1998-2001 isle of man tt honda vfr 800 conspiracy

[JZH]

Back in the '90s, some people were absolutely convinced their colourful race-rep VFR400s were some kind of factory option.  I always used to post the Honda Parts Catalogues showing all the factory paint schemes ever offered, but some people still "believed"...  

 

You sometimes also hear about limited edition "white" RC30s.  There is some truth to that in that Honda did offer white bodywork on its race bikes (I should say HRC did--the RC30 was manufactured by HRC, not Honda), and for a limited time replacement white fairing panels for those race bikes were available, also through HRC.

 

The red/silver "Anni" version of the VFR shown above was a ROW option in 1999.  It was sold everywhere but North America (at least everywhere in Europe).  You can see its picture in the Honda Parts Catalogue, it has its own model ID and you can (or could for a while) order parts for it from any European Honda dealer.

 

There were also some distributor-made limited edition VFRs, like the red ones mentioned above which Honda UK had commissioned to celebrate Honda Britain's 50th anniversary.  No doubt other Honda distributors did the same thing.  Again with RC30s, there had long been rumours and claims relating to "Rothmans" RC30s.  Near as I could tell, there may have been a handful of these commissioned and sold (or given away in a competition, I don't recall) by Honda's French distributor.

 

But will all these non-factory specials, you could never just order parts for them.  Honda certainly didn't stock extra tanks or fairings, so in my book, that's not a factory bike.

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

 

[fabio222]

Lads that Honda Britain special is actually quite nice! Far better than the red and silver 50th anniversary special.