in the beggining of the video you thanked a lot of people and I must thank you. What an amazing bike. Gave me the goosebumps just by looking at the video's thumbnail. Can't imagine how it feels to ride it.
I dont know what happened, but it is so hard for me to think this was 30 years ago. What a great era in motorcycle racing. (SBK and 500GP) I am a bit weird but I was obsessed with studying all sport bikes during this era and knowing everything I could learn. Cool that Doohan used this paint scheme on his 94 GP bike after Rothmans moved their sponsorship money to Williams in F1. The RC45 was hugely successful in endurance racing which is no surprise it is based on Honda's RVF750. To bad Ducati was given the advantage to have larger engines and therefore was able to have more SBK success. I read that Ducati was so committed to SBK they had brand new factory race motors in crates to swap out if needed even multiple times in a race weekend. I have owned multiple cbr 600's, 900's and 1000's so I am abit of a Honda fanboy. Should have bought one of these but my children wanted to eat.
Thanks for this, very interesting to hear Aaron Slight's comments. There was one for sale here in a Perth bike shop around 20 years ago for $45k. It's the only one I have seen for sale over here, apart from one a guy I know who has one as part of his collection.
Thank you for the excellent content Michael, another great video. I stumbled across your channel about 6 months ago and am an avid subscriber now. I have to say, I cannot believe you don't have more subscribers! You channel has a Harry's Garage flavour to me! Wonderful. Thank you.
The baby RVF400, was just as good a bike. It was quite popular here in Singapore back in the day. If you wanted something sensible, reliable and quick enough for your 2A license, you got the Honda CB400 Super Four. If you were a bit naughtier, you went for the RVF400.
@@Irfan87 sold my NC35 just over a year ago. Absolutely beautiful little thing. Point it where you want to go and off she went. Fabulous around the hills down here in Melbourne. I just found it a little bit too underpowered. Especially when overtaking. Mainly because I'm used to bigger bikes with plenty of power on tap. Obviously a carburettor bike but still a joy to ride on a nice afternoon.
Mr Mam - as my Grandfather told me 60 yrs ago, If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing right, I would like to thank you for the most enjoyable and informative review I have ever seen for the 45, good on you sir 👍👍👍
What a beautiful bike 😍 This & the Kawasaki ZXR750 are my two favourite bikes of all time. Japanese manufacturers really need to bring back twin round headlights in my opinion.
I loved watching the Honda RVF 750 Endurance bike at the Bol d'Or 24hr race. Looked great in the Rothmans colours and still sounded fantastic towards the end of the race when the in line four cylinder engine of the Yamaha was getting decidedly tired and rattley.
You said it was surprisingly comfortable yet it certainly didn't look it to me. Being taller and heavier, not to mention older I'd need a cyropractor when, and if, i could get off it. Fabulous video as always Michael, i just love your comprehensive videos even when your showing bikes i would never ride myself.
Really looking forward to watching this one Michael. I want to be un disturbed with no interruptions and with a nice brew. That’ll be tonight in the midnight hour. 😌
@@CutACrow Nice bike and sold well . Perceived by some as the best of the VFR 800’s . Good sports tourer but no RC45 through even the rosiest of glasses 👍
Beautiful piece of machinery. Bikes from the 90's and early 2000's were wild. Race ready machines with lights and licence plates. I used to own 1996 ZX7R P1 and every ride felt like a WSBK event.
Love the overall look of the bike, always wanted to have one! Well... we have to consider the v-twin benefits and development of them, not so sure that the regulations were as equal as expected!
Nice to see this classic Honda, I still get a buzz from riding my CBR400RR after recommissioning it last year, it's great for twisty's and you don't see that many too here in the UK. Engine is bullet proof with gear driven cams, like this RC45 I swapped out the rubber brake lines for braided ones and what a difference they make.
