New Honda ‘VF800’
Patent sketches point to budget machine with VFR800 engine
FRESH details have emerged in Honda patent plans of new ‘VF800’ – a budget machine using the engine from the VFR800.
Sketches show what looks like the VFR800’s V4 unit in a tubular steel frame.
Radiators have been moved from the sides, where they sit on the VFR and Crossrunner, to in front of the engine.
Due to limited space left by the front cylinders, the repositioning requires two radiators, on above and one below the heads. The positioning also optimises ground clearance of the planned model.
The design chief is listed as Keisuke Kishikawa, who was also behind Honda’s NC700s, four diverse models ranging from maxi scooter to naked but all sharing the same engine and chassis, or ‘platform’.
It could suggest the newly patented engine and chassis layout will also be shared across a range of different models.
Earlier sketches suggested an upright riding position as would be expected on a naked bike, while the latest show a half-faired machine with lower bars.
It’s possible Honda is developing both or more variants, as it did with the NCs.
It’s likely to be over a year before they reach production.
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FRESH details have emerged in Honda patents of what could be a new VF800 – a budget machine using the engine from the VFR800.
Sketches show what looks like the VFR800’s V4 unit in a tubular steel frame.
Radiators have been moved from the sides, where they sit on the VFR and Crossrunner, to in front of the engine.
Due to limited space left by the front cylinders, the repositioning requires two radiators, on above and one below the heads. The radiator positioning also optimises ground clearance of the planned model.
The patent abstract proposes ‘an upper radiator disposed above a front wheel and in front of an engine and a lower radiator disposed behind the upper radiator and between the front wheel and the engine’.
The design chief is listed as Keisuke Kishikawa, who was also behind Honda’s NC700s, four diverse models ranging from maxi scooter to naked, all sharing the same engine and chassis, or ‘platform’.
It could suggest the newly patented engine and chassis layout will also be shared across a range of different models.
Earlier sketches suggested an upright riding position as would be expected on a naked bike, while the latest show a half-faired machine with lower bars.
It’s possible Honda is developing both or more variants, as it did with the NCs.
However, it’s likely to be over a year before any reach production.
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