Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

2000 Honda RC51 the task at hand. After sizing up the class, Honda determined that the RC45 had run its course, hence an all-new machine was devised. "Any manufacturer that is serious in contesting the various formulas of racing h.as got to look at the various configurations which will work best under the current rules," one Honda official said. "We took a look at those rules and determined that the V-twin was the best way to go." T hey say first impressions are important. If that were true in AMA championship-level superbike racing, then Honda's competition might do just as well to stay home this season. As if former AMA Superbike and multi-time Daytona 200 Champion Miguel DuHamel and teenage wonderboy Nicky Hayden weren't already going to be formidable enough this season, it looks as though Big Red has armed them to the teeth with the all-new Honda did draw comparisons between the RC5] and VTR just to prove how much polarity there is with an all-out racer and a competent sporting street machine. LIKE A ROCK Borrowing the 01' Chevy Trucks slogan is one way to describe the RC51 chassis. The bike features a twin-spar, extruded-aluminum frame and swingarm combo that is some 53 The Dew RC51 slIJIerbike maiDtaiDs BODda's racial berltale aD fbe track, but deleDds It from tbe sbomoom Dar. Honda's new RC51 is the hot topic these days, whether it be dressed up (above) or naked (left). RC5], a production V-twin works racer that threatens to bury the current Vtwin regime (as well as the stalwart inline fours) under a mountain of checkered flags. American Honda recently premiered the RC5], the successor to the V-fourpowered and consumer-untouchable RC45, at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. After logging our fair share of time on the machine that Honda hopes will stay its course toward "total world domination" by bringing home the gold in the AMA and World Superbike championship series, it would be hard to deny that the bike is going to make an impact; win, lose or draw. And Honda doesn't race to lose, the proof being in how well its company engineers draw. That means designing the most efficient weapon possible for 24 MARCH 15, 2000' eye • Honda had already realized the benefits of a V-twin liter-bike through its VTR 1000 Super Hawk. It would be easy to assume that the RC5] represents a natural evolution of things. But even though comparisons between the RC5] and the VTR are inevitable, Honda is quick to point out that the RC5] represents a clean-sheet approach to building a world-conquering sportbike mount. "Don't even go there," another Honda official said, regarding a direct comparison of the two machines. "The VTR is a great streetbike, and the RC51 is a racebike with lights. The only components that the two share in common are the countershaft sprocket, the valve-tappet shims and the valve seals." During our tech briefing at Laguna, e ne1lVs pounds heavier than the trellis-like VTR1000 chassis and wholly responsible for bringing the tota I RC package to a claimed dry weight of 441 pounds, some 18 pounds heavier than the VTR. Does that mean that the RC51 is portly? Not hardly. Besides, with the RC chassis, which features a modified version of Honda's trademarked Pro Frame design (a combined swingarm pivot that incorporates both crankcase- and frame-mounted swingarm pivot points), Honda's HRC and HGA divisions concentrated on perfecting weight distribution in order to get the bike into and out of the corners as quickly as possible. And, thanks in part to a heavier swingarm and side plates that extend from the main spars and tie into the bottom of the engine, the rigidity afforded by the RC chassis is more than capable of handling the higher g-Ioads under race conditions, this despite the fact that RC51 also features a removable aluminum subframe. The VTR does not. Any way you slice it, the RC has got the beef, and Honda officials claim that it requires zero mods for racing. But hang on, the good stuff doesn't stop there. The bombproof theme extends into the suspension package, which is, of course, full-race-spec Showa. The forks are 43mm inverted units with aluminum sliders, featuring the Honda Multi-Action System (HMAS) damping system. Fully adjustable for spring preload, rebound and compression damping, the legs are nestled in meaty triple clamps (the bottom clamp is a forged aluminum unit to further increase overall rigidity) which span 214mm. Out back, the Showa piggyback shock features HMAS with a 40mm piston for fade-free performance. Offering nine different preload positions, 24-position compression damping adjuster and a full two and a half turns of adjustment on the rebound screw, the rear should be able to be dialed in for any circuit you can throw at it. Front braking chores are handled by dual 320mm discs floating on seven stainless-steel pins per side, with fourpiston calipers. A single-pucked 220mm disc resides in the rear. The

• Cover