VOL. 50 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 12, 2013
P25
HONDA RCV1000R BREAKS COVER
onda's
MotoGP
production-racer
RCV1000R made its first
appearance on the eve
of the Valencia MotoGP,
dressed all in black and
looking very desirable.
And rather fast, if HRC's
figures are correct. According to HRC vicepresident Shuhei Nakamoto, at Motegi tests, the
new bike's lap time "on
the same afternoon with
the same rider" was .3
of a second slower than
the factory machine, and
when fitted with the softer
tires available to non-factory machines, had shrunk to .17
of a second.
Asked if those times were set
by a Honda test rider or by Casey
Stoner, he laughed and said:
"Stoner is a Honda test rider."
The main technical difference
was that the production version
of the 90-degree V-four has
steel rather than pneumatic valve
springs; while there were some
differences in crankcase castings. The RCV1000R also has a
conventional rather than seamless-shift gearbox.
Power output was quoted as
"more than 175 kW" (234.7 hp).
"The gap between factory
bikes and the current CRT machines was a little too big, so this
is the way we like to help private
teams," Nakamoto said. "The target was to produce a reasonably
competitive machine for a reasonable price."
Nakamoto had previously revealed that the cost of development far outweighed the retail
price, pegged at 1.2-million euros per rider per year, for two
machines and basic spares, two
spare engines and engine maintenance. Crash damage will of
course be extra.
Three teams have so far signed
up to the Honda dream for four
riders: Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama in the Aspar team,
plus rookie Scott Redding in the
Gresini squad, and independent
rider Karel Abraham.
With two examples at the track,
Redding and Aoyoma would get
their first chance to sample the
machine at three-day tests starting on Monday. Hayden would
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
H
Scott Redding had his first outing on
the Honda RCV1000R on Monday at
the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia. Nicky Hayden was set to have
his first ride on the bike on Tuesday.
get his shot on Tuesday and
Wednesday. Racing was agog to
see just how close it might be to
the genuine factory machines.
As a non-factory machine, the
production-racer Honda will have
access not only to softer tires and
12 rather than five engines for the
year, but also 24 rather than 21 liters of fuel – though the tank size
of the new bike is limited to 22 liters, echoing the economy levels
of the factory engine it so closely
resembles.
On the down side, the bike
must use control Magneti Marelli
electronics, supplied by Dorna.
Michael Scott
