Back in March of 2014 RSBFS posted a HRC kitted RC30 race bike. This VFR-F is now up for grabs (you will note the aforementioned RC30 in some of the pics). Sporting a pretty complete set of HRC racing parts (rods, valves, cams, rockers, pistons, cases, sump, suspensions, brakes, etc) this bike is a snapshot in time. Unobtanium bits made out of magnesium (the “magic” lightweight material of the day) show the efforts Honda went to when it came to ensuring the Interceptor could conquer all comers at the track. Ever the engineering juggernaut, HRC pieces are the pinnacle of factory racing goodies, making this a rare and very interesting VFR indeed.
1986 Honda VFR750F HRC for sale on eBay
From the seller:
This motorcycle was bought new in the winter of 1985, never street-registered and has been a race bike since it was new. Upon availability, the original owner, Dr. Dave Kieffer ordered the first of 3 HRC “Power-Up” kits from Honda Racing Corporation through Honda’s race department in Gardena, CA. Dr. Kieffer’s former Honda Factory mechanics; Ray Farrow and Dennis Zickrick built and maintained from new. This bike retired from racing in 1990 and was properly stored in a climate-controlled shop for the next 22 years. Over the course of time, Dr Kieffer received many “factory team only” parts including many NW6 parts.The current owner purchased this bike and extensive spares from Dr. Kieffer in September of 2012. Over the winter of 2012-13, International Motorbikes of Hickory, NC carefully inspected and refurbished the entire machine. First shaken down test was at Road Atlanta in April of 2013. The bike was practiced, but not raced in AHRMA races at Road America and Barber in 2013. The bike starts easily and is ready-to-race.
Bidders are lining up for this one. With several days to go, this auction is heading towards the $25k mark – and probably beyond. That is a bit of cash for a track only machine, but not off the charts for a bike with this kind of rare hardware on board. The seller even has a spares package for sale separately. Is this a museum piece or a rider? Check it out here and let us know your thoughts. Good Luck!!
MI
damnnn…..thats cool
The real value of this bike is surely all the rare and unique HRC components.What a shame the seller has posted an almost endless series of some Neddy Nobody riding around on a track day.
Get those big slabs of plastic off the thing and show us the metal porn.
I’m a huge fan of vintage racing Hondas. But this bike leaves me a little flat. Yes a great collection of rare HRC parts, but no mention of it’s race history. Again, while the race parts are cool, race bikes for me are more about what they did on track and who was riding them. If someone has RC30 money to just go vintage racing this could be fun. But as a true collectable I’m not sure it hits the mark without a known rider aboard at one time. Just my 2 cents.
Dave Kieffer was the racer. #91 was his name and AMA was his game – as well as being a kick ass road racer repairing orthopedic surgeon.
The bike is a storied privateer HRC kitted superbike contender. Cheap at the price really.
I am the owner, since when are Fred Merkel, Steve Morehead and Dave Kieffer, Ned Nobody?
Dave was highly respected and competitive privateer, Fred, a 2X World Champ and Morehead an extremely successful AMA racer. I think that is damn good history
I stand corrected about the racing history. Good luck with the sale.
This is one of those rare bikes that actually might be a good investment. Whoever buys it would be crazy not to buy the spares.
Saw these in action back in the day at Daytona . Wicked bikes and riders ! Pie Face should look before he leaps though . Obviously he did not win any World Championship Superbike titles !
I wasn’t following superbike racing when these were current – how unusual, if at all, is the tubular handlebar?
“how unusual, if at all, is the tubular handlebar.” Definitely not stock. Most Superbike teams switched to tubular handlebars. They were usually wider than stock for more leverage when cornering, plus they were easier to replace if damaged in a tumble.
I’m pretty sure Rainey raced this model also. I saw him and Merkel on them at Loudon back in the day. Theirs were full factory bikes.
Did I miss somewhere in the description that THIS was Fred Merkel’s bike and he put it on the podium? I think it’s a great bike, and I mean no disrespect to either Dave Keiffer or the seller. I’m sure Dave was a great racer and good guy, but being ridden by an AMA Privateer and never seeing a podium does not add value in my book. The value in this bike is the machine itself.
Hell, Dave Keiffer himself makes an interesting owner for this bike. He was one of the better AMA privateer’s in his day and was probably 10 to 15 years than the people he was racing against. His medical office was in Laramie, Wyoming and at that time I believe was the bone surgeon for Team Honda and University of Wyoming’s athletes. It was amazing to see some of Honda’s racing superstars in Laramie. Dave is quite the character, he was into snowmobiling and dirt bike riding along with road racing. He also raced in Colorado’s MRA road racing series and headed a loosely based road racing team that more than their share of races. At that time Dave was riding some killer big bore Kawasaki’s. He wore high topped “cowboy” boots in races rather than motorcycle boots, there was a sign on the back of his cycle trailer that said “caution race horses inside”, the “bucking bronco” decal on his helmet is the University of Wyoming’s “Cowboy’s” athletic teams icon, his racing team’s name was “Rough Stock Racing”. There’s even more stories about Dave.
Sold at Mecum yesterday.
https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail.cfm?lot_id=LV0115-206941