Honda’s 9 Rarest Motorcycles And What They’re Worth – Jalopnik

Even the most important world corporations have an origin story. But few are as a lot of a testomony to resilience as Honda’s. At the top of 2019, the Honda Motor Co. celebrated its cumulative world manufacturing hitting a grand whole of 400 million motorbikes. But rewind 80 years to the corporate’s founding 12 months — 1946 — and founder Soichiro Honda’s actuality seemed very totally different.

After promoting his piston firm, Tokai Seiki (which had been bombed throughout World War II and hit by an earthquake), Soichiro Honda started bolting leftover navy generator engines onto bicycle frames as a solution to meet Japan’s want for reasonable, dependable transportation. In 1949, he constructed his first bike: the 98-cubic-centimeter Dream D. Its 3 horsepower at 5,000 rpm might sound laughable by at the moment’s requirements, however the bike was a big step up from the A-type engine the corporate developed simply two years earlier and produced simply 1 hp, used army-issue hot-water bottles as gasoline tanks, and ran on gasoline constructed from pine resin.

In 1959, Honda entered the Isle of Man TT world championship for the primary time, sending a staff of 4 riders to race utilizing the RC142 — a motorcycle closely influenced by the Honda Benly CB92. That identical 12 months, Honda shipped its Super Cub C100 — one of many longest-running bike fashions on the planet — throughout the Pacific to the U.S., and went on to develop into the world’s largest bike producer. A crown it has by no means handed again.

But manufacturing quantity solely tells part of the Honda story. Buried someplace inside these 400 million mass-produced commuters and scooters are a handful of machines Honda barely constructed in any respect — manufacturing unit racers and homologation specials made within the dozens or a whole lot, not the thousands and thousands. Here are 9 of the rarest bikes Honda ever made.

Just just a few years after coming into the racing world in 1959, Honda was already making a reputation for itself and its bikes. By 1961, the corporate held Grand Prix World Championship titles for the 125cc and 250cc Riders’ and Constructors’ classes. And relatively than hold its racing tech locked away, Honda offered it to the general public.

Introduced in spring of 1962, the CR93 may not seem like a lot subsequent to a contemporary sports activities bike. However, it packed real Grand Prix {hardware} beneath its bodywork: a 124.8cc air-cooled parallel twin engine, gear-driven double overhead cams, 4 valves per cylinder, and a five- or six-speed gearbox. Power figures for this bike range barely throughout sources, however quoted numbers counsel it boasted 16.5 to 18.5 hp; a rev ceiling of 11,000 to 12,500 rpm, and a high velocity of 100 mph. Unsurprisingly, the CR93 dominated racetracks internationally, turning into the bike of alternative for personal racers and serving to launch the careers of future champions like Bill Ivy.

Honda produced roughly 200 racing spec CR93s in 1962-’63 — a small run for such an enormous producer. But the corporate additionally made simply 20 to 30 street-legal variations of the bike, which differ from the racers cosmetically, and likewise characteristic a extra restrictive exhaust, totally different ignition elements, and a kickstart lever. Both variations are laborious to seek out and command a good worth. A 1963 road model CR93 is presently on public sale at Mecum in Las Vegas with an asking worth of $50,000. Meanwhile, Bonham’s has offered two CR93s: one for $50,310 in 2009, and one other for 43,700 British kilos in 2024 (equal to $78,313 and $59,610 in at the moment’s {dollars}, respectively).

In search of additional dominating the racetrack, Honda created the RC165, its first 250cc six-cylinder prototype. By the 1965 Tourist Trophy and 1966 Grand Prix seasons, Honda had refined it to create the RC166, an otherworldly bike even by at the moment’s requirements. With a tiny 1.5-inch bore per cylinder, its short-stroke engine may attain a high velocity of 150 mph and revved as much as 18,000 rpm — simply 1,000 rpm beneath the BMW-powered Williams FW23 that Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya would race in 2001 F1. Jim Redman rode the RC166 to victory on the 1965 Isle of Man TT, and Mike Hailwood posted an undefeated GP season on it in 1966. But Soichiro Honda wished extra.

In 1966, Honda enlarged its six-cylinder engine to compete in larger lessons. The ensuing RC174 featured a 297cc engine that would produce 66 horsepower at a 17,000 rpm redline, or 223 hp per liter. The larger displacement certified it for the 350cc class, and the system labored: Hailwood received the TT Junior race with a mean velocity of 107.73 mph, together with seven of eight rounds within the 1967 350cc World Championship, taking each the rider’s and constructor’s titles.

