The Taiyo Honda GP Racer RC211V was a large 1/6 scale radio controlled motorcycle produced by Taiyo Toys (Japan), and released in the Japanese market (and potentially others) in 2005.
Based on the real thing
Introduced in 2002, the Honda RC211V was a racing motorcycle developed by Honda for the MotoGP World Championship. It was Honda's first four-stroke GP bike, coming after the two-stroke NSR500. Powered by a 990cc V5 engine, it would become a dominant force in MotoGP due to its power, handling, and innovative technology at the time. This legendary machine won multiple championships at the hands of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, cementing its place in motor racing history.
The Taiyo version is based on the 2004 bike as shown below.
Rikita, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Features and Performance
Like all mid-2000s RC motorcycles by Taiyo, the RC211V was a large 1/6 scale with excellent detail, and a built-in gyro mechanism that allowed the bike to realistically lean into corners and generally remain stable even at lowered speeds.
This Taiyo RC motorcycle is powered by the convenient 6.0V Jet Turbo battery pack (actually 5 x AA rechargeable NiCd batteries) which provides ample power delivery. Check out the YouTube video below for a sense of its performance.
Note: this video was taken from a channel not updated in a decade (link), and so I have made a copy for posterity and enhanced it to remove some of the blurriness.
See a video of this radio controlled Honda RC211V here:
Availability and Collectability
Amongst the more niche collectors of late stage Taiyo Radio Controlled toys, the RC211V is one of the most wanted. When they do appear on Japanese auction sites, there are always many interested bidders. Why? Not familar with MotoGP much myself, but it sounds like the real bike was popular, and as an RC toy collector I also find the design to be highly appealing and realistic looking. Taiyo did a great job with their RC motorbikes.
This is an in-demand model, though to most Tyco / US-based collectors it will probably remain unknown unless they're specifically interested in MotoGP history.
