Honda Magna V30 Motorcycle Manuals

The Honda V30 Magna model is a Custom / cruiser bike manufactured by Honda. In this version sold from year 1984, the dry weight is 180.0 kg (396.9 pounds) and it is equiped with a V4, four-stroke motor. Honda Motorcycle VF500C Magna V30 (1984 - 1986) Complete coverage for your vehicle Written from hands-on experience gained from the complete strip-down and rebuild of a Honda Motorcycle VF500C Magna V30, Clymer can help you understand, care for and repair your Honda Motorcycle VF500C Magna V30.

• 85 Honda Magna V30 500cc
• Honda VF500C Magna V30: Review, History, Specs - CycleChaos
• Honda Magna V30 Parts

The Honda VF500C was a motorcycle produced by Honda from 1984 to 1985 and more commonly known as the V30 Magna. It could reach a top speed of 196.4 km/h.

Engine[edit]

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.

Drive[edit]

Power was moderated via the Multiple plate coil springs.

Chassis[edit]

It came with a 100/90-18 front tire and a 130/90-16 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.

Review[edit]

Rugged times in the motorcycle industry have substantially thinned out theherd in the middleweight chopper class of 1984. Just two companies are in therunning this year, offering a total of three models. Last year was quite adifferent story, with each of the big four building middie-cruisers. The eightmodels available covered most conceivable design permutations. In-line fourscould be had in any flavor, and there was even a V-twin. What you couldn't getwas a vertical twin (not all that popular anyway) or a V-4 (quite popular).

This year, Honda fills the V-4 gap with the V30 Magna, a machine which, ifnothing else, possesses the most sophisticated engine in the class. Honda hasall V-engined bets covered this year, offering vees of two speeds: the Magna andthe even more laid back V-twin Shadow. The twin truly is a cruiser to the core,with its Harleyesque looks and extreme riding position. The Magna, though itlooks the part of the boulevard loafer, has a more bearable seating layout, aswell as the most and best power in the class. The inline four Nighthawk 550 thatHonda offered last year has been discontinued, leaving the in-line market to itsonly competitor, Kawasaki, with its shaft-drive KZ550 LTD, the third and finalplayer in the class this year. These three very different motorcycles giveanyone who likes custom styling room for choice in the 500 division.

Honda is exploring new marketing territory with the V30 Magna. The Magna'sstyling closely parallels that of the discontinued 550 Nighthawk, so much sothat only a long stare at the engines helps tell them apart for sure. A peek atthe final drive systems of both bikes would give their identities away too. Theold Night-hawk had shaft final drive, but the Magna has a chain. That in itselfis a bit of a surprise, since Hondas 750 and 1100 Mag-nas are shafties, and forgood reason. Riders drawn to custom styling seem to favor the reducedmaintenance of shaft drive, even at the cost of a little extra weight andslightly flawed handling. The decision to go with a chain on the Magna mightvery well be one of convenience and economy, since the 500 Magna and Interceptorengines are virtually identical and are the smallest V-4s Honda has sold inAmerica.

Differences between the half-liter V-4s are few. An airbox with less volumeand a set of smaller mufflers account for a four-horsepower drop in peak powercompared to the Interceptor. Both primary and final drive ratios are the same,but the internal transmission ratios have been stirred around. The Magna'sredline sits at 11,500 rpm, which is 500 rpm lower than the Interceptor's. TheMagna's reduced intake and exhaust breathing ability makes the extra revvingunnecessary.

In all other respects, the water-cooled V-4 is largely the same. Each valve(four per cylinder) is actuated by a follower with threaded adjuster. The fourseparate camshafts are spun by roller chains that are tensioned automatically.All the power-producing parts are scaled-down versions of those in the biggerMagnas. Honda engineers have settled on specific design formulas that extractthe type and quantity of power they want from the V-4s, and they have notstrayed far from these blueprints yet. The Magna's 500cc engine is amasterpiece, both functionally and aesthetically.

As is the pattern with cruiser bikes, the Magna's rolling chassis is a pieceof styling work first and foremost, with functional engineering second. That'salmost an arguable point in a cruiser, since in a way, a cruising machine's formis its function. You can decide for yourself if the Magna is visuallypleasing; technically and functionally, its chassis is merely average. Wheelsizes are a routine 18 inches in front and 16 inches rear. A single disc stopsthe front wheel, and a drum brake slows the rear. A pair of glistening chromeshocks support the box-section steel swingarm; only spring preload isadjustable. The long leading-axle front fork has individual air caps for finetuning; the steering stem rides in ball bearings. A chrome tubular steelhandlebar is fitted, and the switch assemblies are logically laid out and easyto use. The bar-mounted choke handle is convenient, but the noncancelling turnsignals aren't.

