The world's greatest bikes #9: Honda RC213V-S

Published: 27 December 2023

In September 2012, during a seemingly innocuous company conference, Honda CEO, Takanobu Ito, made an
announcement that took everyone by surprise – they were going to build a road-going version of their dominant MotoGP bike.

This new bike would, he said, “deliver the same passion and excitement that the RC30 created when it was launched.”

As you would imagine, his announcement created headlines. But, behind the scenes, all was not quite as simple and the RC213V-S’s journey from concept to final bike was a rocky road.

Japanese companies place a lot of emphasis on honour, which is why Ito’s announcement came as such a surprise. As soon as he told the world that Honda were building a road-going RCV, the company were duty-bound to do so.

Luckily they had a strong starting point…

By Jon Urry

MCN contributor, original 916 & R1-owner, human Labrador, thoroughly nice bloke. Working for over 20 years in the motorcycle industry, Jon not only has an encyclopaedic knowledge of bikes, but has also interviewed many key players in the motorcycle industry, including designers, factory bosses and legendary racers. Still a passionate motorcyclist with child-like enthusiasm for two-wheels, Jon has a collection of both modern and classic bikes that he maintains himself and he writes a weekly column in MCN (newspaper) about used bikes and the state of the motorcycle market.