That may be true, but you don’t keep a bike like this if you don’t actually like riding it, and Jeff says the VF is an entertaining bike to ride, even if he hasn’t exactly piled the miles on. “It steers aggressively because of the 16-inch front tire,” Jeff says. “When I bought the bike, the dealer told me a guy had bought a similar bike the week before, left the parking lot and threw it right down. He didn’t even get across the road. It steers a lot faster [than other bikes] with much less effort. I just had to learn the style of riding that it demanded.”

Not only has he kept it all these years, he’s also kept the Honda Interceptor completely stock. “Everybody that bought those bikes had been modifying the hell out of them and racing them, and I thought, ‘I’m going to keep mine really clean,’” Jeff says.

Although common engine parts are readily available, one thing that’s getting harder to find is that 16-inch front tire. “It’s a little trickier,” Jeff admits. “There aren’t as many options now. I’ve got a really good parts guy at our local Ducati dealership, and they’ve been finding me tires.” Jeff is also a devout Ducati fan.

And has Jeff run into any of the cam wear issues that many Honda V4s suffered? “The cams do wear faster,” he says. “The last time it was in for a service, I took some pictures of the top of the cam lobes when they had the heads off. They replaced the cams with ones with a harder metal.”

In fact, it was that reputation for cam wear that kept Jeff from piling too many miles on the VF. Although he’s put more than half a million miles on various motorcycles, Jeff’s Honda VF750F Interceptor shows just 13,077 miles on the odometer. He’s looking forward to riding it again this year, though his focus has been on fixing up a Honda 550 Four for his son, who’s back from serving in Afghanistan, so they can ride together.

“It was with me at special points in my life,” Jeff says of the Honda VF750F Interceptor and why he still has it. “It was there when I got engaged, it was there when I was raising my kids. I have pictures of my kids on it when they were little. It’s just meant a lot to me. A motorcycle is much more special to you than a car, especially if you have a long history with it. It’s almost like it’s a family member. It’s the bike I’ll always own. I’ve decided I’m never going to sell a motorcycle again; I’m just going to acquire more!” MC