When the FIM restructured the premier class into MotoGP for 2002, the enlarged engine allowance for four-strokes made two-stroke machinery obsolete almost overnight. Honda began developing the RC211V in 2001, adopting a V5 configuration — an unusual layout that blended the power advantages of a five-cylinder engine with a firing order that gave better traction and stability than a conventional four. The model name followed Honda's naming convention: RC for Racing four-stroke, 211 for "first works bike of the 21st century," and V for V-engine.
The RC211V debuted in 2002 with Valentino Rossi and Tohru Ukawa as factory riders. Honda and Rossi dominated from the first round, winning the constructors' championship by more than 100 points over the nearest rival. The 2002 bike lacked full traction control, instead using a handlebar-mounted power management system with three settings. Satellite support during the latter part of 2002 extended to Alex Barros and Daijiro Kato.
For 2003, Honda increased power from approximately 200 to 240 bhp and added traction control. The expanded factory lineup included Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Kato, and Sete Gibernau, with a satellite program covering Max Biaggi, Tohru Ukawa, Makoto Tamada, and Ryuichi Kiyonari. Rossi again took the riders' title; Honda won the constructors' championship for the second consecutive year.
Nicky Hayden, Alex Barros, and Sete Gibernau led the factory effort in 2004, with an updated suspension featuring a new inverted rear link and a revised exhaust introduced at the Sachsenring. Despite these improvements, the RC211V's riders could not prevent Valentino Rossi — now on a Yamaha YZR-M1 — from winning his fourth premier-class championship. Honda took the constructors' title that year, but the absence of a clear lead development rider was an acknowledged weakness heading into 2005.
The 2005 season marked the first time in four years Honda failed to win the MotoGP constructors' championship. The RC211V chassis underwent frequent revision throughout the year, with engineers repeatedly reverting to the 2003 specification before attempting fresh solutions. The breakthrough came after the Brno round, where a revised bike — quickly dubbed the "Brno bike" — was tested by Hayden and Biaggi and deemed a significant improvement.
In 2006 HRC deployed three distinct RC211V specifications. Hayden received the "Brno bike" with its crankshaft raised and gearbox lowered to centralize mass and improve stability. Dani Pedrosa, in his MotoGP debut year, rode a chassis built specifically around his riding style, and Marco Melandri, Toni Elías, Casey Stoner, and Makoto Tamada shared a third variant before Melandri and Stoner also received the Pedrosa-spec chassis. Hayden faced persistent clutch issues throughout the season but ultimately clinched the riders' world championship at Valencia, and Honda reclaimed the constructors' title.
In five MotoGP seasons the RC211V won 48 of the 82 races it contested — a strike rate of 58.5 percent. It delivered three riders' world championships (Rossi in 2002 and 2003, Hayden in 2006) and four constructors' titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006). The V5 configuration proved uniquely effective during the 990 cc era, providing a power and traction combination that rivals struggled to match.
When regulations mandated a reduction to 800 cc displacement for 2007, Honda retired the RC211V and introduced the RC212V. The RC211V remains the most successful motorcycle of the 990 cc MotoGP era and one of the most dominant factory prototype racing machines in the sport's history.