[SierraKilo9]

Hi all

I'm an Australian looking at possibly buying an RC51 SP1.

I'm aware of SP2's which I believe are 2001-2004 but have no idea what the difference is between the two. I think we only had SP1's released in Australia.

If anyone has the time to briefly list the pro's and cons to owning an RC51 I would be very much in your debt. So far the negatives I can think of are lack of parts and the ones that are available are extremely expensive.

I heard also that HRC no longer support the RC51. Is this true?

Many thanks and I look forward to speaking to you all soon.

 

[jgos929]

Hi all

I'm an Australian looking at possibly buying an RC51 SP1.

I'm aware of SP2's which I believe are 2001-2004 but have no idea what the difference is between the two. I think we only had SP1's released in Australia.

If anyone has the time to briefly list the pro's and cons to owning an RC51 I would be very much in your debt. So far the negatives I can think of are lack of parts and the ones that are available are extremely expensive.

I heard also that HRC no longer support the RC51. Is this true?

Many thanks and I look forward to speaking to you all soon.

Sp1 is 2000 & 2001 Sp2 is 2002 - 2006. The differences we're mostly little things like pait schemes etc. The bigger changes were a different swingarm and lighter wheels and bigger throttle bodies. I thing the sp2 is something like 11lbs lighter and makes 2-3 more horse power.

 

[SubSailor]

So far I've not run into problems with OEM parts.
The only exception to that so far is the caliper bracket bolts, which are discontinued.
And that is no problem as you just substitute flanged hex bolts instead.
Honda has traditionally supported it's bikes long after sales have ended.

HRC no longer supports the RC51.
But you may find some parts here and there.
I've seen a site in the UK and I believe in Australia.
And yes, the actual HRC race parts are very expensive from the prices I've seen. Some quite breathtaking.

 

[SierraKilo9]

Sp1 is 2000 & 2001 Sp2 is 2002 - 2006. The differences we're mostly little things like pait schemes etc. The bigger changes were a different swingarm and lighter wheels and bigger throttle bodies. I thing the sp2 is something like 11lbs lighter and makes 2-3 more horse power.

Thanks man.

 

[SierraKilo9]

Thanks SubSailor.

So are the production parts different to race spec or just some of them? I had in my head for whatever reason that the RC51 was essentially a road going race bike.

 

[SubSailor]

Thanks SubSailor.

So are the production parts different to race spec or just some of them? I had in my head for whatever reason that the RC51 was essentially a road going race bike.

Well technically it is a road going race bike as it was designed as a race bike first and road bike second.
However, there's a vast difference between a homologated street bike and the actual WSKB spec race bike.

The Basic Racer was essentially stripped down version of the road bike strickly for track use with a bit more power, and it went for around $16,000 back then. Or what you could build yourself these days to convert to a track only bike.

As opposed to the HRC WSBK spec Complete Racer that had 185 HP (or more) at the rear wheel and all the super-trick parts from HRC that cost $107,000.

 

[SierraKilo9]

Nice! .... thanks for this info .... this is really interesting ... given we've had a solid 8 years since the release of the RC51 SP1, have the engine tweaks (mods) lead to 185 RWHP yet with anyone that you know of? I appreciate that a race engine will run super-tight tolerances, basically hand honed internals and beyond ... but to my way of thinking RC51's should be very close, despite age, to being the quickest V-Twins on the scene. Thank you for you prompt replys and time, I very much appreciate it.

 

[SierraKilo9]

Nice! .... thanks for this info .... this is really interesting ... given we've had a solid 8 years since the release of the RC51 SP1, have the engine tweaks (mods) lead to 185 RWHP yet with anyone that you know of? I appreciate that a race engine will run super-tight tolerances, basically hand honed internals and beyond ... but to my way of thinking RC51's should be very close, despite age, to being the quickest V-Twins on the scene. Thank you for you prompt replys and time, I very much appreciate it.

 

[sr2-e]

hello and welcome from the Germany Driver.

 

[SubSailor]

Nice! .... thanks for this info .... this is really interesting ... given we've had a solid 8 years since the release of the RC51 SP1, have the engine tweaks (mods) lead to 185 RWHP yet with anyone that you know of? I appreciate that a race engine will run super-tight tolerances, basically hand honed internals and beyond ... but to my way of thinking RC51's should be very close, despite age, to being the quickest V-Twins on the scene. Thank you for you prompt replys and time, I very much appreciate it.

Well 6 to 8 years is a lot of time in the technical space race for bikes.
Compare the RC51 WSBK bike to a new Ducati 1098R.

The Honda produced around 185 HP at the rear and rev'd to 11-12K RPM, but required major parts replacement at 2700-3000 KM intervals.
Whereas the 1098R produces 180 HP in street trim with only routine maintenance.

I'm still amazed at the output the Ducati makes, 180 HP and 97 Ft/Lbs of torque. Incredible.

I can only wonder what the RC51's replacement could have been.
We'll probably never know as Honda never had a replacement in mind.

Honda has always considered the V-4 to be the perfect design.
It was a hard sell to persuade them to design the RC51 as a V-twin.

 

[SierraKilo9]

Thank you!