Honda did not make a number of these six-cylinder bikes, and none is presently on the market. It apparently manufactured six 3RC164s that have been later upgraded to make the RC166 and two RC174s, one among which is now stored within the Honda Museum, whereas the opposite belongs to Japanese collector Teruhisa Murayama. In 2004, British bike builder George Beale was licensed to create 10 RC174 replicas. They offered initially for about 200,000 British kilos (equal to $366,000 on the time, or $647,000 at the moment) and one was auctioned for $330,000 at Mecum’s LV Motorcycles public sale in 2026. Meanwhile, rumors counsel that RC166s promote for as much as $500,000, however no laborious public sale sale information helps this.

The time period “superbike” wasn’t a factor earlier than 1969 — as a result of nothing had earned it. But that modified shortly after Honda unveiled its CB750 on the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1968. It featured a 750cc overhead-cam four-stroke inline-4 engine that produced 66 hp at 8,000 rpm; a five-speed gearbox; battery ignition, and entrance disc brakes — a formidable mixture of specs for the time. 

There’s a number of debate about Honda CB750 gross sales figures. But one factor’s for positive — these bikes offered extraordinarily effectively, with sources claiming Honda revamped 400,000 between 1969 and the early Nineteen Eighties. Where’s the rarity in that, you ask? Here it comes.

Honda created the CB750 in response to particular calls for from its American associates: They wished a 750cc four-cylinder engine with 4 carburetors, 4 mufflers, a max velocity of 124 mph, and a quarter-mile acceleration fee of 13.2 seconds. This was Honda’s largest bike but, and to hurry up growth whereas lowering prices, it used sandcast engine molds for its first fashions. Made by pouring molten aluminum into sand molds, these sandcast CB750s will be recognized by their distinctive VIN numbers and their engines’ tough texture. 

As demand for the CB750 skyrocketed, the corporate shortly invested in die-cast engine molds and the sandcast period got here to an finish. In whole, Honda made solely 7,414 sandcast CB750s — a quantity dwarfed by the full 400,000 bikes believed to hit the road. This rarity exhibits in public sale figures, although the sandcast bikes did not command a better worth after they launched, promoting for $1,495 in 1969 (equal to $13,604 at the moment). In 2025, two 1969 sandcast CB750s offered on the 2025 Mecum Las Vegas Motorcycle public sale for $55,000 and $43,450 — equal to $57,009 and $45,037 in 2026 {dollars} — whereas a novel 1968 prototype (the very first CB750 despatched to the U.S.) offered for $313,500 in 2026.

In 1976, Honda responded to endurance racing’s rising reputation by coming into the Endurance European Championship. Needing a motorcycle that would meet the distinctive challenges of races just like the 24-hour Bol d’Or, Honda’s manufacturing staff created the RCB1000. Equipped with progressive Comstar wheels, Brembo brakes, and a 997cc four-stroke DOHC engine that produced 115 hp at 9,500 rpm, it dominated the monitor, profitable each the producers’ and riders’ championships in its first 12 months of racing, in addition to three consecutive Bol d’Or races from 1976 to 1978. Despite its superb monitor document, although, Honda wanted a road-legal descendant it may promote to fulfill homologation guidelines — so the CB1100R was born.

The CB1100R was closely influenced by the 1979 CB900F however boasted a number of distinct options. First (and most evident) have been the CB1000R’s full fairing (which turned commonplace in 1982), single seat, and 26-liter aluminum gasoline tank constructed for endurance racing. The bike’s engine bore was additionally barely bigger, pushing displacement to 1,062cc. Combined with lighter internals, hotter cams, and greater 33mm carburetors, the CB1100R boasted 115 hp at 9,000 rpm — sufficient to make it probably the most highly effective manufacturing bike when it hit the market in 1981. It proved its value on the monitor, too. The CB1100R received the 1981 New Zealand Castrol Six Hour Race (ridden by Malcolm Campbell and Mick Cole), and Ron Haslam took seven of eight rounds of that 12 months’s British Streetbike Series on one.

