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| {{Infobox Motorcycle
| | #Redirect [[Honda VF500C]] |
| |name = [[Honda]] VF500C Magna V30
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| |image = [[File:Honda-VF500C-83--2.jpg|frameless|Honda VF500C Magna V30]]
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| |aka =
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| |manufacturer = Honda
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| |parent_company =
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| |production = 1983
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| |model_year =
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| |predecessor =
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| |successor =
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| |class =
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| |engine = Four stroke, 90°V-four cylinder, DOHC, 4 [[valve]] per cylinder
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| |bore_stroke =
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| |compression = 11.0:1
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| |top_speed = 196.4 km/h
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| |power =
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| |torque =
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| |fuel_system =
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| |ignition = Transistorized
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| |spark_plug =
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| |battery =
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| |transmission = 6 Speed
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| |frame =
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| |suspension =Front: Telescopic air assisted 140mm [[wheel]] travel <br>
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| Rear: Single shock swing arm 115mm wheel travel
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| |brakes =Front: 2x 255mm discs <br>Rear: Drum
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| |front_tire = {{tire|100/90-16}}
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| |rear_tire = {{tire|130/90-18}}
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| |rake_trail =
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| |wheelbase =
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| |length =
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| |width =
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| |height =
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| |seat_height =
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| |dry_weight =
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| |wet_weight =
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| |fuel_capacity = 14 Liters
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| |oil_capacity =
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| |fuel_consumption =
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| |turning_radius =
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| |related =
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| |competition =
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| }}
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| It could reach a top speed of 196.4 km/h.
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| ==Engine==
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| The engine was a Liquid cooled cooled Four stroke, 90°V-four cylinder, DOHC, 4 valve per cylinder. The engine featured a 11.0:1 [[compression ratio]].
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| ==Drive==
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| Power was moderated via the Multiple plate [[coil]] springs.
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| ==Chassis==
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| It came with a 100/90-16 front [[tire]] and a 130/90-18 rear tire. Stopping was achieved via 2x 255mm discs in the front and a Drum in the rear. The front suspension was a Telescopic air assisted 140mm wheel travel while the rear was equipped with a Single shock swing arm 115mm wheel travel. The VF500C Magna V30 was fitted with a 14 Liters fuel tank.
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| == Photos ==
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| [[File:Honda-VF500C-83--2.jpg|600px|Honda VF500C Magna V30]]
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| [[File:Honda-VF500C-83--2.jpg|600px|Honda VF500C Magna V30]]
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| [[File:Honda-VF500C-83--1.jpg|600px|Honda VF500C Magna V30]]
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| == Overview ==
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| Honda VF 500C Magna V30
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| Rugged times in the motorcycle industry have substantially thinned out the
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| herd in the middleweight chopper class of 1984. Just two companies are in the
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| running this year, offering a total of three models. Last year was quite a
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| different story, with each of the big four building middie-cruisers. The eight
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| models available covered most conceivable design permutations. In-line fours
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| could be had in any flavor, and there was even a V-twin. What you couldn't get
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| was a vertical twin (not all that popular anyway) or a V-4 (quite popular).
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| This year, Honda fills the V-4 gap with the V30 Magna, a machine which, if
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| nothing else, possesses the most sophisticated engine in the class. Honda has
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| all V-engined bets covered this year, offering vees of two speeds: the Magna and
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| the even more laid back V-twin Shadow. The twin truly is a cruiser to the core,
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| with its Harleyesque looks and extreme riding position. The Magna, though it
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| looks the part of the boulevard loafer, has a more bearable seating layout, as
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| well as the most and best power in the class. The inline four Nighthawk 550 that
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| Honda offered last year has been discontinued, leaving the in-line market to its
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| only competitor, Kawasaki, with its shaft-drive KZ550 LTD, the third and final
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| player in the class this year. These three very different motorcycles give
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| anyone who likes custom styling room for choice in the 500 division.