@@RetroSuperbikes Thank you . Have fun on the SRAD . Be interesting to hear what you think . Took my L3 out this weekend . Goes like a rocket and howls like a banshee 😂
Very enjoyable video mr Mam, I really liked all the insight. Being 46, I have a soft spot for the japanese superbikes of the 90s and I even treated myself wih an immaculate 98 Fireblade! Oh, the right hand switchgear is different on mine but the LH seems similar!
What a brilliant review , this is by far the most in depth review of the rc45 i have ever seen , great detail , insite both by yourself and team riders of the day , personally i feel the rc30 is a more special bike but having never ridden either thats just an opinion, thank you sir .
one of my all time favourite bikes. Missed out the first time around when they were affordable so have a gen 5 VFR as a road substitute and a GSX-R750 for the scratching. Would trade both like a shot for one of these though. Great video, thanks for showing.
My VFR800 is painted in those colours, but I will be changing it back to a close-to-original finish this year. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on a very special bike.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching that Michael. Very entertaining and informative too. Makes you want to watch all the videos of this superbike. The RVF 750 RC45 is still as cool as it was back in the day. Cheers Michael, as always take care and stay safe. 😊
@@emptymannull It does ! Not as bulbous in the plastic as it is the photos though . Feels like a 400 when you are sat on it as the seat height is low . Great bike . I loved it 👍
Being a Honda rider for most of the bikes I've owned, I always liked the RC45 and would have loved to have owned one. Unfortunately it's always been out my price range; back when it was released and probably more so now. Actually that's probably not entirely true. I could possibly afford one now, but I probably couldn't justify it to myself, as I know it would end up being a garage queen.
Very enjoyable review and history of the RC45. I have a red pristine 1998 5th gen VFR with 5k miles on the clock. Would you do similar reviews for the Ducati 916/996 and VTR SP-1 and SP-2?
@@denisg4288 It is great fun but very time consuming . I will be hanging up my GOPRO at the end of this year . Haven’t decided whether to finish on 100 or 101 .. May do the occasional special after that if something catches my eye . I will explain more in the final video of the year 👍
Was waiting for Honda to build rc45. Rode one in L.A. mtns. Only got 25-28mpg!!! Got better mpg in civic with a/c on! I like long distance, can't with this bike.
@@Oldguy-k3t Fireblades were better for that . Homologation bikes are normally thirsty . The SP1 , which replaced the RC45 , barely does 100 miles on a tank , less if you are “enthusiastic” … 👍
Always check if it's US MPG or Imperial MPG, the US gallon is a fair bit smaller than the Imperial one used everywhere else. It skews the stats if you're from the US, the stats from the rest of the world always look more efficient :)
@@Alien937 Thanks . As I say in the video , it was only what I read . Happy to be corrected . Do you know what they were off or are they one off RC45 forks ?
I bought a brand new 916 Senna in 1999. On a T reg plate. That cost me £11.500 and had been discounted from £16.500. So the 996R at £18.000 would be about right. Bought it from Chris Clarke Motorcycles up in Norfolk. Think they're gone now. Funny because I nearly bought a used RC45 over the Senna. It was about a grand more but I was desperate for the big V twin 😊
Cant be cbr600 forks. The cbr 600 never had upside down forks until after 2004 at which point they had radial brakes on them too. I'm sure these forks were just specific for the rvf as standard.
I think ELF designed those swingarms for Honda,single sided is very ridged but heavy ,I have a VFR and VTR and ride in the desert and never overheated,gear drive cams are great but again you pay a weight price and extremely expensive to make,Honda lost money on the RC51 it was too much to produce,really I prefer the early VFR 800 with gears.Those were expensive exotic bike there,wheels look similar to RC 30 , I had a RC 51 Hayden but it was torture after a hour or so and heavy but stable harsh ride ,my Vtr 1000 Hawk would outpull it and lighter .
