Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

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Bustaspoke
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Bustaspoke »

Team BIKE still race them although they're bored out with Fireblade pistons.Kyle Ryde was a team rider at Spa last year,he enjoyed the experience,according to the write up.
Team Bike also ran a RC30 at the Classic TT a few years back,I've got some photo's of it somewhere.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

The Spin Doctor wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:06 pm Definitely iconic... dominated Endurance Racing for a number of years. Listening to the rise and fall of the exhaust note round Spa at night was spine-tingling.
Weren't the Endurance bikes RVF750s rather than RC30s?
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Bustaspoke »

KungFooBob wrote: Fri Feb 27, 2026 4:14 pm Sit Iccy on an NC30, put some 750 decals on it and no one will know the difference.
Back in the early 90's a couple of mates & me rode NC 30's around Cadwell Park with Honda race school,a good day out :thumbup:
A few years ago I was thinking of buying one but as with 250/350LC's they go for daft money so it never happened.. '
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by The Spin Doctor »

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:26 pm
The Spin Doctor wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:06 pm Definitely iconic... dominated Endurance Racing for a number of years. Listening to the rise and fall of the exhaust note round Spa at night was spine-tingling.
Weren't the Endurance bikes RVF750s rather than RC30s?
The works Hondas were for a number of years.

Phase One had plenty of success with the RC30.

https://phaseone.co.uk/about/
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

Bustaspoke wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:29 pm
KungFooBob wrote: Fri Feb 27, 2026 4:14 pm Sit Iccy on an NC30, put some 750 decals on it and no one will know the difference.
Back in the early 90's a couple of mates & me rode NC 30's around Cadwell Park with Honda race school,a good day out :thumbup:
A few years ago I was thinking of buying one but as with 250/350LC's they go for daft money so it never happened.. '
NC30s handle really nicely, but they're heavy and slow compared to FZR400RRs
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by KungFooBob »

When I was 19 (28 years ago) I went to the local olde bike shoppe to buy an NC30.

They had an FZR400RR in stock too.

I test rode both.

At that time I bought every bike mag and they all gushed about how the VFR400 was the best JDM 400 bike... EVER.

I bought the FZR400RR. It was faster, light and better handling than the Honda. The Honda had a much better finish, but at 19 the other points were more importanter.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

Well looks like I'm going to be getting intimate with a race RC30, a mate has been asked to service it and get it running, which means I'll be going over the electrics on it.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Bustaspoke »

KungFooBob wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 9:46 pm When I was 19 (28 years ago) I went to the local olde bike shoppe to buy an NC30.

They had an FZR400RR in stock too.

I test rode both.

At that time I bought every bike mag and they all gushed about how the VFR400 was the best JDM 400 bike... EVER.

I bought the FZR400RR. It was faster, light and better handling than the Honda. The Honda had a much better finish, but at 19 the other points were more importanter.
TBH back in the 90's I was a Yamaha fan & had a contempt for Honda so I would also have bought the FZR.
My mate raced a FZR400RR at the TT,he snapped the crank on the straight going up to Balagarey :wtf:
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

645487759_27117865377802911_57572710122996174_n.jpg
645487759_27117865377802911_57572710122996174_n.jpg (811.74 KiB) Viewed 1416 times
Here it is, apparently it has electrical issues.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Yorick »

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 9:06 pm 645487759_27117865377802911_57572710122996174_n.jpg

Here it is, apparently it has electrical issues.
You need the special factory leccy hammer ;)
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

Yorick wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 9:16 pm
Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 9:06 pm 645487759_27117865377802911_57572710122996174_n.jpg

Here it is, apparently it has electrical issues.
You need the special factory leccy hammer ;)
I'm hoping there aren't any irreplaceable HRC bits that are fecked
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by KungFooBob »

It's got carbs with no TPS, there's no power valves, no exup and if it's a proper race bike it'll be running total loss, half a dozen wires at most :)
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

I hope so, mates ex MSS Superstock ZX6 has a chopped about road bike loom - that's how it came from MSS.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by IccyV2 »

I'd still love one, but I rarely ride anymore so it would be mainly to put on display, which would be cool but I have an old house and it would look really out of place on display in the house, which means it would have to go in the garage with the other two bikes I kept, so it would sit there gathering dust and it seems pointless.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

The bloke who owns the one above will probably never ride it, it will join his collection.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Whysub »

Rode my mates RC30 about 15 years ago. Was a tatty, thrashed to hell former race bike (with no pedigree), that he put back to road trim. Pretty meh really, but I am sure a well looked after one would be a much better ride.

My mate had a TZ750 on the road, now that was something else.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

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Pig to ride with momstr1rstgearawsome noise
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 9:06 pm 645487759_27117865377802911_57572710122996174_n.jpg

Here it is, apparently it has electrical issues.
Did the wiring on it today, turned out to be very easy, it has an HRC loom which I found the diagram for online, all it needed was new battery terminal loops and removing an old charging socket removing.

Apparently it was 4th at the Austrian WSB round in 1988 and won the Swiss National Championship 2 years running, it's crammed full of HRC bits.
It's tiny without it's bodywork, it looks about the same size as a 400, it's an utter barstard to work on, everything is fiddly and difficult to get at.
The bloke who owns it doesn't ride bikes, he imports them from Switzerland and sells them here, so my mate is probably going to race it, but he's not keen because it will be slow for the class it has to race in (Period Superbikes I think) but it needs a lot more work on the chassis, the brakes float a bit too much amongst other things, once it's ready we'll be doing some testing on a local airfield we have access to and then it will be a trackday at either Cadwell or Snetterton before it gets raced.

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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Bustaspoke »

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Sun May 03, 2026 9:07 pm but he's not keen because it will be slow for the class it has to race in (Period Superbikes I think) but it needs a lot more work on the chassis, the brakes float a bit too much amongst other things, once it's ready we'll be doing some testing on a local airfield we have access to and then it will be a trackday at either Cadwell or Snetterton before it gets raced.
I don't know if it's any use to your mate but Team Bike still race RC30's in Classic Endurance and they ran at the Classic TT a few years back.They also had Kyle Ryde race it at Spa last year,the week before Assen BSB.According to a article I read in Bike Magazine,they use cheap as chips VFR750 crank cases,bored out to take Fireblade pistons.I think the capacity is raised to 860cc.
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Re: Do you think the RC30 is an iconic bike?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

Brian is talking to Ian Martin who runs the Team Bike RC30s, but the engine would need a full (expensive) rebuild for that, there's a fair chance it may throw an HRC titanium rod the first time it's thrashed, the bloke that owns it doesn't want to spend too much on it, so far including purchase it stands him in at about £10K, it'll probably need another £3K spending on it without an engine rebuild.

Watched a video of Kyle at Spa today that Ian had sent to Brian, the speed is amazing for a 38 year old bike, it doesn't sound like it's revving but you can see the rev counter so it is, it makes up a load of time on newer bikes coming out of the corners, the drive is impressive.
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