Honda constructed simply 1,050 CB1100Rs in 1981, adopted by one other 1,500 in each 1982  and 1983 (4,050 bikes in whole). None ever offered within the U.S., making them a real collector’s merchandise with costs that change drastically — from $8,500 to $36,000 (values adjusted for inflation) — relying on particular person bike specs, situation, and whether or not they have well-preserved fairing.

In 1982, Honda shocked the motorcycling world with its CX500 Turbo, the primary factory-built, fuel-injected turbocharged bike. By 1983, all 4 Japanese bike producers (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha) had a turbo bike on sale, and Honda stored using the ’80s turbo wave by creating the CX650 Turbo; a much bigger, extra refined model of its CX500. 

The CX650’s engine measured 673cc, and its turbocharger — a separate, exhaust-driven element spinning independently of the crankshaft — ran 19 kilos per sq. inch of enhance, with its impeller reaching over 20,000rpm. Meanwhile, the engine itself delivered the grunt many missed from the CX500: as much as 100 hp at a relatively modest 8,000 rpm, and a 140-mph high velocity. The CX650 additionally featured shaft drive, Pro-Link monoshock, and TRAC anti-dive entrance forks, in addition to a 12-pound weight discount over the CX500 (regardless of having a bigger engine). Other options included computerized digital gasoline injection with solid-state ignition, and sport touring fairing.

Unfortunately for Honda, the turbo bike development was brief lived, and the producer pulled the plug on the CX650 after a single 12 months of manufacturing. In whole, it constructed simply 1,777 bikes, of which lower than 1,200 reached North America. While it is without doubt one of the rarest Honda manufacturing bikes, its costs are removed from inaccessible: Mecum offered one at its LV Motorcycles Auction in 2026 for simply $7,150 — stable cash for an ’80s Japanese bike, however a fraction of what different uncommon Hondas command.

Honda constructed the RC30 (formally the VFR750R) to homologate its unique RVF750 endurance racer — the world’s most unique and costly race bike on the time — for the inaugural 1988 World Superbike Championship. The consequence was principally the identical racing bike, simply with lights and mirrors. 

Beneath its seat sat a 748cc liquid-cooled 90-degree V4 with 16 valves and gear-driven DOHC — an engine that would simply produce 112 hp and a high velocity above 150 mph. Meanwhile, its chassis featured a twin-spar aluminum body paired with a single-sided swingarm and quick-release entrance fork — each borrowed instantly from the RVF750 racer — that supplied extra-fast wheel adjustments throughout races. The RC30 additionally supplied titanium connecting rods for optimum power whereas minimizing weight, and a 360-degree crank for extra-efficient exhaust tuning. 

And its monitor efficiency was terrific. Fred Merkel received each the 1988 and 1989 World Superbike Championships on the RC30, and Carl Fogerty took house the TT F1 World Championship the identical two years. Steve Hislop additionally rode a RC30 to realize the first-ever 120-mph lap of the Isle of Man TT course.

Production figures for this bike range, with totally different sources claiming anyplace between 3,000 to five,000 made — the precise determine appears to lie between 4,700 and 4,800. Its rarity and spectacular efficiency imply that the RC30 instructions excessive costs. It initially offered for $15,000 within the U.S. in 1987 (equal to over $44,000 in 2026 {dollars}) and now often fetches between $30,000 and roughly $68,000 on Mecum (values adjusted for inflation) — although a motorcycle that had by no means been began offered for a whopping $121,000 in 2019(equal to $158,056 in 2026).

If you want proof of Japan’s late ’80s/early ’90s bubble financial system, the NR750 will do extra than simply minimize it. It value round $50,000 when it hit the road (equal to $119,014 at the moment)— greater than a same-year Corvette, 1993 Toyota Supra Turbo, or a base-trim 1992 Porsche 968. 

At its core, the NR750 featured the identical oval pistons seen a decade earlier on the 1979 NR500: a four-stroke race bike designed to compete with the two-strokes dominating the monitor on the time. Boasting a 747cc V4 engine with eight valves per cylinder, the NR750 produced 125 hp at 14,000 rpm. It additionally got here wrapped in carbon-fiber physique work, titanium rods, magnesium wheels, side-mounted radiators, an under-seat exhaust, and (why not?) a titanium-coated windshield. Read the spec sheet, and it is not a shock that the NR750 value roughly 5 occasions as a lot as Honda’s same-year CBR900RR Fireblade superbike.