Honda engineers ran into a few problems when it came time to mate the V-4engine to the required custom-styled bodywork. With all four carburetors set inthe engine's V and a large airbox sitting on top of them, little space is leftfor the fuel tank. Honda got around this problem by placing additional fuelcapacity in a tank under the seat and using an electric pump to carry gas backup to the carbs. Both tanks fill and drain as one, but once the upper one isempty and the fuel is out of sight, there's no reliable way of finding out howmuch fuel remains. No fuel gauge is provided, and the fuel petcock has noreserve position. Only a glowing red idiot light on the instrument panelindicates that you're down to the last nine-tenths of a gallon. With a grandtotal of just 3.6 gallons to begin with, that annoying little light usuallyflickers on after just 80 or 90 miles of city riding.

Chassis dimensions for the Magna are closer to those of the 500 Shadow thanto the Interceptor's. The Magna's wheel-base is a lengthy 59.1 inches, for thelong and low look. The Interceptor is over three inches shorter, and the Shadowis about a half-inch shorter. The Magna is properly raked out, too; its steeringstem sits 31.5 degrees from vertical—not as extreme as the Shadow's 33.5-degreeangle but much more rakish than the Interceptor's 27-degree head angle. Trailmeasurements for all three machines fall between four and five inches, with theInterceptor on the short end of the range and the Shadow on the long end,leaving the Magna in the middle. Both cruiser models have their seats positionedabout 1.5 inches lower than the Interceptor's.

Gemini rue download for mac os. The numbers alone would add up to indicate that the Magna (and the Shadow) isa slow, ponderous steerer, but one other number, the Magna's manageable434-pound wet weight, helps to make the whole equation work just fine overall.Both the engine and Magna rider are low to the ground, resulting in responsivehandling that doesn't feel unstable or too twitchy. The long wheelbase andchopperlike steering-head angle are most noticeable in low-speed parking lotmaneuvers. There, the V30 tries to turn its front end into turns; the widebuckhorn handlebar gives the rider plenty of leverage to deal with the floppylow-speed handling, though. The machine's lightness is apparent at all speedsand builds the rider's confidence in controlling the Honda.

In turns that are faster than a crawl, the V30 goes about where you point it.It's not nearly as quick through transitions in-to and out of turns as theInterceptor; instead, it has a steady, predictable feel that lets you set up aquick, smooth pace on a curvy road. The steering is close to neutral in bendsabove about 20 mph, with a comforting tendency to gradually straighten itselfback up during a corner unless the rider keeps it countersteered into the turnjust a hair. Grabbing a moderate amount of front brake when leaned over doesn'tcause the Honda to try to stand up much, an aspect that helps reduce the rider'swork load. Though designed as long-wearing rubber, the Dun-lops stick wellenough to let the V30 use up its cornering clearance if the rider desires. Thisis no roadracer, though, so the pegs and pipes touch down fairly early. Bothfront and rear brakes are controllable and powerful enough to lock the wheels.The single front disc fades if used hard, but even then it retains itspredictability and most of its power.

The Magna's outer limits of handling performance are set by its suspension.Suspension rates seem to be targeted at a 140-pound solo rider who travels atlevelheaded speeds. Front and rear springing is decidedly soft, and the dampingrates are light, particularly in the rear. Our testers all weigh over 150 poundsand bottomed the rear suspension regularly, even with the preload jacked all theway up. Adding a few pounds of air to the front fork helped to keep it off thestops, including over the relatively big bumps. There's no cure for the back endshort of replacing the shocks entirely. The soft suspension rules out reallyfast cornering on the Magna. A great deal of heaving and lurching goes on if thebike is driven hard through a bumpy bend. More rebound damping in the rear wouldhelp, but then the steering should be quickened up too, and so on. Pretty soonthe Magna would look and work just like the Interceptor; Honda already makes oneof those, and they don't need another. No, the Magna is supposed to be acruiser. For the lower speed levels that line of duty entails, the chassis worksacceptably.

Judged against comparable machines, the V30 is competitive, comfort-wise. The easy-chair riding positionleaves plenty of room, even for taller riders. Like the rest of the cruisers,the V30 is engineered to be comfortable at a stop and at low speeds. Over about40 mph or so, wind pressure on the rider's chest makes him yearn for a moreforward-canted riding position. The standard bar has too much sweepback anddroop, and the pegs are much too far forward for long-haul comfort. The seatitself is pretty nice: the padding is of the proper density, and the shape isdecent. Some riders wished that it was a little wider, but most were happy withit. The passenger's section is too narrow and firm for anything more than ashort-term comfort. As is the case with other cruisers, the V30 can make a goodtouring bike with the simple addition of a lightweight fairing to keep the windoff the rider's chest; then the riding position becomes livable, if not trulycomfortable.

