2002 RC-51
 

I have a 98 SuperHawk with over 60,000 miles on it (got it at 30,000 two years ago). Once it hit 60,000 miles I have been spending more time fixing it then riding it so I have been looking at getting a new bike.

Found this 2002 RVT100R RC-51 with 15,000 miles on it and took it for a test ride. Cosmetically it is pretty beat up but the engine runs perfect from what i can tell, no leak and sounds tight but there is a lot of scrapes and the the left clip-on is bent down (not bad at all though, didn't notice it till i got back from the test ride) Talked him down to 3000 but still hesitant since this was a track bike and has been down at least two times. The frame looks good but I didn't get it measured to see if it is straight. What are your guys thoughts? I know it's tough to tell from just two pictures but I'm just ranting and seeing if any of you have some advise. The title is clean and reg is good. Will need new tire pretty soon but other then that looks really good.

***** 2002 Honda RC51 *****

My budget is 3-4g. Any other suggestions?

3000 bucks for a good running clean title rc-51? If I had no bike right now I'd be calling the guy...

Depends what ur plans are for the bike. I had an 06 and it was heavy and un comfortable even with heli bars.. around town it felt heavy etc. The motor is awesome and I loved the looks though. So for touring etc.. id just find a newer hawk...good luck..:cool:

I'll trade you a 98 hawk with 35k for it :) :lol:

If you are in Los Angeles... I would buy this bike in a heart beat
Aprilia 2000 RSV R Mille 1000
....We have a few Aprilia owners on this board....They are great bikes...once set up very reliable...motors last for ever!!!!

haha Steve! I was just looking at that ad this morning, pretty good deal for an early R model!

Did you buy another bike yet?

Sorry for the thread Jack!!!

Hi Nick, NO!... to busy working and traveling every month. I'm off back East for a long weekend on Friday. I still may go WSBK the following weekend. I'll let you know.


Hmmmm.... was you thinking of buying that Mille? thats a real sweet deal.

OP, this article may interest you:

Aprilia RSV Mille, Ducati 999 and Honda RC51 - Road Test & Review - Sport Rider

If you want to move to a more pure-sports oriented bike and away from the "good at everything" (including comfort) Superhawk, one of those three bikes would be a good choice.

I've ridden all 3 bikes mentioned in the article and I would agree with the conclusions they draw, except now you can get the "R" version of the Mille for less than an RC-51 goes for...

Ive actually owned all 3 of the above bikes..lol. they all are great in their own way.. the look at me factor being one of them. They all have their problems also.. comfort was #1 with me. Thats why im back on my 2nd hawk... more comfort.. glorious vtwin noise and torque and wouldnt u know it... the look at me is back since u very rarely see them out...lol. had a guy drooling over it yesterday thinking it was a ducati..

Anyway, ride em all and choose what ur gut tells you... its the only way....ride safe;)

funny how different people think different things are more comfortable. me for instance I am only 30 but already have a bad hip and have had a spinal fracture of my T4 and T5 so my back isn't the healthiest either. My buddie and I swapped bikes for part of our ride the other day and I HATED his power plant (2000 CBR929RR) but I loved the ergonomics of the bike. I thought the footpegs were in a better position for me and the handlebars were much easier for me to reach without stretching as well (I have Heli-bars and a corbin seat on my bike) Other than the engine and the seat (that could easily be remedied by a corbin) I thought the bike was Tits, and really look at the RC51 as more like the CBR929RR ergonomics wise and more like the hawk powerplant wise, best of both worlds for me.

Of course I'm really hoping the superbike bars mod helps me out in the ergonomics department

Yeah... I'm 46 with short legs and a longer torso. Also I'm 6'2. The super bikes seemed aimed at shorter guys. I put heli bars on the 51 which made it tolerable. The pegs on the hawk seem farther back than the super bikes though..lol.

Anyway, it's an individual choice and you will only know if you ride each one. Oh yeah, insulin, if you sell the heli's hit me up I might be interested.....;)

Another great pair of sleeper bikes that can be found for low $$ are the Aprilia Falco (think Italian S'hawk) and the Suzuki SV1k.

An RC51 that's been raced, down twice and has banged up bodywork is not worth $3k. You can find nice ones for $4-5k, which will be less then you put into this one by the time it's ready to ride.

I'm going to be trading my heli's with a YZF buddie who will be shipping me a set of superbike bars and bar risers off of one of his parts 600's. his YZF1000 uses the same 41mm fork tubes and he wants to see if he can make the hawk heli's work on his bike without too much modification. He had talked about wanting to get a set of Heli's and wasn't going to charge me anything for the superbike bar and risers and I told him since the forks were the same size that I would ship him my heli's in return so he could see if he could make them work. I feel bad when people just offer me up parts for nothing :lol:

You're trading with a guy who rides an inline 4?? Blasphemy!!!!!! Lol... No worries man.... Ride safe:)