Accolades across the range for Honda at MCN Awards

Honda sweeps the board with four wins 

Honda’s MotoGP bike for the road, #rc213vs, has been named Overall Machine of the Year, at the prestigious MCN Awards.

Demonstrating the breadth and depth of the #honda range, MCN’s judging panel also picked out the CB125F as best 125cc, Honda’s revamped #cbr500r as the sub-500 winner and named Africa Twin Best Adventure bike.

RC213V-S was singled out as a bike like no other – a piece of HRC racing history and the closest possible a customer can come to owning and riding a MotoGP machine.  Hand-built at Honda’s Kumamoto factory, the bike was developed to match as closely as possible the dynamic performance of Marc Marquez’s championship-winning RC213V, with the minimum possible changes made to conform to regulations for road-going bikes.

For Nick Campolucci, head of bikes at #honda, collecting the awards from MCN marked a high point in a successful year for #honda:

“It’s easy to focus on the glamour and exclusivity of the #rc213vs, staggering piece of engineering that it is.  However, the recognition of those other three bikes is hugely significant.

“Africa Twin flew out of showrooms, when launched at the beginning of the year, topping the sales charts and it’s been a long time since a litre bike from #honda did that!  It has proven itself equally capable off and on-road and that’s why awards like this are so satisfying.  This recognition from MCN shows that #honda has lived up to its promise to deliver a worthy successor to the original, legendary Africa Twin – a true all-rounder.”

CB125F hit the market last year and, with a wide-barred, upright rider nod to the ‘streetfighter’ look of its CB siblings, the CB500F and CB650F, it added a touch of style to the user-friendly, tough, entry level attributes of its CBF125 predecessor – a bike that was the UK’s best-selling 125 for six years straight.

The A-2 friendly #cbr500r was updated for 2016, to widespread acclaim.  At its launch, Motorcycle News reported that “every aspect comes together to create a bike that is incredibly easy to ride and surprisingly good fun.”

“This haul of awards from MCN,” adds Nick, “shows that there’s a first-rate #honda for every type of rider – the commuter, the new rider honing their skills, the adventure-seeker, collector and race fanatic. 

With Honda’s new, eagerly anticipated Fireblade SP and SP2, just unveiled at INTERMOT, set to be on show to the #uk public for the first time at Motorcycle Live, you can be sure that there’s more excitement to come.