The drinking session that begat the RC30

During the 1980s superbike racing became the USA’S biggest racing class, so much so that the Americans wanted to make street-bike racing a global phenomenon. Racer-turned-promoter Steve Mclaughlin was given a budget and told to make a superbike world championship happen. Mclaughlin had won the inaugural Daytona superbike race and could talk the talk. But Mclaughlin, nicknamed Motormouth, had a mountain to climb – he had to convince the FIM (bike racing’s governing body), the circuits and the manufacturers that a street-bike world championship was a good idea.

Mclaughlin spent several years crisscrossing the globe, making at least a dozen trips to Japan. Most importantly he had to get Honda on side. He needed Honda to take his idea seriously enough that they’d build a brand-new motorcycle, even though he didn’t have a championship yet.

His crunch meeting was with legendary Honda engineer Michihiko Aika.

‘We go out and I tell the bartender to line up five shots of vodka and I knock them back,’ recalls Mclaughlin. ‘Naturally because this is a macho deal, they have to do the same. Aika has got seven Honda guys with him. A while later Aika and I are the only two who can stand. That was a bonding thing and it cemented my deal at Honda – from that point I was golden.’

Aika told Honda they must make a bike to win the championship – and the RC30 was born.

‘Aika was the man who made it happen, but he was sweating because Honda were building two thousand RC30S for homologation and he was worried they wouldn’t sell them.

He told me he was screwed if they didn’t sell all the bikes.’

Aika needn’t have worried: within 24 hours of announcing the RC30 Honda received 5000 orders and the production run was doubled.

‘Within 24 hours of announcing the RC30 Honda received 5000 orders’