@@paulscountry456 Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment . I find it interesting that the homologation bikes sold against road bikes that were faster , easier to ride and significantly cheaper . I bought the SP1 in 2001 and the Fireblade of the day , was probably the better road bike . I suspect it wouldn’t still be in my garage today though .. Honda struggled to keep the race twins cool enough and were losing power later in the races as a result . They clearly got there in the end but took a fair bit of development work . Thanks again for commenting . Have fun 👍
Pretty sure these forks were specific to the 45 ,the cbr 600 of the same age had normal cartridge forks ,they might of fitted them to later 600,s but not before the rvf ,anyway nice review cheers
Honda only made 500 of the RC45 , check the frame number , it WILL be less than 500 . This is the same qty Yamaha as made as the OW01 and OW02 ( R7 ) . This is the minimum for the large bike producers , Bimota got away with making less as they are a much smaller manufacturer.
@@MH-12345-w Thanks Mike . Volumes are often controversial on these homologation bikes which is why I openly say I don’t know . The regs , if they were right , and were complied with , appeared to have expected more . I had a similar situation with my own Ducati 996 R which was always quoted as the magical “500”…. Mine is 58something and I have an email from Ducati confirming it is a proper R , built by them and is actually one of 700 , they made .. 🤷🏼♂️ Is there a document from Honda saying exactly how many they made? I am sure they know but may be reasons why they haven’t clarified …
newer bikes perform better than that...but i like that rc45 better... i personally think that is more beautiful.... im a leisure rider. im more inclined on looks than performance. i dont have the skills to max the performance of any sports bike anyways...oh!!!!! wait... i just checked the price of RC45, they are over $30k....i now prefer newer bikes....LOL
@@michaelmam I’m guessing it’s just taking it from the dvla, I really enjoyed your in-depth review, I don’t really have that much interest really in some bikes but you definitely pulled me in with your obvious passion 😊
You are so honest and humble and no BS which is a rarity these days.
@@ZZR1200ZX Thank you 👍
in the beggining of the video you thanked a lot of people and I must thank you. What an amazing bike. Gave me the goosebumps just by looking at the video's thumbnail. Can't imagine how it feels to ride it.
Glad you liked it! Fantastic bike to ride and certainly didn’t feel 30 years old . Thank you for your comment and watching .👍
I dont know what happened, but it is so hard for me to think this was 30 years ago. What a great era in motorcycle racing. (SBK and 500GP) I am a bit weird but I was obsessed with studying all sport bikes during this era and knowing everything I could learn.
Cool that Doohan used this paint scheme on his 94 GP bike after Rothmans moved their sponsorship money to Williams in F1.
The RC45 was hugely successful in endurance racing which is no surprise it is based on Honda's RVF750. To bad Ducati was given the advantage to have larger engines and therefore was able to have more SBK success. I read that Ducati was so committed to SBK they had brand new factory race motors in crates to swap out if needed even multiple times in a race weekend.
I have owned multiple cbr 600's, 900's and 1000's so I am abit of a Honda fanboy. Should have bought one of these but my children wanted to eat.
@@davevandervelde4799 Brilliant comment . Thank you 👍
@@michaelmam I do want that SP2 you have so you will need to send it to Canada for me. Great graphics we never got.
@@davevandervelde4799 😂
Thanks for this, very interesting to hear Aaron Slight's comments. There was one for sale here in a Perth bike shop around 20 years ago for $45k. It's the only one I have seen for sale over here, apart from one a guy I know who has one as part of his collection.
Thank you for the excellent content Michael, another great video. I stumbled across your channel about 6 months ago and am an avid subscriber now. I have to say, I cannot believe you don't have more subscribers! You channel has a Harry's Garage flavour to me! Wonderful. Thank you.
@@stephendrew9991 Glad you enjoyed the video . Thank you for watching and your kind comment 👍
The baby RVF400, was just as good a bike. It was quite popular here in Singapore back in the day. If you wanted something sensible, reliable and quick enough for your 2A license, you got the Honda CB400 Super Four. If you were a bit naughtier, you went for the RVF400.
Hope to try one , some day . Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
@@michaelmam Subbed, cos i love details haha.
@@Irfan87 😂
@@Irfan87 sold my NC35 just over a year ago. Absolutely beautiful little thing. Point it where you want to go and off she went. Fabulous around the hills down here in Melbourne. I just found it a little bit too underpowered. Especially when overtaking. Mainly because I'm used to bigger bikes with plenty of power on tap. Obviously a carburettor bike but still a joy to ride on a nice afternoon.
