Honda announced its long awaited Superbike V-twin, which the press had speculated would be called the VTR1000RR. Honda has called it (at least in the United States) the “RC51”.

The most shocking news about the RC51 is its price – only $9,999.00. Rather than a super exotic, super expensive, limited edition street bike serving only the purpose of homologation for world-wide racing, Honda has apparently introduced a very affordable street version of its new Superbike racing machine.

At the time of this writing, no photograph was available to MD. We expect this to change, perhaps within the next few hours. Check back for a glimpse of this exciting new bike.

Honda described the RC51 as follows: “Another breathtaking machine is Honda’s new Superbike racing platform, the RC51. The V-twin, fuel-injected 1000cc four-stroke engine produces immense torque and over 130 bhp in stock trim. Most impressive is the RC51’s price, just $9999.00 (MSRP) for the machine that will be the backbone of the Honda Racing Corporation’s world-wide Superbike racing effort for 2000 and beyond.”

Simultaneously, Honda announced that it had re-signed Miguel Duhamel to race the new V-twin at Datona and in AMA Superbike competition next year along with his teammate Nicky Haden (see related MD story).

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