Honda RC30
Builders: Paul Wigginton Bike: Honda RC30 Build time so far: 10 years
Traditionally, a bike project starts with a bike. It might be a motorcycle-shaped boulder of rust and despair, but at least it’s a bike. Paul Wigginton rejected this tiresomely conventional route and took things up a notch; he started his RC30 project with just a rear wheel. ‘Years ago I was looking at Bike with a mate and said I liked the RC30 and he said, “you’ll never afford one of them”. But I saw a VFR400 and thought I could put a 750 engine in it. I bought the 400 frame and an RC30 bodykit and was ready to go for that project when I saw a genuine RC30 rear wheel at Newark autojumble in around 2010. I bought it for £120.
‘I was going to use it in the project and then I thought, “I wonder if I could build the real thing from parts?”. I kept looking on ebay and buying parts off Les at A1 Motorcycles in Preston. Then I found a guy in Burton-upon-trent who had a tank for £550, a frame for £2200 and a swingarm at £900, and I managed to buy them too.’
Paul fizzes with enthusiasm when talking about tracking down components – ten years as a part-time RC30 detective hasn’t dulled the thrill of the chase. ‘I love the excitement of finding a part and the tension of buying it and the feeling of being one step closer,’ he says. ‘If I went straight into a dealership and bought an RC30 on finance, sure I’d be riding it and enjoying it, but I wouldn’t feel like I’ve earned it. It’s almost too easy. I’ll feel like I’ve earned this.’
Of course the trickiest piece of the puzzle was always going to be the engine. These rarified gear-driven V4s can fetch £10,000, but Paul eventually tracked one down for £2500. ‘It was disassembled, missing the heads and had been bored out by Cambridge Motorsports to take an 800cc piston. But it came with the gearbox and clutch, and I think it’s all there,’ he says. The engine internals are currently sitting in tubs of oil in his garage so they don’t corrode. Having got a complete set of genuine fairings, an original exhaust, the cooling system and electrics – and ‘quite a lot of duplicates’ – it’s really just the engine build that needs doing. ‘Me and my mate can handle most jobs but the engine should really go to a specialist,’ says Paul. ‘That’s the biggie, and I need to get some money saved for it.’
Ah yes, money. ‘Hmmmm, I do wonder occasionally what I’m doing, and my mate has said I could have bought a bike by now with all the money I’ve spent. But I’m not sure. The only one I did see that I might have bought was when a couple split up and the woman pushed his RC30 over in spite and damaged the side. He was selling that for £10,000. But I couldn’t afford most of them – you don’t see many for less than £20,000 and the ones in dealers are around £30,000. The ones with no miles on are £80k.
‘I think I’ve spent less than £20,000 so far, though I’ll have to spend more to get it finished. But I won’t lose money on it will I? Even the parts I’ve bought are an investment.’
So is 2021 the year he’ll finish it? Paul snorts with laughter. ‘That’s not how I think about it. I need to get the garage sorted because I’ve recently moved house and then the other half wants to get married at some point. I would never sell it to get married – I’ll save up another way. The RC30 is a bit of history. It’s elite and I won’t be happy until I get it on the road. It’s going to be with me for the rest of my life.’
‘If I bought an RC30 on finance I’d be riding it, but I wouldn’t feel like I’ve earned it’