Mr Mam - as my Grandfather told me 60 yrs ago, If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing right, I would like to thank you for the most enjoyable and informative review I have ever seen for the 45, good on you sir 👍👍👍
@@orvillesadventures2262 What a generous comment . Thank you . Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Stunning bike, this and the $2k 420RR are my dream bikes.
It is a stunning bike . Just been out on an RC30 which is quite something too👍
Wow what a collection.
Wow! 3 of my absolute favorite bikes in that garage. What a great video. Thank you.
@@mm93249 3 of my favourites too 👍
One of the best looking bikes ever (to my eye, anyway).
I think it is a great looking bike too . Just tried an RC30 . Another stunner to ride and look at !
What a beautiful bike 😍 This & the Kawasaki ZXR750 are my two favourite bikes of all time. Japanese manufacturers really need to bring back twin round headlights in my opinion.
They look great 👍
I loved watching the Honda RVF 750 Endurance bike at the Bol d'Or 24hr race. Looked great in the Rothmans colours and still sounded fantastic towards the end of the race when the in line four cylinder engine of the Yamaha was getting decidedly tired and rattley.
What year was that Dave ?
Nice collection of motorcycles
Thank you 👍
You said it was surprisingly comfortable yet it certainly didn't look it to me. Being taller and heavier, not to mention older I'd need a cyropractor when, and if, i could get off it. Fabulous video as always Michael, i just love your comprehensive videos even when your showing bikes i would never ride myself.
@@ianhalliwell8604Surprisingly comfortable … for a homologation bike 😂 Important caveat …
Glad you enjoyed it . Thank you .
Really looking forward to watching this one Michael. I want to be un disturbed with no interruptions and with a nice brew. That’ll be tonight in the midnight hour. 😌
Hope you enjoy it!
Stunning bike, if only i had deeper pockets.
You and I both .. 😂
@@michaelmam psst the RC46 from 98-01 is quite close without RC45 pricetags ;)
@@CutACrow Nice bike and sold well . Perceived by some as the best of the VFR 800’s . Good sports tourer but no RC45 through even the rosiest of glasses 👍
Beautiful piece of machinery. Bikes from the 90's and early 2000's were wild. Race ready machines with lights and licence plates. I used to own 1996 ZX7R P1 and every ride felt like a WSBK event.
Love the overall look of the bike, always wanted to have one! Well... we have to consider the v-twin benefits and development of them, not so sure that the regulations were as equal as expected!
@@charleswinter1335 Great bike . Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment 👍
Nice to see this classic Honda, I still get a buzz from riding my CBR400RR after recommissioning it last year, it's great for twisty's and you don't see that many too here in the UK. Engine is bullet proof with gear driven cams, like this RC45 I swapped out the rubber brake lines for braided ones and what a difference they make.
@@davidbarton7463 Sounds like you are having fun on your RR 👍
Another world class review, thank you!
@@sambull9601 Glad you liked it ! Thank you for watching .
Great video as per usual Michael. The bikes of this era are just amazing. I'll be reviewing an SRAD GSXR this weekend.
@@RetroSuperbikes Thank you . Have fun on the SRAD . Be interesting to hear what you think . Took my L3 out this weekend . Goes like a rocket and howls like a banshee 😂
@@michaelmam ha ha brilliant
I've seen this and 916 when i'm a kid, love motorcycle ever since.
Very enjoyable video mr Mam, I really liked all the insight. Being 46, I have a soft spot for the japanese superbikes of the 90s and I even treated myself wih an immaculate 98 Fireblade! Oh, the right hand switchgear is different on mine but the LH seems similar!
Thank you . Glad you enjoyed it . Have fun on your fireblade 👍
Georious looking bike. Thanks Michael.
Certainly a looker isn’t it . Some prefer the smaller RC30 . Wouldn’t mind either in my garage 😂
The amount of detail and effort you put into these videos is impressive. Thank you!
