Honda RC45 - Music To The Ears

Paul McCartney hoped that Wings would carry on where the Beatles left off and so too did Honda when pushing the RC30 into the shadows and announcing the RC45. If the formidable V4 RC30 (or the Beatles) had never existed there would not be an issue… but they did.

To be fair, the RC45 had an incredible racing record and in 1994 (its debut year) at the Isle of Man, Steve Hislop, Phillip McCallen and Joey Dunlop took all three podium places in the Formula One TT, followed later that same TT by taking a 1,2,3 in the Senior TT. Not only did John Kocinski win the 1997 WorldSBK title on an RC45, but the machine also won at Daytona, in AMA and racked up five wins in the Suzuka 8 Hour, including three in a row from 1997-1999.

That said, the factory bikes were in a different league to customer machines while the HRC kit parts were eye wateringly expensive. Additionally, the RC45 ran an outdated 16inch front wheel while the power to weight ratio was not bad but not great either. Add Honda’s massively complex PGM fuel injection and you have a technical tour de force but something not as rider or team friendly as the RC30 on which the RC45 was based.

It's not all bad – and Wings have also made some good albums – but the level of complexity and cost for privateers to be competitive meant the RC45 achieved its best results in the hands of factory riders such as Colin Edwards, Aaron Slight, Ben Bostrom, Miguel Duhamel and Anthony Gobert.

If you can overlook the idiosyncrasies of the 16inch front wheel, the hugely tall first gear and the fact that the Fireblade from the same stable is way cheaper and nearly as good, an RC45 makes a good collectors bike… if you can find one as 99% were made in just one year – 1994.

The upside? That incredible V4 howl allied to a precision cam drive gear crescendo plus a rarity that even the RC30 cannot match. And if you need parts, CMS have a surprising number of them on the shelves now – so what are you waiting for, make some sweet V4 music today!