THE rumours regarding a potential return of the Honda RVF1000R began some time ago and have never really gone away. Fans of bikes like the SP1 and SP2 are obviously excited by the thought of a return to V4 power, and it’s likely Honda will want to put to bed the RC213V-S project.
Honda CBR1000RR-R first ride impressions review
It’s not that the road-going MotoGP bike wasn’t a stunning project, quite the opposite, if you’re looking for the ultimate in on track handling and dynamics, it’s a package that is hard to beat. The problem is that in road trim is (only) makes 159bhp, needing a race kit to be added to unlock the full 215bhp. So that’s the cost of a RC213V-S, €188,000, the cost of the race kit, €12,000 (gulp) all to have a bike that produces no more power than the latest generation Fireblade!
With that in mind, should Honda go ahead with the bike we all hope they build, they’re likely to absolutely go to town on the thing, blowing everything in sight out of the water – Ducati V4 included.
The latest whisper that the machine is going ahead has come from the Japanese website Young Machine, if it comes to predicting what the factories from the land of the rising sun are doing behind the scenes, they are generally pretty close to the mark. We’ve also pretty much seen the bike being developed, as new patent drawings get unearthed every couple of months.
While the news that Honda could be about launch a new V4 is exciting stuff, we must wonder what they plan to do with the CBR platform? I mean, it’s a bike that has just been heavily updated, and will have a pre-determined lifetime before being updated again or, dare I say it, discontinued. But Honda’s range of motorcycles without a Fireblade, I really don’t see that happening, but could two 200bhp+ sports bike really share a customer base?
One thing Honda may be considering, and it’s not my preferred option, is pitching the V4 sports bike as a much more exclusive and elite option to the ‘Blade, sort of in the same way as the RC123V-S, although not so ball-breakingly expensive.