@@KosmicKitchen Thank you !
What a brilliant review , this is by far the most in depth review of the rc45 i have ever seen , great detail , insite both by yourself and team riders of the day , personally i feel the rc30 is a more special bike but having never ridden either thats just an opinion, thank you sir .
@@johnpaice8481 Thanks for watching . Glad you enjoyed it 👍
one of my all time favourite bikes. Missed out the first time around when they were affordable so have a gen 5 VFR as a road substitute and a GSX-R750 for the scratching. Would trade both like a shot for one of these though. Great video, thanks for showing.
@@danogden1623 Great bikes . I do like my GSXR as well . Was out on it this weekend 🚀🎶
My VFR800 is painted in those colours, but I will be changing it back to a close-to-original finish this year. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on a very special bike.
@@MarmiteTheDog Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment . Hope the re paint goes well 👍
Exceptional review. Well done 🎉
Thanks Ali 👍
Thoroughly enjoyed watching that Michael. Very entertaining and informative too. Makes you want to watch all the videos of this superbike. The RVF 750 RC45 is still as cool as it was back in the day. Cheers Michael, as always take care and stay safe. 😊
@@TheChrysler56 Glad you enjoyed it Gary 👍
Excellent review.
Glad you liked it . Thanks for commenting 👍
Lovely bit of kit!
@@ArchieMann2595 it is 👍
That bike looks just cartoonishly large watching the intro lol. Good video
@@emptymannull It does ! Not as bulbous in the plastic as it is the photos though . Feels like a 400 when you are sat on it as the seat height is low . Great bike . I loved it 👍
Great informative video enjoyed it 👍🏽
@@bobbyr8595 Thanks Bobby . Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Being a Honda rider for most of the bikes I've owned, I always liked the RC45 and would have loved to have owned one. Unfortunately it's always been out my price range; back when it was released and probably more so now. Actually that's probably not entirely true. I could possibly afford one now, but I probably couldn't justify it to myself, as I know it would end up being a garage queen.
@@delboy1727 understandable . Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
Very enjoyable review and history of the RC45. I have a red pristine 1998 5th gen VFR with 5k miles on the clock.
Would you do similar reviews for the Ducati 916/996 and VTR SP-1 and SP-2?
@@alexmorgan3435 if you look in the description box there are links to videos on the SP1/2 and a very early video I made on the 996r 👍
Beautiful ❤️
That is a stunning bike. Is this the last in this series of vlogs? Thought you were taking a few months out?
@@denisg4288 planning to do 7 or 8 more . A series of 5 in the “Autumn” and probably 1 more before then and then the year end one to close off 👍
@@michaelmam hi Michael . By close off, do you mean the series or for good? I do hope not the latter?
@@denisg4288 It is great fun but very time consuming . I will be hanging up my GOPRO at the end of this year . Haven’t decided whether to finish on 100 or 101 ..
May do the occasional special after that if something catches my eye . I will explain more in the final video of the year 👍
Was waiting for Honda to build rc45. Rode one in L.A. mtns. Only got 25-28mpg!!! Got better mpg in civic with a/c on! I like long distance, can't with this bike.
@@Oldguy-k3t Fireblades were better for that . Homologation bikes are normally thirsty . The SP1 , which replaced the RC45 , barely does 100 miles on a tank , less if you are “enthusiastic” … 👍
@@michaelmam That's why I bought 1988 BMW R100 GS Dakar! Many 1000 plus mile days! 3 days coast to coast, USA.
@@Oldguy-k3t Not the usual comparisons 😂
Always check if it's US MPG or Imperial MPG, the US gallon is a fair bit smaller than the Imperial one used everywhere else.
It skews the stats if you're from the US, the stats from the rest of the world always look more efficient :)
Damnit, I was looking for a homologation race bike to tour on 😢. Oh well, I'll look at that panigale...