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| Honda is exploring new marketing territory with the V30 Magna. The Magna's
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| styling closely parallels that of the discontinued 550 Nighthawk, so much so
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| that only a long stare at the engines helps tell them apart for sure. A peek at
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| the final drive systems of both bikes would give their identities away too. The
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| old Night-hawk had shaft final drive, but the Magna has a chain. That in itself
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| is a bit of a surprise, since Hondas 750 and 1100 Mag-nas are shafties, and for
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| good reason. Riders drawn to custom styling seem to favor the reduced
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| maintenance of shaft drive, even at the cost of a little extra weight and
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| slightly flawed handling. The decision to go with a chain on the Magna might
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| very well be one of convenience and economy, since the 500 Magna and Interceptor
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| engines are virtually identical and are the smallest V-4s Honda has sold in
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| America.
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| Differences between the half-liter V-4s are few. An airbox with less volume
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| and a set of smaller mufflers account for a four-horsepower drop in peak power
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| compared to the Interceptor. Both primary and final drive ratios are the same,
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| but the internal transmission ratios have been stirred around. The Magna's
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| redline sits at 11,500 rpm, which is 500 rpm lower than the Interceptor's. The
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| Magna's reduced intake and exhaust breathing ability makes the extra revving
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| unnecessary.
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| In all other respects, the water-cooled V-4 is largely the same. Each valve
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| (four per cylinder) is actuated by a follower with threaded adjuster. The four
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| separate camshafts are spun by roller chains that are tensioned automatically.
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| All the power-producing parts are scaled-down versions of those in the bigger
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| Magnas. Honda engineers have settled on specific design formulas that extract
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| the type and quantity of power they want from the V-4s, and they have not
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| strayed far from these blueprints yet. The Magna's 500cc engine is a
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| masterpiece, both functionally and aesthetically.
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| As is the pattern with cruiser bikes, the Magna's rolling chassis is a piece
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| of styling work first and foremost, with functional engineering second. That's
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| almost an arguable point in a cruiser, since in a way, a cruising machine's form
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| is its function. You can decide for yourself if the Magna is visually
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| pleasing; technically and functionally, its chassis is merely average. Wheel
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| sizes are a routine 18 inches in front and 16 inches rear. A single disc stops
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| the front wheel, and a drum brake slows the rear. A pair of glistening chrome
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| shocks support the box-section steel swingarm; only spring preload is
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| adjustable. The long leading-axle front fork has individual air caps for fine
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| tuning; the steering stem rides in ball bearings. A chrome tubular steel
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| handlebar is fitted, and the switch assemblies are logically laid out and easy
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| to use. The bar-mounted choke handle is convenient, but the noncancelling turn
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| signals aren't.
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| Honda engineers ran into a few problems when it came time to mate the V-4
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| engine to the required custom-styled bodywork. With all four carburetors set in
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| the engine's V and a large airbox sitting on top of them, little space is left
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| for the fuel tank. Honda got around this problem by placing additional fuel
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| capacity in a tank under the seat and using an electric pump to carry gas back
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| up to the carbs. Both tanks fill and drain as one, but once the upper one is
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| empty and the fuel is out of sight, there's no reliable way of finding out how
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| much fuel remains. No fuel gauge is provided, and the fuel petcock has no
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| reserve position. Only a glowing red idiot light on the instrument panel
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| indicates that you're down to the last nine-tenths of a gallon. With a grand
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| total of just 3.6 gallons to begin with, that annoying little light usually
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| flickers on after just 80 or 90 miles of city riding.
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| Chassis dimensions for the Magna are closer to those of the 500 Shadow than
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| to the Interceptor's. The Magna's wheel-base is a lengthy 59.1 inches, for the
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| long and low look. The Interceptor is over three inches shorter, and the Shadow
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| is about a half-inch shorter. The Magna is properly raked out, too; its steering
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| stem sits 31.5 degrees from verticalnot as extreme as the Shadow's 33.5-degree
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| angle but much more rakish than the Interceptor's 27-degree head angle. Trail
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| measurements for all three machines fall between four and five inches, with the
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| Interceptor on the short end of the range and the Shadow on the long end,
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| leaving the Magna in the middle. Both cruiser models have their seats positioned
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| about 1.5 inches lower than the Interceptor's.
