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Steve the Professor (our head wrench) rode it on a ride to the Rock Store, Adam took it for a spin, and Abhi’s tried it as well. Jim went through the entire bike: jetted it correctly, adjusted the valves, and flushed the fluids/tank. The owner has opted to sell as he needs something a little more comfortable and is using the funds to help cover a vacation home that he just picked up.Īs soon as the owner acquired the bike in early 2020, he turned it over to Jim Grainger, a well-known RC30 tuner/painter and overall great guy. It has always been registered in California. Per the CycleVIN report up top, it appears to have been with the original owner until 2009 and with the second owner until January of 2020, when it was sold to the current owner, an executive at Audi USA. The original out the door sales price was $17,732.06.

It was purchased new in March of 1990 at Champion Motorcycles in Costa Mesa, California. This RC30 (VIN: JH2RC3015LM200031) was manufactured in December of 1989. One way in which the American model differed was a red Honda wing in the tank, as opposed to the yellow found in other markets. Different markets received different spec RC30s, with some versions getting a little less power. The model wouldn’t be offered in America until 1990 - the only year it was officially sold on US shores - despite it being released to Europe and most of the other global markets in ’88. The VFR750R (the name given to this bike in other markets) was first released in 1987, though only in Honda’s native Japanese market.

In total, only 316 RC30s were sold in the US. The bike’s fork sliders also allowed the front calipers to remain in place during wheel changes, a feature that, like the ELF-designed single-sided swing-arm, was born out of competition for ultra-quick pit stops. The RC30 got fully-adjustable Showa suspension fore and aft - 43mm telescopic forks up front and a mono-shock out back.īraking duties went to a pair of fully floating 310mm discs bit by four-piston Nissin calipers in the front and a single 220m unit pinched by a dual-pot caliper in the rear. The VFR had a top speed of over 150mph, and thanks to an incredibly high gear ratio, could break 80 mph in first gear. The VFR750R had a best-in-class dry weight of 396 lbs and a wet weight of 488 lbs, which was almost 10 lbs less than the game-changing Suzuki GSX-R750. Paired with a six-speed transmission with a trick slipper clutch, the sophisticated V4 made 118 hp at 11,000 rpm and 55 ft-lbs of torque at 9,800rpm (unrestricted). Japan called it the VFR750R, but the bike we fell in love with in America was named the RC30.Īt the heart of the RC30 was a liquid-cooled, 748cc, 90-degree V4 engine with four valves per cylinder, gear-driven double-overhead cams, titanium connecting rods, forged two-ring pistons, an 11.0:1 compression ratio, and a “big bang” firing order. The result was a no-expense-spared race-grade legend brimming with features previously reserved for track-only machinery. Knowing it would only have to turn out a relatively small batch of machines, Soichiro Honda wanted to use the new model to demonstrate what its factory race department was capable of. So they set out to create a new top-shelf, street-legal, limited edition race bike, producing the minimum number of units required to satisfy homologation rules. When the new World Superbike Championship was introduced in 1988, Honda had an issue as its highly successful custom-built RVF750 factory endurance racer (not the RC45) wouldn’t be eligible to compete. Additional photos are available here for your perusal. Click here for an CycleVIN Motorcycle History Report on this 1990 Honda RC30.