Customers for Honda’s road-legal MotoGP bike, theRC213V-S, are not baulking at the price tag of $A244,000.
In fact, Honda Australia motorcycles spokesman Glyn Griffiths says they’ve had “some enquiries” since orders have been taken this week and all have included the track-focused sports performance kit, bringing the total cost to $260,000.
The sports kit includes a different ECU, muffler, spark plugs, data logger, quickshift, reverse race gears and various other items that we can’t even work out such as a AI joint cover set.
To make the MotoGP bike roadworthy, it gets a starter motor, “tweaked” bake pads and discs, coil-spring suspension rather than pneumatic valves, a conventional transmission like the RCV1000R rather than a seamless transmission, lengthened the wheelbase and added a legal muffler.
Of course, it also gets mirrors, a horn and indicators.
The engine has also been “tweaked”. In road legal form it only has 118kW of power and 102Nm of torque which is much less than the CBR1000RR at 127kEW/106Nm.
However, with the “popular” track-only sports kit fitted, that rises to a phenomenal 158kW/118Nm.
Orders are being taken online until September 30, 2015, but customers have to pass a “customer qualifying process”.
We’re still not sure what that is and neither is Honda Motorcycles Australia spokesman Glyn Griffiths.
“My feeling is that it is more to discuss everything that is involved with buying the unit and if after this the potential customer wants to buy a unit they can then order it,” he says.
The bike is being sold by Honda directly, not through the dealer network. From the moment you place the order, Honda Racing Corporation says it will take them from six to 12 months to handcraft each bike.
