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RC is the prefix adopted for the large majority of works racing motorcycles manufactured by the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), a subsidiary of Honda of Japan.
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History of the RC name
Use of the RC name stretches from Honda's entry onto the international motorcycle Grand Prix stage in 1959 to the present day. In recent years the prefix has also been applied to a few production motorcycles, which have been created for homologation purposes. For works Motocross bikes, there was an additional M suffix.
In the late 1980s, Honda began to enter its production motorcycles in Superbike, or production-based, racing series, such as the new FIM Superbike World Championship. The most successful of these was the VFR750R, which eventually became better known by its model number, RC30.
Honda naming convention
Since at least the late 1970s production Honda motorcycles have been given model numbers corresponding to the displacement category into which their engines fell, and the VFR750R was the 30th production Honda motorcycle model with an engine displacement between 650 cc and 899 cc. Similarly, the Honda RVF750R is also known by the designation RC45. The RC45's replacement, the VTR1000 SP-1, after SP-2 (model number SC45) was marketed under the name RC51 only in the United States.