Suspension compliance seems better than the V-twin Shadow's but not up to thestandards of the best street bikes. The little bumps and ripples slide under thewheels smoothly enough, but over moderately sized jolts the fork is slow torespond. Like the long fork assemblies on the other Magnas, the 500's fork hasquite a lot of fore and aft flex. The fork hits the medium bumps hard enough tomake it try to deflect some before it compresses, sending an initial joltthrough the handlebar and on to the rider. The slushy rear shocks are morecompliant on midsized bumps. The big dips bottom the shocks hard; the forkhandles them decently. In the final analysis the Magna's chassis gets the jobdone, but not in spectacular style.

But the motor that's spectacular. The V30 has the same type ofpower for which all Honda V-4s are becoming known. No perceptible hills orvalleys can be found in power delivery; bottom-end power is usable, and the urgebuilds in a linear way as revs rise. By the time the tach swings through fourgrand, the acceleration in the lower gears is brisk. Though not vibration free,the engine never shakes uncomfortably, even clear up at redline where the bestpower is. There, the engine will launch the bike through the quarter-mile in12.83 seconds at 103.2 mph. That's a half second and five mph slower than themore powerful and aerodynamically superior 500 Interceptor, but a second and 10mph faster than the 500 Shadow.

Day-to-day riding on the Magna is a pleasure, due largely to the V-4'sexcellent behavior. Warm-up is a one-block affair. Throttle response is cleanand predictable. Fuel mileage is a reasonable 44.5 mpg on the average. Theextremely broad powerband makes a ride on the Magna undemanding. Any of a fewgears will do in most situations; the more urgent your desire to accelerate, themore you downshift. The bike is noticeably slower than the Interceptor but stillfeels quite fast.

The only flaws in the Magna's power package are confined to the driveline.Like the Interceptor we tested recently, the Magna's shifting is occasionallysticky. Once in a while it fails to re-index after a downshift and won'tcomplete successive downshifts unless the clutch and throttle are given a numberof swats to unstick things. This only seems to happen when you're rolling alongin top gear and decide to stop. You need to make all five downshifts in quicksuccession, and maybe one time in fifty, the Magna isn't willing to play along.

There's also a healthy dose of driveline lash present-enough so that somehop-on-and-ride types assumed the bike had shaft drive. 'Not bad for a shaftie,'they said. Then they saw the chain and said, 'Lotta lash for a chain-drivebike.' The smooth throttle response makes the lash pretty livable, though.Overall, the Magna is the best bike of the three customs offered this year.

Though the chassis is functionally uninspired, it falls right in line with thoseof other bikes available to the middleweight cruising rider. It's the motor thatmakes the Magna a true standout. No middleweight street cruiser for sale thisyear is faster or more agreeable.Source Motorcyclist 1984

1984[edit]

The Honda Magna V30, designated VF500C'84 (VF500CL'84 in California), was sold in 1984. Two colors were available: Candy Andromeda Red and Black. The 'HONDA' fuel tank logo was straight, not curved in this first year. The headlight was chrome and rectangular. The horns were round. The chrome exhaust system was a 4-into-2. It had a chain drive. The engine was a 498cc DOHC 4-valve liquid-cooled V-4 linked to a 6-speed transmission. The California serial number began JH2PC1317EM000004 while the rest of the United States models began JH2PC1300EM000028

1985[edit]

85 Honda Magna V30 500cc

The VF500C'85 V30 Magna was sold in 1985 in one of two colors: Black or Candy Wineberry Red. The 'HONDA' gas tank logo was curved. The headlight was chrome and rectangular. The horns were round. The chrome exhaust system was a 4-into-2. It had a chain drive. The engine was a 498cc DOHC 4-valve liquid-cooled V-4 linked to a 6-speed transmission. The serial number began JH2PC130*FM100001

Photos[edit]

Specifications[edit]

See Also[edit]

References[edit]

Honda VF500C Magna V30: Review, History, Specs - CycleChaos

1. ↑2019 K&L Supply Co Catalog. K&L Supply Co. 2019.
2. ↑2019 Western Power Sports Catalog. Western Power Sports. 2019.

Honda Magna V30 Parts