Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Miguel Duhamel, the winningest AMA Superbike rider of all time, says he will ride for Honda again in 2004.

“Honda’s been having a lot of meetings,” Duhamel told Roadracingworld.com Friday in a telephone interview. “And all the time, they told me not to worry. I will be with Honda next year. I don’t like to talk too positive, because you don’t know what happens in this beautiful world until something is signed, but I’ve come to know the people at Honda really well and they know me, too. I take them at their word that we will have a deal for next year. So I’m looking forward for that.”

Duhamel said he underwent surgery by Dr. Arthur Ting Thursday in Fremont, California to remove a metal rod from his collarbone, broken in a crash at Infineon Raceway in early May

“Yeah, I’m totally metal-free,” said Duhamel. “It went really, really well. It took about an hour. I was out of there before you could imagine it. I was in there making jokes with them about whether they had cable or direct TV, and the next thing you know, I woke up and I was done.

“Ben [Bostrom] was there, too, so it was like a team meeting. I kept telling the nurse they should shave his eyebrows and sideburns, give him a new look.”

Duhamel said he is keeping the rod as a souvenir and that he should be able to ride and train again in about six weeks.