Here is some information on my motorcycle, a 1986 model RC30.
This bike has been restored to full road-going condition after many years of use by Honda Australia in both a developmental role and then as one of 4 superbikes in the official Honda Australia superbike race team, formerly known as Winfield Honda Racing.
This bike started life in 1986 as a prototype for the VFR-750R. It was shipped to Australia in 1988 and used for model-specific compliance testing. When this testing was complete, the bike was given to the Honda Australia racing team and prepared for racing.
The early RC30 race bikes had disastrous results caused by grossly inadequate oil pumps. While Fred Merkel won the inaugural World Superbike Championship in 1988 on the original RC30, this was more as a result of having less bad luck than the rest of the field than any overwhelming brilliance of the bike. That year RC30's all over the world spent more time spinning main bearings than winning races. The popular theory explains that this was caused by an internal dispute between Honda R & D who, at the time, were building the bike, and HRC who were developing the race kits. The eventual cure for this absence of oil pressure was the fitment of a VF1000 oil pump.
In its first full season of racing in 1989 with Malcolm Campbell (NR 500 development rider), this bike won the Australian Superbike Championship.
Campbell went on to win another national title aboard this same bike the following year.
Honda didn't do so well the following 2 years. Aaron Slight on the Team Kawasaki Australia ZXR750 won the title in 1991, followed by Matt Mladin also racing for TKA in 1992 while Troy Corser was racing the Peter Jackson Yamaha OW-01.
The following year, Troy Corser was signed by Honda to race their (by now) 6 year old bike. In a season filled with controversy and accusations of cheating with flat-slide carburettors, non-standard airboxes and factory race motors, this RC30 ridden by Troy Corser won the Australian Superbike Championship a 3rd time. The Ducati Dealer Team (source of the majority of the protests and accusations) 888 ridden by Roy Leslie finished a close second.
In its 7th year of racing, this RC30 was used by Anthony Gobert after he destroyed his primary bike in a spectacular crash in the opening round of the 1994 Australian Superbike series. This crash saw his VFR ripped in half after a collision with another rider in turn 1 at Eastern Creek at over 160 mph. This dead bike had been Troy Corsers #1 bike the previous year, and was replaced by the above bike (formerly Corsers #2, used to win at Mallala in South Australia) until the RC-45 arrived in mid-'94.
Anthony Gobert went on to win the title again for Winfield Honda having used this RC30 for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds of the series, then using the RC-45 for the rest of the year. Anthony's title was the first national title ever won by the new RVF.
All three remaining RC30's were offered for sale by the team in May 1994, when I acquired this historic machine. After countless track days and practise sessions the bike was restored to full road-going condition with the addition of lights, starter and road fairing. No other modifications were made. A dyno run showed 133 rear wheel horsepower, and total weight ready to electric-start with half a tank of fuel is 356 pounds.
Pictures below show this restoration process underway with the installation of a full wiring harness replacing the meagre total loss system.
Rather than duplicate the red/white/blue colour scheme of the original VFR-750R, the bike was fitted with an owner-made carbon fibre fairing painted in solid red to duplicate the standard VFR in 1997. After some minor(?) mechanical problems, including a blown CDI (1995), broken oil pump drive chain (1996) and a popped crankshaft welch plug (1997), the bike was retired from use and prepped for storage. With the original race fairing stored in pristine condition as last used by Anthony Gobert and the bike itself preserved, this motorcycle may one day return to the track, perhaps in historic racing - circa 2020.
SPECIFICATIONS
1986 VFR750R chassis braced at steering head and swingarm pivot
Forks fitted with full HRC racekit valving and HRC steering damper
Racekit front brake rotors
AP Lockheed brake calipers and braided lines
Marvic 3 spoke front wheel (black VFR-400 front wheel used on road)
HRC 17x6" 8 spoke rear wheel
Racekit radiators and HRC digital temp gauge, no thermostat
Motor built in 1993 by Winfield Honda:
Engine number RC301993
Standard (repaired) crank with stock titanium con-rods
Short port cylinder heads (carbs lowered nearly 1 inch) with oversize head bolts
Racekit (12:1 compression) pistons, valves and cam drives spinning cams backwards
Custom primary drive with no scissor gears and higher clutch/gearbox speed
VF1000 oil pump (higher capacity than standard) and oil cooler
Ram-air style airbox
Racekit magnesium clutch cover, alternator cover, sump(oversize) and cam covers
Racekit Ignition boxes
Racekit stainless exhaust system and straight-through carbon muffler.
Showa shock and adjustable ride height
Shortened and braced swingarm
Removed anti-squat linkage
520 chain and sprockets
Carbon fibre instrument panel, front fender and fairing made by owner
Racekit aluminium fuel tank(enlarged capacity)
VFR replica paintwork also by owner
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