1994 HONDA RVF750 (RC45)
FEATURE
P96
bike, while Aaron Slight, Kocinski,
Carl Fogarty and Colin Edwards
all claimed RC45 WorldSBK
race glory. The RC45 also
took five wins in the Suzuka
8 Hour, including three in a
row from 1997-1999.
In Australia, the infamous
Anthony Gobert gave the
RC45 a winning debut at
a wet Phillip Island round
of the Australian Superbike
Championship and continued
his form to become (at 19) the
youngest-ever winner of that title
after a season-long battle with the Ka-
wasakis of Marty Craggill and Mathew
Mladin. The following year, Kirk McCarthy
took over the Winfield RC45 and won the
title, again from Mladin, who packed up at
season's end to come over and conquer the U.S.
The RC45 carried a price tag of $27,000, or
The man who conquered the
RC45. John Kocinski raced just
one year for Castrol Honda in
1997, took the WorldSBK title
and cleared off back to 500s.
Here he leads the Smokin' Joes
Honda RC45 of Miguel Duhamel
at Laguna Seca in 1997.
about the same price as the Ducati
916SPS and Bimota SB7. But the
promise of a works racer that was
available to the public was very
tempting for those sufficiently
well-heeled to consider plac-
ing an order.
The reality was somewhat
different.
While the race bikes were
bedecked with exotic suspen-
sion, wheels and other fitments
permitted under the formula,
the RC45 sold to the public was
more prosaic. The forks, for example,
were similar to the CBR600, with 41mm
tubes, which were on the puny side by the
standards of the day. The front hoop was a
16-incher—specifically a 130/70ZR16—that
by 1994, was also somewhat passé, with
the opposition all running a 17-inch front, and a curi-
ous choice given the rear tire was a 190/50ZR17.
Doesn't that twin-
headlight setup
remind you of a
time when life was,
y'know, simpler?
