The Honda RS1000RW, more commonly known as the FWS1000 and rather unkindly tagged as ‘the water whale’ was Honda’s first v-four racer with round cylinders. It debuted at the 1982 Daytona 200 and went on to win that year’s AMA Formula 1 title in the hands of rider Mike Baldwin. Mike is quoted as saying that the FWS1000 was perfect straight out of the box and remains his all time favourite bike. The FWS1000 was the foreunner of Honda’s v-four dynasty that dominated TT-F1, endurance and superbike racing during the 80s and 90s. Legendary machines such as the RS860R/750R, the RVF750, RC30 and RC45 can all trace their roots back to the FWS1000. Dean Adams takes up the story in his Superbike Planet article.

Why then would two brothers in Australia want to build a replica of the FWS1000? In our eyes we see it as a brutal yet beautiful machine that stood out amongst its peers as different and innovative when compared to the air-cooled inline 4 cylinder four stroke competition of the era. The term replica means different things to different people. Building a truly faithful replica is impossible when the original is not at hand. We’re going to to do our best to make it as faithful as is practicable in order to do the bike justice. Is that the correct definition of replica? Perhaps tribute might be more apt. However you slice it, we’re going to call it a replica.

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