Honda VTR1000 SP-1, brute force V2 superbike

After the precise V4 engine of the successful RC30, the Tokyo brand completely changed course to create a V2 superbike that was comparatively cruder, the Honda VTR1000 SP-1.

The RC30, the VFR750R, was equipped with one of the most technologically advanced and precise engines, a V4 that was pure Japanese clockwork.

Its successor was another V4, the 1997 RC45, which was another technical marvel, pure mechanical sophistication, but it didn’t get anywhere near the result of the RC30.

Knowing Honda, they could have directed their steps to create an even more sophisticated and mechanically complex motorcycle, like a V6 engine, because due to their technological capacity they were superfluous. But not.

Instead they took a step back and created a V-twin superbike that was, by all accounts, clunkier than an RC30. And so, in the year 2000, already 23 years ago, the Honda VTR1000 SP-1 was born, a beast of a V2 circuit, internally named RC51.

At this moment it might have seemed that this SP1 was derived from the Honda VTR1000F Firestorm, a nice sport touring car, but they were nothing alike…

To begin with, there was its impressive aesthetic, with a fairing equipped with large double optics flanking a huge central air intake of the Ram Air system, and its tail was reminiscent of a competition NSR 250.

The Honda VTR1000 SP-1 was the replacement for the RC45, and its internal code was RC51

Its seat –a simple competition-type foam surface-, its tail, its low screen, its clip-on handlebars below the crown and the rear footrests immediately transported us to the world of competition. Here the word comfort is relative…

In the cycle part, the double-beam chassis was visible, and the thick and robust double-arm swingarm -of hybrid construction, with casting and extrusion areas- was anchored to the engine. Yes, it was a chassis called Pivotless, which means that it does not support the swingarm axis.

This system was also applied to the Firestorm, CBR600RR and Fireblade 900, and allowed to reduce weight and de-stress the chassis.

If we talk about suspensions, it equipped a Showa multi-adjustable inverted fork and also a Showa gas monoshock with a bottle integrated into the same body, and multi-adjustable. As for brakes, it mounted a pair of 320mm floating front discs, bitten by Nissin four-piston calipers, and a 220mm rear disc.

Some 17” 6-spoke alloy wheels, with 120/70 17 and 190/50 17 tires topped off the set. What a rear rubber, at that time!

The V2 90º -4T, LC, 8V, DOHC, PGM-FI- engine of the SP1 was derived from that of the Firestorm, if only in concept. It had a displacement of 999 cc -996 cc in the Firestorm-, the result of a bore per stroke of 100 x 63.6 mm -98 x 66 mm in the Firestorm-. Honda had never used pistons of such a diameter.

Born in the year 2000, it was replaced by the SP-2 just two years later

As for the cooling system, curiously it mounted two side radiators -as in the Firestorm-, to make the bike shorter. The engine was fed with a recently released PGM-FI electronic injection – the Firestorm had carburettors; Let’s remember that it was 23 years ago.

And due to the electronic injection, iridium spark plugs with a very fine 0.4 mm central electrode were mounted, which must have worked with unleaded gasoline.

This year, Honda already took care of complying with the Euro1 regulations -and without a catalyst- and achieved it with a clean air intake system at the exhaust gas outlet, in the same cylinder head -and which would later become commonplace.

Speaking of exhausts, there were two of them, one on each side, of considerable size, made entirely of stainless steel, and with a somewhat raised conventional outlet.

To improve power at speed it had a large front air intake, the duct of which ran through the head tube and ran straight to the airbox.

And it had a gadget, an electronic valve in the same air intake that remained closed at low speed and opened when the air flow was greater. Thanks to everything, the output of the V2 of the SP-1 was 136 hp at 9,500 rpm, a figure that today is not impressive at all.

The rigidity of its chassis made it unsuitable for rolling on very winding and twisty roads.

Continuing with its minimalism and weight savings, the new instrumentation also contributed its grain of sand, and that is that it was totally digital. Weighing just 360 grams, it had a rectangular landscape shape, with the arched tachometer taking center stage, occupying the entire dashboard, with the speedometer on the left and right, the fuel level warning light and the partial odometer. Below, the usual crew of luminous indicators.

And since it was designed for competition, the list of accessories and upgrades was very extensive: no less than 99, from a larger capacity fuel tank -22 or 24 liters-, to a new set of pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft. , going through components made of magnesium or carbon fiber.

At its controls you only got the most out of it on a circuit or on fast roads. In winding areas it was too rigid and it was difficult to get into a curve, despite having an engine full of torque at low revs and suspensions and brakes that worked wonderfully.

Another of its drawbacks was a high gasoline consumption -8.4 l/100 km-, since its autonomy was only about 150 km -with an 18-liter tank-.

The Honda VTR1000 SP-1, only available in “Winning Red” color, was a beast designed for the circuit, spartan, hard, rigid, without concessions to comfort, and equipped with a very rough V2, compared to the spectacular V4 of the RC30 /Four. Five.

It was not cheap: at that time it had a price of 2,495,000 pesetas, 15,000 euros to change, 3,000 euros more expensive than a VFR 800 or a CBR 900 RR of that year.

It was a very special superbike that had a second version with the SP-2 in 2002, and left the range in 2006 without issue. It was Honda’s last great V2 sports car.

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