The cbr600 didn't get USD Forks until the 2005 RR Model and that model had Radial mounted calipers
@@Alien937 Thanks . As I say in the video , it was only what I read . Happy to be corrected . Do you know what they were off or are they one off RC45 forks ?
I had a nc35(rvf400) and so many components on these bikes seems to be the same at first glance, like the footpegs, swichgears and forks and brakes.
@@Pillokun thank you 👍
I bought a brand new 916 Senna in 1999. On a T reg plate. That cost me £11.500 and had been discounted from £16.500. So the 996R at £18.000 would be about right. Bought it from Chris Clarke Motorcycles up in Norfolk. Think they're gone now. Funny because I nearly bought a used RC45 over the Senna. It was about a grand more but I was desperate for the big V twin 😊
@@thetonetosser Both great bikes 👍
Cant be cbr600 forks. The cbr 600 never had upside down forks until after 2004 at which point they had radial brakes on them too. I'm sure these forks were just specific for the rvf as standard.
@@alfredogreco4457 Thank you 👍
I think ELF designed those swingarms for Honda,single sided is very ridged but heavy ,I have a VFR and VTR and ride in the desert and never overheated,gear drive cams are great but again you pay a weight price and extremely expensive to make,Honda lost money on the RC51 it was too much to produce,really I prefer the early VFR 800 with gears.Those were expensive exotic bike there,wheels look similar to RC 30 , I had a RC 51 Hayden but it was torture after a hour or so and heavy but stable harsh ride ,my Vtr 1000 Hawk would outpull it and lighter .
@@paulscountry456 Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment .
I find it interesting that the homologation bikes sold against road bikes that were faster , easier to ride and significantly cheaper . I bought the SP1 in 2001 and the Fireblade of the day , was probably the better road bike . I suspect it wouldn’t still be in my garage today though ..
Honda struggled to keep the race twins cool enough and were losing power later in the races as a result . They clearly got there in the end but took a fair bit of development work .
Thanks again for commenting . Have fun 👍
13:49 i suspect the zzr beat it to ram air.
Vf 750 etc necessitated the gear driven cams due to the chocolate cams on that series of bikes. Afaik.
Pretty sure these forks were specific to the 45 ,the cbr 600 of the same age had normal cartridge forks ,they might of fitted them to later 600,s but not before the rvf ,anyway nice review cheers
@@vincemarshall8550 👍 Thank you
Honda only made 500 of the RC45 , check the frame number , it WILL be less than 500 . This is the same qty Yamaha as made as the OW01 and OW02 ( R7 ) . This is the minimum for the large bike producers , Bimota got away with making less as they are a much smaller manufacturer.
@@MH-12345-w Thanks Mike . Volumes are often controversial on these homologation bikes which is why I openly say I don’t know . The regs , if they were right , and were complied with , appeared to have expected more .
I had a similar situation with my own Ducati 996 R which was always quoted as the magical “500”…. Mine is 58something and I have an email from Ducati confirming it is a proper R , built by them and is actually one of 700 , they made .. 🤷🏼♂️
Is there a document from Honda saying exactly how many they made? I am sure they know but may be reasons why they haven’t clarified …
looks absolutely sexy
Great looking bike . Some prefer the smaller RC30 but both are works of art 👍
newer bikes perform better than that...but i like that rc45 better... i personally think that is more beautiful.... im a leisure rider. im more inclined on looks than performance. i dont have the skills to max the performance of any sports bike anyways...oh!!!!! wait... i just checked the price of RC45, they are over $30k....i now prefer newer bikes....LOL
@@EvendimataE 😂
Apparently there’s 7 on the road currently in uk 😊
@@Ducatijay72 Is that the “how many left ?” App ?
@@michaelmamyes, saying 7 on road 53 sorn😮
@@Ducatijay72 Thank you . Never too sure about that particular site but do appreciate your comment 👍
@@michaelmam I’m guessing it’s just taking it from the dvla, I really enjoyed your in-depth review, I don’t really have that much interest really in some bikes but you definitely pulled me in with your obvious passion 😊
@@Ducatijay72 Thank you . Glad you enjoyed it . 👍