I was just thinking about how much I'd like to have a RC-30. What do you know? There's one on eBay. Honda Other | eBay I wonder what it'll eventually go for. As far as I'm concerned this is a seriously collectible machine. Do you think it will go on to more race victories? Or will it find its way into somebody's personal museum? Image Unavailable, Please Login
roger Mandeville had one or may still have it...I was trying to sell it to me 12 years ago. it was less than 2k miles and wanted $9k. should have bought it.
I have had one off and on since 1997. Small, compact and potent. Jim Granger is considered to be the local guru (So California). I sold mine a year ago to help fund a Ferrari. The Ebay bird you mention has a ton of uber rare parts from the HRC kit IIRC. I prefer bone stock. PM me if you have any specific questions because I dont visit this area of Fchat very often. If you do get one, check the front rotors. They are thin and prone to warp. Pick up a set of aftermarket rotors for daily use and shelf the originals.
Awesome. I also liked its little brother the NC-30 (wish I could get one in the States, or the similar ZXR400, CBR400RR, etc).
Back in 1992 my old dealer/shop had one up on a large shelf almost touching the ceiling. It was breathtaking. I stopped in several times just to look at it. What are they going for these days?
Blue chip collectible. Exquisite, sublime, superb... insert whatever superlative you can think of. More "hand built" and "Italian-esque" than almost any Ducati. And I'm a Ducati guy. The last one I had sold for $36k. One owner 49 state US model with 3k miles and lots of kit parts. The top of the range but that's what they go for. Image Unavailable, Please Login
lear60man, do you have a contact for jim granger, i need to get mine refreshed and i want someone who has knowledge of the bike. thanks in advance cal Image Unavailable, Please Login
It's up to $32,600 with a day to go. That bike certainly has its place in my dream garage. But I don't think it'll find a space in my real one just yet.
Now at 32.6 If you think about it thats dirt cheap. It was the F-40 of motorcycles in its day so if you were deep into bikes for 33k or so you could have the best of the best dream machine. It wasnt my cup of tea. That would be the Bimota Tuatara. Too old and fat now
Among Japanese production bikes it probably is the most collectable of them all, no real argument from me. It checks all the boxes: hand built in limited numbers, very attractive, relatively exotic engine, lots of race history. My VF1000R occupied the same place in Honda's heirarchy and pre-dates the RC30 by four years but never had success on the track, hence it is largely forgotten while the 30 is an icon. I just remember only a few short years ago you could buy a nice RC30 for the mid-teens or even less sometimes. This particular bike has lots of HRC unobtanium on it and extensive race history, so its value might be a bit higher than a run-of-the-mill example. But I have to wonder if all of them now would sell for more than $20-25k. At $15k, the RC30 represents a very cool old bike an owner could use and enjoy, but double that price (for me at least) and I wouldn't enjoy flogging the bike for fear of destroying it, or more to the point I would always be considering how many bikes I could buy with that $30k ('91 ZX-7R, Bimota SB6, Ducati 998, and CBX for that same money). But as they say, to each his own...
I remember walking past an RC30 in the Montgomery Cycle Center Show room when they were in their old building...I fell in love with it at first sight. Sadly I was just a kid in college at the time and didn't have the money.
I saw Jim last Sun @ the Rock Store. EDIT: Please send a PM or email to chopperdr for what may be Jim's phone number. Let's not publish personal phone numbers on the board, guys. Thanks, Mike
ChopperDR, I sent you a PM with his business phone numbers. Mike, Jim G. has a motorcycle / car restoration business easily found with google. I dont think posting a business number will do anything but generate business Little story. I bought mine in 1997 for $11,000, sold it for $9,500 in 1999. Tracked it down (It never left LA) and bought it back in 2005 in better condition for $14K. I needed cash when purchasing my current home last year so the motorcycle collection had to go. I ended up with enough to pay cash for my current TR. The sale of the 30 was a large portion of that. Now I only have a Rothmans replica RC51. I dont want to say how much I sold the RC30 for....but they do appreciate! I think they might slow down for a while. The main driving factor for their spike was eligibility in vintage class racing in the UK. That combined with a weak dollar.....cheap unstoppable track weapon.
Here are pics from my fathers collection... The RC30 complete with HRC Factory Magnesium wheels and gold plated fasteners. And the equally beautiful, and rare RC 45. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here are a few more pictures of the bike Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I always wanted one to. This bike came out back in my motorcycle racing days and it was as close to a factory racebike as possible. Anyhow I always wanted one to put in my house. Mancave so to speak. Anyhow I have been watching them the last 5 years or so and have seen some nice low mile examles sell in the $12-15K range.