I was introduced to the VF500F in college when I met the other motorcyclist on campus. He rode a Candy Red ’84 VF500F Interceptor, and although my ’90 Kawasaki EX500 was technically faster, the Honda looked better, sounded better, and drew all the ladies’ attention. Damn him.
After college, my buddy sold his Interceptor to travel the world with the Army Corps of Engineers, while I moved back to California to create advertising for a major Japanese motorcycle manufacturer. Fast-forward to 2008: I already had a ’94 VFR750F but still had a soft spot for the “Baby-ceptor.” Ebay, idle time, and extra money eventually conspired, and after many months of looking at basket cases a winner emerged with two minutes to spare. Done deal.
The seller was near Austin where my buddy now lived. I asked him to go get it. My mistake. I never saw the bike for the first year I owned it. My buddy rode it until his next deployment when I finally had it shipped to California.
It came to me in beautiful shape, a one-owner garage queen with only 12,000 miles and the rare OEM seat cowl. I found a full Vance & Hines exhaust system that I sandblasted and powdercoated, while a nationwide Craigslist search netted a couple of Corbin seats (a cheap and easy rear suspension upgrade!). The final touch was the rare aftermarket full fairing I had painted to match my ’07 VFR800 25th Anniversary Edition—making a matching set, nearly 25 years apart.
The VF500F runs great and makes me grin like an idiot every time I ride it. Nearly every ride ends with a stranger offering to buy it, but I’m enjoying it too much. In fact, I like it so much that I found another one: an ’84 identical to the one my buddy owned but with only 2,300 original miles! I got it running again, mounted another Corbin seat, and sent this one to Texas as a surprise for my buddy when he got home from his final tour in the Sandbox. He loves it, and hopefully he’ll hang on to this one!
