HONDA RC30

The king of the superbike hill at the end of the 1980s was Honda’s exquisite VFR750R, more commonly known as the RC30 in the USA. It was essentially a homologation special created for the World Superbike championship, and rider Fred Merkel accordingly won two titles. Motorcyclist Online described the machine as “a Rolex in a sea of Timexes”, but warned “Internal engine tolerances were exceedingly tight. Spinning the V-four hard before it was warm could seize it.” That jewel-like engine was a marvel though; different countries were given different states of tune, but peak power was up to 112 or 118 bhp depending on whom you ask. All RC30s were hand-built in the Honda Racing Corporation facility rather than on the regular production lines, and Honda created a promotional film to showcase its meticulous engineering.