1984 Honda Ascot VT500

By Neale Bayly
Published on March 30, 2010
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by Neale Bayly
1984 Honda Ascot VT500.

Released to an eager press in 1983, the Honda Ascot VT500 rolled into showrooms alongside a plethora of different motorcycles from the Japanese manufacturer. Inline 4-cylinder sportbikes, V-four cruisers and sportbikes, and V-twin cruisers, as well as a number of single-cylinder dirt bikes, made for an impressive and interesting lineup and marked the beginning for one of the most popular classic Honda motorcycles.

In an era bristling with new technology, it was an exciting time to be in the motorcycle business. “High tech pizzazz,” wrote one wide-eyed journalist. “Techno trickery,” wrote another, and while you could be forgiven for thinking these were reactions to the 1,098cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 16-valve Magna V65 bruiser cruiser, they were actually commenting on the Honda Ascot, a bike we now look at as a simple naked standard.

Flat track fare

Modeled after the flat track Honda racing bikes the company was racing at famous tracks like Ascot in California, the 491cc V-twin was never intended as a race bike. It shared engine technology with Honda’s VT cruiser lineup and was fielded as a middleweight sport mount. Surviving only two model production years, 1983 and 1984, it was not a big seller and soon disappeared into obscurity like so many smaller capacity motorcycles introduced by Japanese manufacturers over the years.

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