We just had a nice RC45 here on RSBFS last week and given the rarity of these it’s a bit of a surprise that another one has popped up for sale so soon. While the previous bike was a gray import bike offered by a dealer in Florida, this one looks to be a US bike currently owned by a collector.
1994 Honda RVF750R/RC45 in Texas USA
As noted in the post from last week, the RVF750R (also known as the RC45) was introduced in 1994 as the successor to the epic RC30 and was a true homologation bike. The RC45 came with a 749cc V4 engine containing titanium rods, ceramic-lined cylinder walls and gear driven cams, as well as a new fuel injection system and a race-ready single-sided rear swingarm.
The RC45 was a good bike on the track, being ridden to championships in 1997 and 1998. But reviewers/riders found the bike a bit of a letdown on the street, mostly due to it being tuned to only produce around 110bhp for the U.S. version and the race gearbox having a very tall 1st gear. Consider the following review from motorcyclenews:
“Like the race version, Honda’s road-going RC45 doesn’t quite hit the spot, but it’s still an impressive piece of exquisite engineering. As the ultimate ‘90s Superbike, the Honda RC45 lacks the pure focus of a Yamaha R1, the visceral punch of a Ducati 916 or the exotic edginess of a Bimota SB6R. Also, people might think your Honda RC45 is a Honda RVF400 NC35 from a distance…”
Mileage on this one is a low 877 according to the seller. Unfortunately no other maintenance info is provided. Based on the dust and color of the clutch reservoir fluid, I would bet that the bike has been standing for quite a few years and would require a thorough refresh including tires.
By the pics provided the bike looks to have been part of a serious collection. Initial bid price is $40,000 USD with reserve not met. That price seems to be inline with what we have seen these go for in the past, even with the expected additional cost of a freshening. Also given the rarity of these bikes, I wouldn’t expect the price to drop below the opening bid.
It seems like the RC45 doesn’t ring the emotional bells for a lot of collectors in the same way the RC30 did. This one is certainly in excellent condition and is probably a good investment for a serious collector, but I wish there were a few more pics and comments by the seller.
-Marty/Dallaslavowner
The reason they come in waves is there are so few sales that as an RC45 owner it is rather hard to get the needed interest in the market to gauge current value or even generate interest a sale.
It is not really an impulse buy sorta bike – as you see, people either love them or ignore them 🙂
You got to wonder why anyone would own, much less place for sale a bike of this vintage, in such poor presentation condition. Even if the bike has not not proper maintenance over the years (which one would assume) If the owner would have even bothered to wash it, perhaps it would bring another $5K on the sale. very Strange……….