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MotoGP-Derived Honda RC213V-S Is Street-Legal and Can Be Yours for $170,000

We caught up at EICMA 2014 with Honda’s new RC213V-S prototype, a machine which was supposed to become the street-legal version of a real MotoGP bike. Back then, nobody seemed to be 100% sure whether the machine will make it past the prototype phase, but it looks like Tokyo already had an answer to this question. According to Japanese publications, the RC213V-S has already received a price tag and is expected to reach its customers before 2015 ends.
2015 Honda RC213V-S 1 photo
Photo: Honda
Asahi Shimbun says that the 2015 Honda RC213V-S will be available at the price of 20 million Japanese yen, and this makes around €147,000 or $170,000 by today’s only exchange rates. Definitely not the bike many of us will get this year, judging by the price, but a nifty addition to the garages of rich collectors and with hot-selling prospects, too. Despite the fact that the price makes this bike inaccessible for most of the riders, we believe Honda will sell the RC213V-S like hot cakes, even though not by the hundreds.

A real MotoGP bike in street guise

The Honda RC213V-S is the only way one can legally take a bike such as the RC213V Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa to the streets. In fact, this is probably as close as anyone could get to their machine… and be allowed to ride them around the town. As this machine is derived directly from the bikes developed by the likes of Casey Stoner, Marquez and Pedrosa, you can imagine that the symbolic capital the Honda RC213V-S represents will have a lot of riders daydreaming and looking for a way to raise money and get it.

The RC213V-S includes many parts which can be found on the actual MotoGP bike, and also shares a lot of technology with the HRC works prototype that won three World Championships. The engine has been detuned but to what degree is yet unknown. Some believe that Honda will just sit in line with the other liter-class machines and will set the bar at 200 horsepower.

On the other hand, there are voices that say that Honda will prefer to ship the RC213V-S with some extra horsies for an edge over the competition. The V4 engine of the street-legal version of RC213Vis rumored to produce just enough power to put the rest of the superbikes to shame. Now, Honda’s CBR1000RR machines are still well-short of the 200hp zone Kawasaki, Ducati, BMW, or Yamaha currently deal with, but in the end it looks like it’s not the brute power which saves the day in a track battle.

We dare suspect that the Honda RC213V-S will be hugely customizable in terms of performance and tailoring the behavior of the bike to the rider’s preferences, while the handling and suspensions could be among the best in the class, even though the RC213V was not exactly designed for urban fun. Honestly, we are waiting for a showdown pitting together the 2015 Honda RC213V-S and the amazing 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1M.

It is yet unknown whether the livery the Japanese publication shows is the final attire of the new motorcycle.
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