Honda to Offer $184k Street Legal Version of MotoGP Racer

9 years, 6 months ago - 12 June 2015, Autoblog

Fancy yourself a motorcycle racing talent on par with MotoGP factory riders like Dani Pedrosa and Marc Márquez? Have $184,000 to spend on a bike to prove it? Then get an order in on the Honda RC213V-S when the Japanese motorcycle maker begins taking global reservations on July 13.

RC213V-S is designed to be the closest thing possible to legally riding Honda's two-time championship winning RC213V MotoGP racer on the street. Outside of the US, buyers can even spec an optional kit to make the bike track-only but raise the performance even higher.

All versions use a 1.0-liter V4 and six-speed gearbox making 157 horsepower and 75 pound-feet of torque or over 212 hp and 87 lb-ft with the tuning package. That's not as much power as the Kawasaki Ninja H2R, but the Honda is a lightweight at 375 pounds for the street version or 353 lbs with the kit. In comparison, the factory racing example weighs just 348 lbs and produces over 235 hp.

Being rideable on the road means losing some of the race bike's high-tech features, though. For maintenance reasons, the engine now uses coil-sprung valves, rather than the pneumatic units in MotoGP, and the seamless-shift transmission is replaced with a traditional one. Also there's some added equipment for legal reasons like lights, mirrors, and a muffler, plus useful things like a speedometer and starter.

Honda has put out a few videos showing Márquez riding an RC213V-S and one opening up on track. Both are embedded below.