This is a post dedicated to those that abhor rare sport bikes that have been kept in museum quality and never ridden. It’s a homologation HRC special with less than 10k miles. And it has a branded title. That is a deal killer for many, especially collectors. But for an appropriate discount, this could be a really cool rider that still has respectable value. It’s not a perfect bike, but this is a bike you’d be equally happy to enjoy as intended and be the king of your Starbucks when fueling up before the ride. Worth watching for sure!
-dc
1994 Honda RC45 RVF750R for sale on eBay
from the seller’s listing:
Honda RC45 with 9k miles with damage history. This bike was rear-ended by a ditzy 16 year old girl while sitting at a redlight back in 2007. No real damage was done to the bike, it was pushed into the intersection and fell on the right side. The insurance company had no idea what to do with it since it is so rare that they totalled it and issued a rebuilt title. I was told in WA that after 7 years in rebuilt status, the next title transfer comes back clean since it is mainly for newer vehicles to make new buyers aware. Not sure if that is true or not and I certainly dont know about other states, so consider this bike to come with a rebuilt title. The damage included a bent exhaust, broken right footpeg and brake levers. Scratches were in the right rear view mirror, right front turnsignal, right lower fairing, rear wheel, and the number plate area on the right side of the tailsection.
So a new rear wheel, right front turnsignal, right mirror, right lower fairing, right footpeg, and both brake levers were replaced with factory parts. An aftermarket Termignoni shotgun exhaust was also installed (that sounds absolutely amazing at full howl). The number plate area on the tailsection was repainted.
As the picture shows, everything on the bike is back as it should now and it rides just as well as it ever did. Since the bike does have 9k miles and was actually ridden, it does have a few very small chips here and there and the left lower fairing has paint missing on the very bottom. But hey, here all you collectors can actually own an RC45 that your not afraid to ride instead of just dusting yours and telling all your friends when they ask how it handles, “They say these are fast, couldn’t tell ya, but it sure looks pretty though… dont it?
The title issue only backs up the seller’s story. Bike involved in an accident and paid out by insurance company. Happens all the time with bikes given parts prices. There are some issues as the VIN is not in the US sequence of 50. But still it’s a real RC45 repaired to at least a decent level from the pics. Missing stock rear fender, signals and a few other bits but so are many others. Anything under $20K is a deal. But guessing this auction will end early with a direct offer.
11 digit vin means it’s an import and not one of the original 50 that came to the USA.
Does the 11 digit vin mean it can’t be registered for road use? I’ll check with DMV here in CA too as I’ve been looking for one of these for a while.
lets get to the important questions, is it de-restricted?
I just love these and it would be my number one purchase if finances allowed. Such a purposeful looking machine. Crashed or restricted I would still happily have this in my garage!
You’ll have a hard time doing so in Cali Adam. It won’t have the federal and emissions labels to clear a DMV inspection here in CA.
Shad, it’s not impossible to derestrict a JDM model. You need to remove the restrictor plates below the throttle bodies, swap out the ECU with a full spec one and also swap out the JDM exhaust which has a smaller diameter. Obiously the exhaust is already taken care of. The problem with most full aftermarket systems is loss of low and midrange power. The ECUs come up for sale sometimes on eBay. Also I might know someone willing to part with one.
I was out riding mine yesterday. Love it..
sounds like a sensible person should make the price point lower if it were restricted. this doesn’t do much for me its just a fancier over priced fzr 400 imo besides the head ache of registering /plating etc
Please don’t take this as gospel, and do your own homework. However, here’s what I’ve found by registering other bikes here in CA. The first issue is generally the (no issue on this bike) mileage. You need more than 7500 miles on the clock. Various DMV’s (which they should) ignore this on bikes over 25 years old. The issue is, if you get one that insists on that limit and flags the bike, you are in need of legal advice to get it removed. The 11 digit VIN is a big problem, but more from the angle of they don’t really know what to do with it. Again, if you can find a knowledgeable DMV rep, they will help you through this. The lack of emissions sticker just means you need to do an ‘in-person’ visit with the bike so your friendly CHiP’s officer can give it the once over. They are typically checking for stolen bikes/motors. Again, depends on the CHiPs officer. If you find one that’s a biker, they can be great….if you’ve got one that is following the manual, it’s 50/50. Again, the bike can get flagged, find a lawyer or sell it.
In short, it’s not impossbible, but you do need to have a few things line up in your favor. The easiest way is to keep a resisdence out of state and use that address as a ‘relocating’ kinda thing or have someone you know that is relocating and can bring it into the State. You are allowed to do that, they can’t make you sell what you have and should give you a CA title. The exception is a 2-stroke…don’t even bother. If you do, let me know, I’ll get a comfy camping chair, some popcorn and come and watch the show.
And once a bike is flagged, you are pretty much looking at a sale in your near future to someone outside of CA and you’ll have no title to hand them…..but you’ll have a great story to tell. I’ve found the DMV to be maddening in it’s bureaucracy, but the people working there are great…at least around here. One other final point, even if you have a CA title, an over zelaous CHiP’s officer can impound the bike if it was never actually imported into the country/State. The very few 2-strokes that race around here at the weekend run the risk of being impounded, it’s just the way it is.
Desristricted and value is a different discussion. Full disclosure, I am a bidder on this bike.
rgds
Mark
I have two of these in my collection. Both from the 50 US batch bikes. Pretty cool piece. Fueling is very clean especially for a first generation attempt by Honda at the then new technology for bikes. They handle great and are very well made. I don’t think i would pay more than $25k for a euro import but that being said I believe a US bike should go through the roof in the next few years. It is extremely collectable.
an rc 30 is extremely collectible these are meh at best.
When I first spotted this listing, the opening/current bid was $10k. When I woke up the next morning I was surprised to see it was already up to $15k. I’m shocked that it’s now $20k and reserve not met. 3+ days to go. Though I doubt we’ll see an actual sale completed on eBay, this has been interesting to watch for sure.
These are substantially rarer than RC30’s, they made nearly 5000, yes 5000 RC30’s, you only have to see the price these fetch in other markets Australia, UK and Europe to see how collectible these are.
No sale at $21,500.
This bike was relisted after the no sale and was marked as sold at $22,500. Apparently a couple sales have fallen through and it’s relisted again with the following update:
I hope he’s joking and someone didn’t really blame a pet or coworker placing an erroneous bid. WTF?!!
dc