RC51 Forums banner

How happy my RC makes me.

6K views 33 replies 18 participants last post by  Wibbly 
#1 ·
I have read on the internet, that if you bike doesn't make you smile every time you see it, you are riding the wrong bike.

Lately, my RC has been stored in my garage. I have not parked it in the back of the garage, so that I can park my car there.

Every time I go in the garage for a tool or some other reason, I have a few words with her.

She makes me so happy. I love just looking at it and knowing that it belongs to me.

She makes me giddy every time I see it.

I was at the bike show today and didn't see any bike I would want to replace it with.

The only other bike I may want over the RC would maybe be a BMW 1000RR.

No Ducati does it for me, except maybe the 1199 Penigale.
 
#3 ·
The new V4 1,000cc Honda Superbike will tickle my fancy when it comes out, but I wouldn't part with my SP2 for anything. Maybe someday I'll get the V4 bike when someone else has suffered the depreciation! :)
 
#9 ·
The new V4 1,000cc Honda Superbike will tickle my fancy when it comes out, but I wouldn't part with my SP2 for anything. Maybe someday I'll get the V4 bike when someone else has suffered the depreciation! :)
You mean the unobtanium RC213V-S?????:surprise:


Every day I'm more smitten with my phat piggy. What really makes me gush with pride of ownership is all the attention it gets at the track, especially from non-Honda riders. Guys with Ducs and other more exotic brands still do double takes when I ride by to the staging area and I get a pile of peeps visiting when I'm in the pit tent. Nothing like it nor will there be for me. Sure I'll maybe get another sport bike sometime down the road, but nothing will eclipse the SP in my heart and/or soul.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Enjoy the RC51. It was a very unique bike for Honda, even at the time, and on multiple levels. And with the current world economy, the racing contraction in spending and popularity, plus existing/expected WSB rulesets, it will likely not be repeated. With Honda's previous race bike record, it will either be a generic litre bike they mod the crap out of or an ultra rare limited edition machine. The RC51 experience is not likely to be repeated for a long long time. And maybe ever....

The RC51 is a very very cool bike to me, and I'm very happy to own it, on top of the build I have been blessed to undertake.
 
#8 ·
Someday, in the event that I'm no longer riding motorcycles, I'll suspend my RC on stainless steel wires from the cathedral ceiling of my living room. Properly illuminated, of course!

Art is art!
 
  • Like
Reactions: prujd1
#10 ·
I like looking at mine way more than riding it or working on it for that matter. Even at a more sedate pace it is still a chore to ride and I just cannot let that go. I've only recently with the build of my latest SP2 finally been able to quantify RC ownership as it relates to the way sportbikes are purpose built. I mean when I test ride a Ninja 300 at Willow Springs I acclimate to what it does and its expected level of performance and I work within those confines and it feels like is is doing the job very well in spite of how anemic they really are.

The RC51 feels substantive like it should deliver way more than it actually does and it just drives me friggin nutz that it cannot so the next best thing is to sit on top of it in the house and make long Brrraaaapp Braaaaap noises while twisting the throttle like mad.
 
#16 ·
Looks are similar, but the beauty is skin deep. I'd be happy with another good V4 Honda.... someday. :)
 
#17 ·
Being as you're sort of close, can you head over to the plant and destroy them cookie cutter machines of theirs? Maybe that way we can get some cutting edge stuff instead of the bland crap we're getting shoved at us. With the machines that the other manufacturers are putting out it would sure be nice to be on the leading edge rather than sucking the hind tit for a change...
I took a quick spin on a new R1 in August, the thing's incredible. Feels about a hundred pounds lighter than the CBR SP, and quicker too.
 
