Going into this competition the Magna started with a substantial, if not insurmountable, lead simply because of the way Honda designers have managed to take one of the most tradition-bound, familiar shapes in motorcycling and make it look, if not as radical as a Hurricane, at least somewhat different from all its competitors- different like the Eurythmics are different from Les Paul and Mary Ford. The Eurythmics don’t belt’em out like Les and Mary, and the Magna, well the Magna, too, has a style all its own.

It’s also got all the world-class Honda engineering, manufacturing and marketing know-how behind it. As we found in a February 1987 road test:

"This marvelous engine,” we discovered, “delivers a broad, flat band of power as distinctive as the signature of its sound.... The packed-down punch of the VF engine is crisp, with instantaneous response and liter-bike strength until the revs climb to 7000 or so and the power levels out....”

And a potent powerplant and radical styling aren’t the only things the Magna has going for it. For a cruiser, it also handles extremely well - as some of our test riders were surprised to find out.

“Those expecting its raked-out steering geometry and gargantuan wheelbase to turn the Magna into a freight-train handler will be pleasantly surprised by its versatility and surefootedness,” we discovered. “The sheer length of its wheelbase gives the VF unshakable stability at speed, and in tight spaces the Magna’s steering stays light and linear, with no tendency to flop....”

“Previously, a jackhammer shaft reaction, intractable suspension and bucking-horse handling were all part and parcel of the power-cruiser experience, with potent engines routinely overwhelming their chassis while the poor rider hung on, white-knuckled, for dear life. With the Magna we confront a chassis that feels firmly in control of the engine driving it; a motorcycle long but fairly light (the Magna weighs 530 pounds wet) can strike a balance at higher levels of both stability and agility, with light steering, quick braking and a controlled shaft reaction....”

As if all that isn’t enough to make the Magna Editors Choice in its class, the Magna is a motorcycle that adds a new dimension to power cruising.

“Honda’s new Magna is as much a new model with a new look as it is a telling corporate statement at a time when the lineup of street machines from the world’s biggest motorcycle manufacturer has shrunk to 10 models from 25 the year the Magna was first introduced. The quiet, even competence with which the Magna works testifies not only to the competence of Honda’s engineers in incorporating the demands of the Styling Department, but also to the success of the Magna’s new interpretation of power cruising.

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BUYERS GUIDE LISTING

Like Pinocchio’s nose, the Magna just can’t seem to stop growing longer. For the third year in a row, Honda designers have stretched its wheelbase a few more inches in an attempt to get a more custom look out of their mid-sized, 80 horsepower, V-four cruiser. The search for the look has been substantially aided, this year, by a radical-looking four-into-four dragster-type exhaust system and a solid-dish aluminum rear wheel sporting a low-profile, 15-inch tubeless tire. Other changes include a lower seat (27.8-inch vs. 29.1-inch), a shift from dual-disc brakes to a single binder up front, new swept-back bars, a new two-piece seat with detachable pillion, and new sponge-rubber handgrips.