The Honda Magna is a cruiser motorcycle made from 1982 to 1988 and 1994 to 2003 and was the second Honda to use their new V4 engine shared with the VF750S Sabre and a few years later a related engine was fitted to the VF750F 'Interceptor', the later models used a retuned engine from the VFR750F with fins added to the outside of the engine. The engine technology and layout was a descendant of Honda's racing V4 machines, such as the NS750 and NR750. The introduction of this engine on the Magna and the Sabre in 1982, was a milestone in the evolution of motorcycles that would culminate in 1983 with the introduction of the Interceptor V4. The V45's performance is comparable to that of Valkyries and Honda's 1800 cc V-twin cruisers. However, its mix of performance, reliability, and refinement was overshadowed by the more powerful 1,098 cc "V65" Magna in 1983.

The Honda Sabre was a motorcycle made by Honda from 1982 to 1985. Two years of the Sabre production run were part of a group of Japanese motorcycles that came to be known as "tariff-busters". The 1984 and 1985 models fell in this class because of the modifications made allowing those models to circumvent the newly passed United States International Trade Commission tariff that placed a heavy tax on import/foreign motorcycles with 700cc or larger engine displacement.