#18 ·
I'm sure Honda will catch up. They're usually better at improving on a formula than coming out with something ground breaking from the start. Especially since Soichiro Honda passed away.... ;)
 
#19 ·
There are only three vehicles I have ever truly regreted selling.
My first 2002 rc51, my duc 998 and my 93 rx7.
Sure there are faster things out there that do things better. I have owned them. But those three machines there is just something special and its hard to put your finger on it. I think it comes down to all 3 were designed for a purpose with only legal stuff getting in the way of what the designers and engineers intended. Most of that can easily be corrected though.
Sure all three especially the duc and rx7 require unique and sometimes more frequent maintance but I never had and real trouble at all and the rx7 put down a hair under 500 at the tires. When I sold the duc for a new R1 in 09 I just felt bored with it. It always worked. You never had to do anything to it. I think that takes something away. Maybe I just like working on stuff too much.....
 
#20 ·
Good, so I'm not the only one to walk by my RC every once in a while, stare at it, touch it a bit and admire it.

I was just at SHOT Show 2016 in January, and this Media guy was chatting me up about the 18 motorcycles he has and all the rides he's done. When I could get a word in (15 mins later) I said, "I have an RC 51..." That shut him right up, and he had this awestruck look on this face. Then he proceeded to try and buy the bike from me. Haha. Like many of you, I feel as though I will be keeping this bike for the long run.

I quite like that idea of suspending it from the ceiling in like a living room or something.
 
#21 ·
) I said, "I have an RC 51..." That shut him right up.....

I quite like that idea of suspending it from the ceiling in like a living room or something.
Yes, exactly! I mention that I have an RC, and the response is always the same: "Oh. Yeah. Wow. Love those bikes." with a glazed, faraway look in their eye. And how strange that this dinosaur draws a crowd in the Dragon area, where there are zillions of more techy and fancy and faster motorcycles.

As for suspending from the ceiling, I'm so glad that somebody else likes that idea! I was afraid I'd get flamed for that. :grin2::grin2:
 
#22 ·
I think it's cruel to call our bikes piggies. I see other new bikes of similar capacity (OK they may be a bit more powerful, but that's progress for ya!) that are pretty much the same weight. Mine was about 195 kg the last time I checked, with half a tank of fuel. I don't call her overweight. She's beautiful & perfectly proportioned in my eyes. :grin2:
 
#26 ·
From the day I saw an RC on the showroom floor I knew when I finally got one it would be in my stable forever. I had an 85VF1000R and thought it was the funniest machine to ride. When my local deal called and said he had an 04 RC in the create I said I'll be right there. The owner of the shop and myself pulled her out of the create and she became alive in 06.
We have been to Arizona, Texas, Indy with Mad and I've never let her sit to long without a nice ride. I might eventually get a cruiser but the RC will never sit idle. When the day comes I can't throw my leg over her. Well she will end up in the bedroom so I can dream of all the rides we've had.
God Speed to the RC51's in the world you just have to love what she represents
 
#27 ·
I have owned a lot of bikes in my life. For almost 18 years I was addicted to drugs, I sold most of them to help finance my opiod habbit when the cash flow was tight. I completely ruined my life, and hit bottom in 2008. I had lost everyone and everything in my life. I went into rehab and got help, from the first day I decided to clean up my life, I promised myself I would get another RC, I had bought a new one in 2002, sold it in 2004 to buy a house, the money actually was spent on pills. Anyways I have been clean since 2008, bought a 2004 RC with 4000 miles on it this past spring, and working on it and thinking about it is one of the biggest things that has helped me stay focused, and help me rebuild most other parts of my life. If I didn't have it to go work on when the wheels in my head start turning I am sure I wouldn't be here typing this right now.
 
#30 ·
As a matter of fact. I would walk by the RC and say that I love you.
I would often give it a hug, at least caress the curves as I walk by, with a huge smile on my face.
On occasion I have given her a kiss on the tank.
She makes me so happy.

I affectionately call her "The Hot Red Beast"

Then once I finish work and get out and hit the start button. I feel giddy.

I often say to myself, Wow, this is actually my bike.

Years ago, I fixed an RC for a friend. I told him, I would fix it for him if he agreed to let me ride it for a week after the repair was finished.
That bike was a piece of crap, but I still enjoyed so much riding it to work. I never in a million years thought that I would actually own one.

Now I do.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top