Honda contemplating RCV1000R revamp for 2015

Honda has conceded it might have to radically change its new production Honda RCV1000R package to make it appealing for potential customers in 2015.

The RCV1000R is Honda’s Open class project, designed to be a cheaper but competitive alternative to the Factory prototype RC213V.

Costing around £1m to purchase outright, the production bike doesn’t feature technology like a seamless shift gearbox or pneumatic valves like the RC213V.
And it is a lack of engine performance, particularly acceleration and top speed, that has meant Nicky Hayden and Scott Redding have struggled to regularly feature inside the top 10.

HRC has been under pressure to roll out of upgraded parts for the RCV1000R project, but boss Shuhei Nakamoto dampened hopes of imminent developments when he told MCN: I don’t have a budget for this. If we can find something different I am happy to supply.”

Nakamoto though admitted the RCV1000R concept might need a re-think for 2015, having been comprehensively outgunned by Yamaha’s YZR-M1 Open machine.
Yamaha approached the Open class with a different strategy to HRC. Honda sold a watered down version of its Factory RC213V machine. But Yamaha leased a Factory spec YZR-M1 motor, and is also supplying the chassis to Aleix Espargaro’s Forward Racing outfit.

The solution for Honda could be to upgrade its Open class motor to RC213V spec, and asked by MCN if a major change was required for 2015, Nakamoto added: “I am thinking about this. Our production machine is much cheaper and I think the performance is reasonable and all the bikes ahead are Factory bikes or one with a Yamaha factory engine. This is reasonable.”