Honda RVF1000 in 2018

Word from Japan is that the much-rumoured Honda RFV1000 superbike will be launched in 2018 as part of the celebrations of Honda’s 70^th anniversary.

Many details of the bike have already been revealed in patents filed by Honda. They reveal that it uses the RC213V-S V4 engine fitted in a bespoke cast-aluminium monocoque chassis that doubles as the airbox, rather like the frame of Ducati’s Panigale.

Now it seems that the launch date will be dictated by Honda’s anniversary, with 2018 marking three score years and ten since the company was founded in 1948. It will also put the bike’s launch a year after the expected reveal of the new-for-2017 CBR1000RR Fireblade.

While the Blade will remain an inline-four, gaining a huge slug of electronic enhancement, more performance and a new look for 2017, the RVF will be a V4 based on the productionised MotoGP engine that features in the crazy-expensive RC213V-S. It’s also expected to be expensive at around AUD 60,000, but that’s only a fraction of the cost of an RC213V-S. Like the last RVF – the legendary RC45 – the new bike is likely to be made in fairly limited numbers but Honda is expected to churn out enough of them (500 at least) to gain homologation for WSBK racing.

Like the last RVF – the legendary RC45 – the new bike is likely to be made in fairly limited numbers