Honda will be introducing their 2009 product line in the next couple of weeks, amid rumors that a heavily revised Interceptor will be launched. This is nothing new: for years now, VFR fans the world over have gotten their hopes up every fall, for a bike with greater displacement with less weight, and a return to gear driven cams. As a huge Honda V-4 fan, I myself have fallen victim to this October anticipation, like sitting in the dark, waiting for The Great Pumpkin to show up, and damned if he never does. Every year, the VFR stays the same, except for a new shade of Burgundy, Flat Black or other suitably rational paint scheme. For 2008, at least Honda offered an Anniversary coloor scheme.

The colors are fixed in my memory from a catalog I got at North Shore Honda in Huntington back in 1983. I wore the pages thru, flipping around comparing stats, trying to decide which bike I wanted the most. Never mind the fact that an 18 year old's stockboy salary couldn't have financed a moped, let alone an Interceptor. Kawasaki's GPZ models and the Suzuki Katana were on the wish list too, but every night my dreams were Candy Red, White and Blue, a gold Honda wing flying thru the scene.

V-4 Honda sport motorcycles were all special: VFRs, Interceptors, RC30 and RC45s, the NR750 (ok, so it had oval pistons, it was still a V4) or the legendary RVF 750 racers. For nearly 20 years, the V-4 was an engine configuration synonymous with Honda, despite the occasional use of this format by other manufacturers. The unique roar produced by these engines evoked memories of early 60's Ferrari sports racing cars, the whistling gear driven cams adding to a sound which had tremendous character and sex appeal. But in the new millennia, Honda focused more on inline-4 cylinder sportbikes, resigning the current Interceptor to sport touring status. In 2008, Yamaha's new V-Max and the Ducati Desmosedici have the most exotic, desirable V4 powerplants—back in 1983, that would have been as easy to predict as Russia's shift to democracy.

The current Interceptor is a very good motorcycle, although it has an element of controversy in its reputation. The variable valve timing system (VTEC) employed by the new bike is loved by some, loathed by others. The same could be said about the linked brakes; the 2008 bike is heavier than the 1991 version, with a 50cc larger motor, yet is slower thu the 1/4 mile than the old bike. Some say that the spirit of the Interceptor has been diluted by the addition of new technology, that the older, simpler, lighter bikes were dripping with character. Myself, I'd have to agree...at one point, I was lucky enough to have owned both an RC30 and and RC45 simultaneously, cherry examples of each. The 30 was the blueprint—hand-laid fiberglass wrapped around a jewel of a (cammy) powerplant, with a chassis that started to work at 80 mph. Every ride on that bike was special, you could tell it was handbuilt. The 45 had a linear, tractable power delivery that worked much better on the street, but some of the magic was gone. It was porkier, which negated any horsepower increase over the 30, and it looked like a standard production bike. When it came time to sell one, the 45 was the first to go. I rode all the various iterations of VFR and Interceptor over the years, nice bikes, but each generation seemed to have a bit less of the soul of the superb RC30.

Technology can make a bike safer, smarter, fuel more efficiently and pollute less. But there are very few examples of technology making a motorcycle more fun to ride. Usually, less weight and more torque is a safe recipe for that. The 2009 Interceptor is rumored to be a 1000cc V-5, a descendant of the RC211V with which Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi won MotoGP World Championships. There are supposed chassis patent blueprints circulating on the web, showing a 2 part frame connected by a 5 cylinder motor, 3 in the front, 2 in the back. MotoGP scribe Michael Scott, who rarely mentions streetbikes in his columns, dedicated an entire article to this new bike, stating that regardless of strong denials from Honda officials, the bike will be introduced in October. Opinions differ as to whether it will be a sport touring type bike, or more race oriented. There may be more than one version, or so say all the experts on the internet forums....

No one knows how the bike will be priced, whether it will be limited production or at a tier just above the CBR1000RR. Other features the bike may include are a slipper clutch, ABS, revised VTEC, and a push button transmission. Personally, I hope these last rumors prove to be false. While my adult dreams of owning an NR750 will have to wait until the day I win Powerball, I'd be willing to spend my last few 2009 pennies on a V5 Interceptor, if indeed it exists. The 18 year old in me is crossing his fingers for a lighter, faster bike, with a minimum of technical doodads, and gear driven cams.

Oh yeah, and make mine Candy Red, White and Blue....please Honda?