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| The numbers alone would add up to indicate that the Magna (and the Shadow) is
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| a slow, ponderous steerer, but one other number, the Magna's manageable
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| 434-pound wet weight, helps to make the whole equation work just fine overall.
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| Both the engine and Magna rider are low to the ground, resulting in responsive
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| handling that doesn't feel unstable or too twitchy. The long wheelbase and
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| chopperlike steering-head angle are most noticeable in low-speed parking lot
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| maneuvers. There, the V30 tries to turn its front end into turns; the wide
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| buckhorn handlebar gives the rider plenty of leverage to deal with the floppy
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| low-speed handling, though. The machine's lightness is apparent at all speeds
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| and builds the rider's confidence in controlling the Honda.
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| In turns that are faster than a crawl, the V30 goes about where you point it.
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| It's not nearly as quick through transitions in-to and out of turns as the
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| Interceptor; instead, it has a steady, predictable feel that lets you set up a
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| quick, smooth pace on a curvy road. The steering is close to neutral in bends
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| above about 20 mph, with a comforting tendency to gradually straighten itself
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| back up during a corner unless the rider keeps it countersteered into the turn
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| just a hair. Grabbing a moderate amount of front brake when leaned over doesn't
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| cause the Honda to try to stand up much, an aspect that helps reduce the rider's
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| work load. Though designed as long-wearing rubber, the Dun-lops stick well
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| enough to let the V30 use up its cornering clearance if the rider desires. This
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| is no roadracer, though, so the pegs and pipes touch down fairly early. Both
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| front and rear brakes are controllable and powerful enough to lock the wheels.
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| The single front disc fades if used hard, but even then it retains its
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| predictability and most of its power.
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| The Magna's outer limits of handling performance are set by its suspension.
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| Suspension rates seem to be targeted at a 140-pound solo rider who travels at
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| levelheaded speeds. Front and rear springing is decidedly soft, and the damping
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| rates are light, particularly in the rear. Our testers all weigh over 150 pounds
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| and bottomed the rear suspension regularly, even with the preload jacked all the
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| way up. Adding a few pounds of air to the front fork helped to keep it off the
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| stops, including over the relatively big bumps. There's no cure for the back end
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| short of replacing the shocks entirely. The soft suspension rules out really
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| fast cornering on the Magna. A great deal of heaving and lurching goes on if the
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| bike is driven hard through a bumpy bend. More rebound damping in the rear would
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| help, but then the steering should be quickened up too, and so on. Pretty soon
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| the Magna would look and work just like the Interceptor; Honda already makes one
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| of those, and they don't need another. No, the Magna is supposed to be a
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| cruiser. For the lower speed levels that line of duty entails, the chassis works
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| acceptably.
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| Judged against comparable
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| machines, the V30 is competitive, comfort-wise. The easy-chair riding position
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| leaves plenty of room, even for taller riders. Like the rest of the cruisers,
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| the V30 is engineered to be comfortable at a stop and at low speeds. Over about
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| 40 mph or so, wind pressure on the rider's chest makes him yearn for a more
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| forward-canted riding position. The standard bar has too much sweepback and
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| droop, and the pegs are much too far forward for long-haul comfort. The seat
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| itself is pretty nice: the padding is of the proper density, and the shape is
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| decent. Some riders wished that it was a little wider, but most were happy with
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| it. The passenger's section is too narrow and firm for anything more than a
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| short-term comfort. As is the case with other cruisers, the V30 can make a good
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| touring bike with the simple addition of a lightweight fairing to keep the wind
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| off the rider's chest; then the riding position becomes livable, if not truly
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| comfortable.
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| Suspension compliance seems better than the V-twin Shadow's but not up to the
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| standards of the best street bikes. The little bumps and ripples slide under the
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| wheels smoothly enough, but over moderately sized jolts the fork is slow to
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| respond. Like the long fork assemblies on the other Magnas, the 500's fork has
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| quite a lot of fore and aft flex. The fork hits the medium bumps hard enough to
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| make it try to deflect some before it compresses, sending an initial jolt
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| through the handlebar and on to the rider. The slushy rear shocks are more
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| compliant on midsized bumps. The big dips bottom the shocks hard; the fork
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| handles them decently. In the final analysis the Magna's chassis gets the job
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| done, but not in spectacular style.