The NR750 did not carry out effectively, which, in Honda’s protection, wasn’t actually the purpose of all this experimentation. It flunked out on the 1987 Le Mans 24 Hours as a result of engine troubles, and its solely main monitor win got here by the palms of Malcom Campbell at Calder Park through the Swann Series that very same 12 months. 

Honda solely made 322 examples of this bike — 220 in 1992 plus an additional 102 in 1993 — and solely offered it on a built-to-order foundation in Japan and Europe for patrons keen to place down a 25% deposit. Rarity plus genuinely unrepeatable engineering has made the NR750 a real collectible: Mecum set an public sale document of $181,500 for one at its 2014 Las Vegas sale (equal to $256,033 in 2026) whereas Bonhams offered a clear instance for 62,100 British kilos in 2018 (equal to roughly $82,600 on the time and $109,797 in 2026). 

The RC45 (formally RVF750 RC45) succeeded Honda’s RC30 and shared two key traits with its predecessor: It was a homologation particular, and it was custom-built for endurance racing. It borrowed the digital fuel-injection tech discovered within the NR750, in addition to a 749cc liquid-cooled 90-degree V4 engine with gear-driven cams relocated on its facet. 

While it wasn’t a scooter, the RC45 did not ship the form of energy Honda bikes have been identified for. Stock bikes shipped to Europe and Japan supplied simply 118 hp, and U.S. bikes had solely 101 (although an RC45 examined by CycleWorld on launch produced a measly 86 horsepower at 10,500 rpm). The bike additionally boasted titanium con rods, brief skirt pistons, and a 360-degree firing order that contributed to its lovely purr.

Unlike the RC30, the RC45 did not dominate its competitors on the monitor, however it nonetheless managed a number of wins: Miguel Duhamel took house the 1995 AMA Superbike title and the 1996 Daytona 200 on an RC45. In 1997, John Kocinski claimed the World Superbike title atop one, and the identical bike additionally received three consecutive Suzuka 8 Hours from 1997 by 1999. The RC45 additionally flunked by way of gross sales. Honda constructed simply 700 of those bikes: 200 in 1994 for homologation, and an extra 500 for the Japanese market. As few as 50 have been imported to the U.S., seemingly as a result of poor evaluations and a roughly $20,000 price ticket.

Today, RC45s aren’t straightforward to seek out, they usually fetch a substantial worth. On Iconic Motorbike Auctions, RC45s often promote for the 2026 equal of roughly $37,000 — although bikes tied to well-known collections have offered for as excessive as $119,519 in 2025 (equal to $123,885 in 2026).

In 2015, Honda launched a motorcycle designed to present prospects a style of the form of beast Marc Marquez used to win back-to-back MotoGP championships in 2013 and 2014: the RC213V-S. As you’d anticipate, it wasn’t low-cost — inventory non-racing fashions commanded $184,000 within the U.S. (equal to $259,252 in 2026) — and Honda deliberate to make solely 250, although manufacturing apparently halted at 213 whole (making for an additional true rarity within the mass producer’s catalogue). In 2022, Honda created the CBR1000RR-R FireBlade (one of many quickest bikes accessible within the U.S. on the time), which was modeled on the long-lasting RC213V-S.

Of course, adapting a GP bike for the highway requires compromises, however the RC213V-S nonetheless packed a lot to get enthusiastic about: magnesium wheels, full Öhlins suspension, and the primary quickshifter ever fitted to a Honda highway bike. It additionally boasted a slipper clutch and swingarm inherited instantly from the RC213V race bike; a lot of the identical Brembo brake elements; and Moto GP-derived electronics similar to throttle-by-wire, selectable energy modes, and traction management. The European bikes delivered 159 hp, whereas these outfitted with the HRC Sports Kit boasted 215 hp. U.S. bikes, in the meantime, delivered a disappointing 101 hp, with no Sports Kit accessible. 

Nonetheless, the RC213V-S’s know-how, iconic design, and shortage made it a extremely sought-after collector’s merchandise: A crated instance with only one mile on the clock offered for 182,500 British kilos in 2021 (equal to approx. $251,800 then and roughly $310,350 in at the moment’s {dollars}). At the time, it was the costliest Japanese bike to ever promote through public sale, although it was later crushed by the CB750 Sandcast prototype featured earlier on this listing, which offered for $313,500 in 2026.