One of the best V-twins ever...
When Honda built a V-twin production race bike, they did the job pretty damn well. ..
Thisdelightful shape you see before you is now 20 years old. Yes, two decades have elapsed since the Honda VTRLOOO SPL was first sold in the UK.
Honda's stab at V-twin sportsbikes for the 1990s had gone well enough with the friendly VTRLOOOF Firestorm, but the SPL (sometimes called SP-1, or SP-W or - in the USA - as the RVTLOOOR RC51) was going to be a full-on, no-holds-barred homologation special.
The reason for this was simple: Honda, like the other Japanese manufacturers, had struggled with their 750cc machines in the World Superbike championship. After winning the 1988 and 89 titles with the V4 RC30 in the hands of Fred Merkel, they'd seen Ducati dominate with eight world titles up to the millennium, with only John Kocinski's 1997 title win on the RC45 to give them any corporate pride. So, if you can't beat 'em ...
Previously an 'SP - sports production' homologation model would be plenty pricey, but the SPL came in at just £9795. Out on the road the bike was a bit harsh, a bit snatchy and firmly suspended. But then that never seemed to hurt Ducati's sales of the 916, did it?
Plenty bought the SPL when it came out and it did the business out on the track, too. It won its first WSB race in the hands of Colin Edwards at Kyalami; scooped an Isle of Man TT win in the hands of Joey Dunlop (using a motor from Aaron Slight's WSB bike); won its first 24-Hour race at Le Mans; won at the prestigious Suzuka Eight-hour race with Edwards and Valentino Rossi on board; and finally scooped the WSB title at the final round of that year with Edwards' Castrol Honda team.
The bike would be refined still further for 2002 with the SP2 (bigger throttle bodies, updated fuel-injection, new exhaust, exhaust port changes, revised suspension, four kilos less weight, new swingarm, frame updates and bigger screen).
Price-wise, the SP2 came in at £10,349, but soon could be found for much less when WSB rules changed and people wanted to buy Fireblades instead. Today the SPL has boomed used-value wise. Five years ago you could find one for £3000, today you'd need more than £5000 for a rough one, with some chancers wanting £10k for ones with iffy aftermarket paint jobs. Shop around and you can still find a good one for around six grand.
One thing to remember - don't be fooled by some 'limited-edition' Castrol Edwards paint job or Vimto Dunlop scheme. The SP2 came with a Castrol sticker kit to go over the white paintwork anyways. There was a 2001 ' silver' SPL though, and - in the States - in 2004 they produced a Nicky Hayden replica to celebrate his 2002 AMA Superbike win. Differences were a brushed ally frame and swingarm, and a custom sticker kit with number board to place his famous '69'.