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| But the motor that's spectacular. The V30 has the same type of
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| power for which all Honda V-4s are becoming known. No perceptible hills or
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| valleys can be found in power delivery; bottom-end power is usable, and the urge
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| builds in a linear way as revs rise. By the time the tach swings through four
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| grand, the acceleration in the lower gears is brisk. Though not vibration free,
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| the engine never shakes uncomfortably, even clear up at redline where the best
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| power is. There, the engine will launch the bike through the quarter-mile in
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| 12.83 seconds at 103.2 mph. That's a half second and five mph slower than the
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| more powerful and aerodynamically superior 500 Interceptor, but a second and 10
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| mph faster than the 500 Shadow.
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| Day-to-day riding on the Magna is a pleasure, due largely to the V-4's
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| excellent behavior. Warm-up is a one-block affair. Throttle response is clean
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| and predictable. Fuel mileage is a reasonable 44.5 mpg on the average. The
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| extremely broad powerband makes a ride on the Magna undemanding. Any of a few
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| gears will do in most situations; the more urgent your desire to accelerate, the
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| more you downshift. The bike is noticeably slower than the Interceptor but still
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| feels quite fast.
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| The only flaws in the Magna's power package are confined to the driveline.
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| Like the Interceptor we tested recently, the Magna's shifting is occasionally
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| sticky. Once in a while it fails to re-index after a downshift and won't
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| complete successive downshifts unless the clutch and throttle are given a number
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| of swats to unstick things. This only seems to happen when you're rolling along
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| in top gear and decide to stop. You need to make all five downshifts in quick
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| succession, and maybe one time in fifty, the Magna isn't willing to play along.
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| There's also a healthy dose of driveline lash present-enough so that some
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| hop-on-and-ride types assumed the bike had shaft drive. "Not bad for a shaftie,"
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| they said. Then they saw the chain and said, "Lotta lash for a chain-drive
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| bike." The smooth throttle response makes the lash pretty livable, though.
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| Overall, the Magna is the best bike of the three customs offered this year.
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| Though the chassis is functionally uninspired, it falls right in line with those
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| of other bikes available to the middleweight cruising rider. It's the motor that
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| makes the Magna a true standout. No middleweight street cruiser for sale this
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| year is faster or more agreeable.
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| Source Motorcyclist 1984
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| {| class="wikitable"
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| |-
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| !Make Model
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| |Honda VF 500C Magna V30
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| |-
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| !Year
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| |1983
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| |-
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| !Engine Type
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| |Four stroke, 90°V-four cylinder, DOHC, 4 valve per cylinder
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| |-
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| !Displacement
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| |498 cc / 30.3 cu-in
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| |-
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| !Bore X Stroke
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| |60.4 x 44 mm
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| |-
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| !Compression
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| |11.0:1
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| |-
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| !Cooling System
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| |Liquid cooled
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| |-
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| !Induction
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| |4x 32mm CV
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| |-
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| !Ignition
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| |Transistorized
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| |-
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| !Max Power
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| |68 hp @ 11500 rpm
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| |-
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| !Max Torque
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| |31.7 lb-ft @ 10500 rpm
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| |-
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| !Clutch
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| |Multiple plate coil springs
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| |-
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| !Transmission
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| |6 Speed
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| |-
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| !Final Drive
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| |Chain
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| |-
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| !Front Suspension
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| |Telescopic air assisted 140mm wheel travel
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| |-
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| !Rear Suspension
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| |Single shock swing arm 115mm wheel travel
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| |-
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| !Front Brakes
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| |2x 255mm discs
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| |-
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| !Rear Brakes
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| |Drum
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| |-
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| !Front Tire
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| |100/90-16
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| |-
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| !Rear Tire
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| |130/90-18
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| |-
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| !Wet-weight
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| |271 kg
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| |-
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| !Fuel Capacity
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| |14 Liters
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| |-
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| !Standing ¼ Mile
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| |12.6 sec / 164.5 km/h
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| |-
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| !Top Speed
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| |196.4 km/h
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| |}
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| [[Category:Honda motorcycles]]
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