The Honda RC213V-S is here…

HONDA has finally released some details and pictures of its road-going MotoGP-based RCV, named the Honda RC213V-S and first unveiled as a prototype last year.

Let's start with some numbers…

156.8 - That’s the bhp figure in road-legal form. No, really, it is (159PS). After all the hushed whispers of the RC213V-S’s MotoGP power levels, in stock form it’s got less horses than a ten year old Fireblade. Makes you wonder where all that money is going…

212 – That’s more like it. This is the power, in bhp, once the optional kit ‘for use on closed circuits’ is fitted. Or, more accurately, Honda claims the bike will make ‘over’ this figure. Still a way down on the race bike, which achieves at least 235bhp (and probably quite a lot more, to be honest…) The extra power freed by the track kit comes from allowing more revs – upping the peak from 11,000rpm to 13,000rpm.

170 – This one, in kg, is the dry weight in road form. Stripped for track use it drops to 160kg, which is only 2kg more than the minimum 158kg that a race RCV weighs. Still not amazing, given that Honda used to claim the same 170kg dry weight for the Fireblade 15 years ago.

75 – Torque in lbft in road trim. Not amazing, but it rises to more than 87lbft with the track kit fitted, at the same 10,500rpm peak, and that is an impressive number for a 1000cc bike.

137,000 – How much lighter your wallet will be (in UK £) after taking delivery. Actually, that’s the price set for Germany (€188,000) which is the only representative European price revealed so far. Outside Europe, the bike is a bit cheaper – it’s AUD 244,000 in Australia (£122,000), 21.9 million Yen in Japan (£115,000) and $184,000 in America (£118,000). But pity the poor Americans, since the track kit needed to release the bike’s performance won’t be sold there…

So, into the details. Just how different is the RC213V-S to the race bike?

The answer is: “Not very different at all”

As we’ve known for a while, it loses the pneumatic valve system and the super-secret seamless-shift transmission in favour of conventional steel valve springs and a normal cassette transmission. The same changes have already been made to the customer RCV1000R open class racers.

Beyond that, the V-S gets headlights (obviously), a tail light (of course), licence plate lights and indicators (as you’d expect), mirrors, a speedo and a horn. Then there’s a side stand, because you’re unlikely to have a full pit crew waiting when you pull up outside Waitrose, and a starter motor for the same reason. And a key, of course.

More complicated is the addition of a catalytic converter and silencer, needed to meet emissions regulations and the subject of a fair bit of the bike’s development. Sad really, since it’s also likely to be the first bit to be consigned to the bin when the kit is fitted for, ahem, ‘closed circuit’ use. Cos nobody would use it on the road. Oh no.

Then there’s the matter of increasing the steering lock from 15 degrees to 26 degrees, because there’s nothing more embarrassing than dropping your 8th-of-a-million-pound motorcycle when doing a U-turn, and the addition of some road-legal RS10 Bridgestone rubber in 17-inch rims; the racer uses 16.5-inchers which you might struggle to find road tyres for...

The brakes are also sensibly swapped from carbon to steel for road use, with Brembo calipers.

It’s all very impressive, and we’ve attached the full specifications here for you to drool over. But at the end of the day, the numbers at the top of this story are the bit that counts, and while Honda will probably have no problem offloading every RC213V-S it can make, the one that really stands out is the incredible price.

With power and weight figures that other machines, costing a tiny fraction as much, can come close to matching, we’re left hoping that the RC213V-S provides a transcendent riding experience, because on paper alone it’s tough to make a case for it. Of course, the firm might be underplaying that peak power number, and there’s no doubt the handling will be unbelievable, but you could get a garageful of Ninja H2Rs at this sort of money and have private races with your mates.

Specs: RC213V vs RC213V-S vs RC213V-S with track kit

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