VOL. 55 ISSUE 29 JULY 24, 2018 P99
V4 series—the VF750S of 1982—
bore and stroke had been consis-
tent at 70mm x 48.6 mm, but the
RC45 broke tradition with a bore
of 72mm and a stroke of 46mm.
As on the RC30, titanium
connecting rods were used, but
the cylinder bores were now
of what Honda called "metal
composite"—a ceramic-blended
aluminum that could be re-bored
if required. The process saved
an impressive three pounds. In
the cylinder head, valve angles
were reduced by a total of eight
degrees. The signature gear-
driven camshafts were retained
in the RC45, but moved from the
center to the right side of the en-
gine, which permitted a shorter
crankshaft—and more weight
saving—plus a straighter passage
for the inlet tracts.
The most visible change be-
tween the 30 and the 45 was in
the use of a radical fuel-injection
system (dubbed PGM-FI for
Programmable Fuel Injection)
that had been developed on the
exotic oval-piston NR750. This
used 46mm throttle bodies in-
stead of the 38mm Keihin carbs
with a total of seven sensors to
deal with mixture control.
Chassis-wise, the RC45's
twin-spar aluminum frame used
thinner-walled frame members
and builds, especially when you're in what must be
the tallest first gear the world has ever seen.
For just riding around town, you hardly need to
leave the first cog, and you'll need a very, very long
stretch of road to get the RC45 singing to TT-winning
speeds. But the gearbox is sweet; so, so sweet, like
how a real superbike gearbox should be. The throw
is short and the light "click" into each new gear is as
satisfying as it gets.
There's no getting away from the fact the RC45 is
heavy, and you sit very low in the chassis. But with
that 16-inch front wheel, even at its weight, it's easy
to change direction and extremely stable at speed;
although, at traffic speed, you're not even scratching
the surface of what this thing can do.
Another highlight comes in the form of the dash. The
twin analog tacho and speedo are from a totally differ-
ent age compared to what we're used to today, the revs
sweeping up almost in unison with the speedo and the
crescendo of noise from the single-outlet exhaust—it's
as 1990s as hypercolor t-shirts and Nirvana.
The RC45 is not today-level fast. But the RC
has a presence about it that today's bikes can only
dream of. A genuine, homologated racing motor-
cycle from the biggest company of all, the Honda
RC45 may not have reached the rac-
ing heights demanded of it, but that
doesn't make it any less special.
I'd have one—in an instant—if only
to hear that beefy, menacing drone
from that gear-driven cam V4; it's one
of the sweetest sounds a machine
has ever made.
Look where you
want to go and the
RC45 takes you
there. The 16-inch
front wheel makes
turn-in incredibly
quick, but there's
no getting away
from just how wide
the RC45 is.
