A Teeny, Tiny Honda RC213V Has Entered The Chat. Wait, It's A 500?

Honda's CBR500R Four gets a showstopping design concept for the Chongqing International Motorcycle Show. Would you buy one?

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Janaki Jitchotvisut

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Oct 16, at 7:42am ET

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As any fan of MotoGP knows, if gaining the aerodynamic advantages of keeping your nose down while going fast is your goal, then winglets are most definitely your friend. But how do you feel about winglets as a design exercise, on bikes that will most likely never (or very rarely) have any reason to use them to their full aerodynamic potential?

I mean, MotoGP replica motorcycles and scooters have existed for just about as long as the series has. Even before there were formal, factory-crafted replica machines, I'm almost certain that fans were out there crafting their own. Why? Because fans get passionate about the things they love, and they create homages in whatever mediums they feel are appropriate. Sometimes it's a motorcycle, and sometimes it's a cake, and sometimes it's both. I digress.

Anyway, for this year's CIMA display, Honda brought out the big guns with a concept design it's calling "CBR500R FOUR Racing Color." Except, of course, it's more than just slapping some HRC Castrol paint and graphics on a normal CBR500R Four. We're talking winglets, winglets everywhere...or, at least, front and rear.

While the influence of the RC213V is undeniable, the styling is certainly nowhere near identical. Although Honda did put IBM logos on its CBR500R FOUR Racing Color show bike, the size, orientation, and placement of the logos is completely different from the race bike livery it's emulating. Other paint and graphics choices are slightly different as well, and that's definitely due in no small part to just how different the fairing and winglet shapes are between the MotoGP bike and the half-liter inline four.

What do you think?

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Even the windscreen is a significantly different shape, and while some of these styling differences can easily be explained by the inherent styling differences between the recently-introduced stock CBR500R FOUR and the RC213V, the winglet size and shape on the replica bike is almost comically outsized. Where the winglets on the race bike look a bit like a neatly tied bow from the front, the ones on the CBR500R FOUR Race Color concept appear as though it's ready for takeoff.

But design is always, always subjective, so what do you think? While it's unclear that Honda will bring the RACE COLOR concept to market in China, let alone anywhere else, would you ride this if you could? Let us know in the comments.