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How much for the
Honda RC45?
Auction update
December
23, 2025 – Guy 'Guido' Allen
If you’re familiar with early world superbike
championship history, you’ll know one of the great tussles
was between multi-cylinder motorcycles and twins. Ducati
of course ruled the latter category and was allowed up to
1000cc engine capacity. Fours, meanwhile, were restricted
to 750cc. So it was essentially a Ducati versus the
Japanese industry arm-wrestle which at times became very
political.
Somewhere in there Honda produced the jewel-like RC30
V-four which, in the hands of American Fred Merkel, won
the championship for the first two years – 1988-89.
And let’s not forget the role of Irishman Joey
Dunlop in developing the machine’s hero status at the
Isle of Man.
Honda produced circa 4800 RC30s in various forms across 1987-90 and they have since become a very desirable collectible. Its next-gen effort was the RC45, a much updated motorcycle, again running a 750 V-four powerplant, which was now fuel-injected.
It grabbed the world superbike championship in 1997 (so a long time between drinks for Honda!) with American John Kocsinski in the saddle. Ducati had dominated the series in the intervening period.
Production numbers for the RC45 were much smaller than
for the RC30, at around 1270. However, the RC30 has
historically tended to be more valuable. Prices around
Au$60,000 (US$40,000, GB£30,000, €34,000) area are about
right for a super-clean road bike with very low
miles. We’ve seen one do
more than double that, and put the result down to a
one-off auction crazy moment. They happen.
So, with that background, we were interested to see how a zero-mile RC45 would go in the market. Iconic in the USA had it for sale and the bidding was nudging towards Au$150,000 (US$100,000, GB£75,000, €85,000). Zero-mile bikes are hugely collectible in the international market, so long as they are a desirable model. Think of them as collector catnip.
Given the generous bidding, you would think it might have
sold. Not at first. The owner placed a price of Au$178,000
(US$117,700, GB£75,000, €101,000), eventually settling for
Au$166,000 (US$110,745, GB£82,000, €94,000).
And the RC45 review at Bennetts
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