Overall rating Next up: Ride & brakes 5 out of 5 (5/5) Author: Michael Neeves Published: 15 July 2020 Updated: 16 July 2020 The long-awaited Honda RC213V-S really is a MotoGP bike with lights and as close to the real thing as is practical and affordable. It’s tiny, like an NC30, and floats effortlessly around a track. In standard trim it promises to be a sublime road bike and is reminiscent of an RC30, even if it’s slightly docile on a circuit. But with the optional Sports Kit fitted it’s something very special. Inlcuded in the Hounda RC213V-S Sports Kit is a revised ECU, a front ram duct, a revised exhaust, different spark plugs, a quickshifter, a data logger, a cooler thermostat and even a bespoke cover for your bike. Related: Unwrapping perfection as we meet the Honda RC213V-S No mass-produced road bike can ever get close to the RCV’s hollowed-out weight, its directness or easy speed around a racetrack. And all that MotoGP performance is on top of a machine that’s a work of art standing still. Although Honda has produced some of the most exciting and dominant racing machines of the modern GP era (700 wins and counting), that passion for speed rarely comes across on their road bikes. But now it does with the decadently brilliant RC213V-S and for that, Honda, we salute you. Watch Honda RC213V-S video review

Ride quality & brakes Next up: Engine 5 out of 5 (5/5) It’s the size of a 400 and feels like a compact, agile, ultra-smooth, modern-day RC30. The ride quality has the kind of plushness only a factory racer is capable of and the RC213V-S never flinches, no matter how hard you push in the corners. On track you can easily find the limit of the standard brake pads and Bridgestone RS10 tyre, but on slicks, with the Sports Kit pads and 10kg weight reduction it’s every inch a genuine MotoGP machine. In a bid to create the lightest, most agile and stable machine, attention to detail to the chassis and weight distribution borders on the obsessive. The beautiful, hand-fabricated frame and underbraced swingarm, made by Moriwaki and assembled by HRC is the same as the racer and created using differing thicknesses of aluminium for strength and flex in key areas. The steering head is adjustable, but less aggressive than the factory RC213V and the 1465mm wheelbase is a massive 55mm longer than a Fireblade’s for stability. Titanium fasters are everywhere to pare weight down to the minimum. It weighs 170kg dry and 160kg with the road gear removed and the Sports Kit fitted and road gear removed.

Engine Next up: Reliability 5 out of 5 (5/5) Based on the factory RC213V powerplant, first seen in 2012, the ultra-compact 90° V4 motor produces just 159bhp in road trim, but with so little weight to push along the Honda still accelerates with venom. Despite the performance the throttle control is flawless and the power delivery glassy-smooth, which makes the RC213V-S a doddle to ride fast or slow. With the optional 215bhp Sports Kit fitted it’s a whole different animal. With its extra revs it accelerates harder than any road-going superbike, but the V4 motor still manages to be easy to control and sounds just like the factory bike at full song. With its race pipe fitted it produces an ear-splitting 116db and spits on the overrun when the engine braking electronics are doing their thing. The engine has the same diminutive dimensions as the old 2007-2011 800cc RC212V motor and features sand-cast aluminium crank cases, composite nickel-plated bores, carbon fibre airbox, titanium conrods and valves, just like the factory RC213V. Unlike the racer the motor doesn’t have pneumatic valves, but runs a conventional valve spring set-up like last year’s customer RCV1000R. Unlike the factory machine the road bike doesn’t have a seamless-shift gearbox, but uses the same conventional cassette-type gearbox, taken from last year’s RCV1000R ‘Open’ bike. It has an assist and slipper clutch, giving a light feel at the lever and controls rear wheel hop during aggressive downshifts.

Reliability & build quality Next up: Value 5 out of 5 (5/5) Build quality is exceptional and in road trim the RC213V-S has the same 4000-mile service intervals as any other road-going Honda. But with the Sports Kit fitted you need to check the motor every 3000km.

Value vs rivals Next up: Equipment 4 out of 5 (4/5) The RC213V-S isn’t cheap but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t good value for money. The bike is very close to the ‘Open Class’ RCV1000R that was raced in 2014 by Scott Redding and Nicky Haydon. Those bikes cost €1,000,000 to lease and the same again to run. Think of the RC213V-S in those terms and, yes, it’s expensive but not overpriced. From here, everything else seems compromised in some way and that includes greats like the Desmosedici RR, H2, Superleggera, R1M and RSV4 RF. I’m not sure how that makes me feel, happy or sad.