Honda's first standard full-dress touring bike. It was the beginning of a touring legacy which, 19 years later, reveals the [[Honda GL1500|GL1500 Gold Wing]] as the most popular tourer ever built. | ||
The success Honda fostered in the full-dress touring market would soon be matched in other segments. In 1982 Honda introduced the first modern [[V-4]] motorcycle engine in the Sabre™ standard model and Magna® cruiser, followed in '83 by the ground-breaking [[Honda VF750F|VF750F Interceptor®]], the most important performance bike built by Honda since the original CB750 Four. The Interceptor's perimeter frame and narrow V-4 engine established design architecture still used on the current Interceptor. With riders such as Freddie Spencer, Wayne Rainey, Fred Merkel and Bubba Shobert at the controls, the Interceptor won five consecutive Superbike titles during the decade. In '86 the Interceptor was upgraded to the aluminum-frame, gear cam-drive [[Honda VFR750F|VFR™750F]] and proved its mettle by winning eight of nine Superbike races. The mighty [[RC30]]™ racer soon followed, winning the first two [[World Superbike championship]]s in 1988 and 1989. | The success Honda fostered in the full-dress touring market would soon be matched in other segments. In 1982 Honda introduced the first modern [[V-4]] motorcycle engine in the Sabre™ standard model and Magna® cruiser, followed in '83 by the ground-breaking [[Honda VF750F|VF750F Interceptor®]], the most important performance bike built by Honda since the original CB750 Four. The Interceptor's perimeter frame and narrow V-4 engine established design architecture still used on the current Interceptor. With riders such as [[Freddie Spencer]], [[Wayne Rainey]], [[Fred Merkel]] and [[Bubba Shobert]] at the controls, the Interceptor won five consecutive Superbike titles during the decade. In '86 the Interceptor was upgraded to the aluminum-frame, gear cam-drive [[Honda VFR750F|VFR™750F]] and proved its mettle by winning eight of nine Superbike races. The mighty [[RC30]]™ racer soon followed, winning the first two [[World Superbike championship]]s in 1988 and 1989. | ||
One of Honda's brightest stars of the '80s is certainly the [[Honda CBR600F|CBR®600F Hurricane®]]. For most of the late '80s as well as the '90s the CBR set the sales and performance standards for the 600 class. That the inline-four-cylinder CBR could forge its own identity in a Honda product roster headlined by the V-4 VFR is a testimony to its spectacular engineering. Fully clad in aerodynamic bodywork, the CBR changed the notion that a motorcycle's engine must be seen. For Honda, the dollars normally spent on external engine cosmetics were instead put into performance development. Not only did the CBR establish a new manufacturing direction for sport bikes, the Hurricane also attracted legions of riders into the sport bike segment. | One of Honda's brightest stars of the '80s is certainly the [[Honda CBR600F|CBR®600F Hurricane®]]. For most of the late '80s as well as the '90s the CBR set the sales and performance standards for the 600 class. That the inline-four-cylinder CBR could forge its own identity in a Honda product roster headlined by the V-4 VFR is a testimony to its spectacular engineering. Fully clad in aerodynamic bodywork, the CBR changed the notion that a motorcycle's engine must be seen. For Honda, the dollars normally spent on external engine cosmetics were instead put into performance development. Not only did the CBR establish a new manufacturing direction for sport bikes, the Hurricane also attracted legions of riders into the sport bike segment. | ||