Introduced for the 2000 model year, this litre-class V-twin superbike was Honda’s answer to the World Superbike formula and was closely tied to the company’s factory racing effort. It arrived as a purpose-built homologation model with a clear mission: to bring race-bred V-twin performance to the street and to support Honda’s return to top-level superbike competition. Early versions were identified as the SP-1, and the later SP-2 revision refined the package while keeping the same basic concept. The bike gained a strong reputation among enthusiasts for its distinctive chassis layout, race-focused engineering, and its role in helping Honda challenge the Ducati dominance of the era.
In the United States, the nameplate was marketed under a different designation, but it remained the same core machine throughout its run. The model was sold for a single continuous production period, spanning the 2000 through 2006 model years, with no documented gap and no later revival under this exact nameplate. Its significance comes less from long-term volume and more from its status as one of Honda’s most memorable homologation specials of the modern superbike era, and as a street-legal reflection of the company’s racing ambitions at the turn of the century.