@@johnnyrebel3340 For me this bike is a unicorn, so exotic and unique, I just can adore it from the distance. Back in the early 90s, there were just 2 Bikes that made me wet dreams: The Bimota Furano and this one. Both are absolutely unique and peerless.
I've ridden one. I'm lucky enough to know a guy that owns one. To be honest it isn't that great as a sports bike, a 92 Fireblade was lighter, faster and handled better. What this was and is, is a technical marvel. Beautiful engineering and very gorgeous. It was a technical showcase for Honda.
The oval shaped pistons allowed 8 valves per cylinder, rather than four, for a total of 32 valves - same as a V8. It's that valve area that Honda was chasing, and that's what makes a V8 make its power.
When I was a kid I got a Model in 1:18 of this bike. Then my dad bought a cbr 1100 xx and I recognized that they used the same rearviewmirrors on both bikes. amazing :D Just saw it once in person, I think I will never see it again.. Greatest bike of all time...
i have to say that riding this bike is a dream for me that seems soooooooooo far away, that seeing this guy riding it already makes me feel better...someone made it! thats simply great! the best "machine with a heart" of all times...thanks Honda!!!
I've been waiting for this day to come... when there was an actual video of this beast being ridden :) i used to own a small model of this bike when i was younger (may have it somewhere hidden in the house in a box still) but i brought it with me everywhere i went! Amazing!!
wow, it seemed so effortless for that bike to move, I know he wasn't pushing it at all, but even what he was doing, I could tell that the bike was not breaking a sweat and could handle those speeds for days.
The development of the NR goes back to the early 80's when formula 1 motorcycle racing was 500cc 2 stroke's. They were very fast but had an on/off switch power bands. Four strokes were more controllable in & exiting corners they were allowed but couldn't be bigger than 750cc's & 4 cylinders. With the technology of those days Honda figured they needed a V/8 to make enough power to compete. Thus the design of a V/8 with 4 cylinders. Honda has deep pockets & lot's of very smart engineers. They were running both 2 stroke & 4 stroke programs.They were out spending their competition & getting close to there goal of a 4 stroke race bike that could beat the 2 strokes when FIM outlawed oval pistons putting an end to there program. Thus the NR750 streetbike. I've seen and sat on one of these bikes running in the mid 90's & will never forget it! It was an absolute work of art.That thing was carbon fiber when only nasa had it. Now think about how many technology's had to be invented then perfected to make that thing run. Oh yea, those tubes from the windscreen to fuel tank are ram air ducts.................Terry
Very nice commentary. Just a small mistake; carbon fiber has been since a long time; that began at industrial level in the sixties with the Japanese PAN method of fabrication. In the 70ties it was already used by a lot of people in aeronautic-spatial industries. It arrived in sports beginning of the 80ties (Courtaulds in England was the main provider). It is used extensively in racing boats since at least 1982-83, Multiplast was one of the pioneers of making big multihulls entirely in carbon fiber (I made a small catamaran in 1983 with UD and clothes made by Brochier which included them in his 1985 "ordinary layman" catalog). Anyone could buy carbon fiber in 1984-85 at 120-150 US dollars a kg. When Honda made the NR750, carbon fiber has been used "commonly" since more than 10 years.
@terry m Excuse me my friend, but you 're incorrect. FIM Regulations were allowing 4 cylinder engines up to 500cc, not 750, and oval pistons were never banned. Honda made NR because they always didn't like two strokes. They liked four strokes. Even great Soichiro was very vocal about his preference for four strokers. So they tried to beat smokers using oval pistons but they failed badly. The bike was slower than two strokes and very unreliable too. After few years they abandoned NR project because they understood that a four stroke couldn't beat a two stroke of the same capacity. In 1982 they made the 3 cylinder two stroke NS500 and guess what... they won after just one year with legendary Freddie Spencer! That's the story.
I remember an MCN test report on this when it came out, and it was compared to a VFR750, a popular sister bike but with normal pistons. The conclusion was, despite it price tag (5x the price of VFR) it did not seem to offer much more in rider pleasure, although it had to be said that the VFR was also rated a superb bike to ride. Still a unique motorcycle, which is probably why it commands it 6 figure sum.
It has to be the coolest bike ever built I’ve only had a toy model and a motorcycle magazine of it when I was 13 years old sadly the closest I’ve ever got to on outside of also watching RUclips videos these days, it’s a true work of art a real masterpiece! How sick to be able to ride one! They should at least bring back the look for what most modern sport bikes lack brilliance! Absolutely brilliant!
The power band and torque curve on this engine is just like Neeves described it: Linear. I would LOVE to see this engine and machine design pursued to its ultimate.
To quote you: " I'm in love with how the bike makes me feel when I am riding. Everything from the power delivery/output to the handlign to the feel of a modern bike is superior." That succinctly and perfectly describes my reason as well to love the older bikes. But I love the newer ones too. It's the perfect mantra for a true aficionado of motorcycle performance. Thank you for that thought.
And the NR750 is nothing short of a technological marvel for its time. One from which Ducati stole two features: the tucked exhaust and the single sided swingarm. I don't hate Ducati. They make gorgeous machines. But I don't like how they've manipulated the superbike class by continually bumping their displacement to keep up with everyone else, and I don't appreciate that the FIM allow them to do it. Their premier bike in the superbike class at one time was 851cc.
I didn't know this bike even had an aftermarket windscreen! The NR750 the greatest engineering marvel on two wheels and the sexiest and therefore the greatest bike of all time. And that comes from a F4/Duc owner and worshipper.
That goes without saying, but for the same price with a few mods, the Honda will more than handle the 1198. They've been doing this for decades. Reliable and practical for the street, but with the factory and aftermarket support to make things happen on the track. Witness the RC45 and the RC51. When Honda feels like they need to put Ducati in their place, they will. And then Ducati will cry to the FIM and have their displacent increased again. LOL.
@silverbacknr thank you for letting the bike out, and not making it a garage queen so the rest of us who are not fortunate enough to own one can experience this awesome NR750.
I thought it was interesting that it was the most expensive vehicle Honda sold at the time it came out. The NSX was cheaper to buy than this motorcycle. Motojournalists at the time also wrote that Honda designed in vibrations because the motor was naturally too smooth and didn't indicate to the rider how fast it was spinning. Not sure about that since it is firing and moving like a short stroke V4.
Quote "The NSX was cheaper to buy than this motorcycle." This is plain wrong. I don't know if this is out of ignorance or somebody feeding your stories, but I owned an 92' NSX, and it was way more than £38k. The NSX at the time was £53,850 if I remember rightly. In fact I very nearly owned an NR750 also. But then came the dot-com-bust. As for second hand prices; I once saw a used NR750 for sale for £13,500, or £16,500, in 93' I think. Not too long after it came out it was. I wonder if it were possible to see an old MCN, view the classifieds, and cry together. Would I buy an NR750 today? Hmmm, yes and no. Yes, to keep and look at whilst I sip booze and listen to music, but I think I'd rather chase down a 500cc ex-GP bike, and do track days only - since the standard of driving on the public roads continues to fall, and I don't wish to be a victim of it.
They are now actually losing money. An immaculate NR sold for£57,000 at auction last year (Bonhams). They went for £36,000 new in 1992, that 's £63,000 in todays money.
That NR also came with a RACE tune that made 205 rwhp and 18,000 rpm rev limit. It was endurance raced then they changed the rules to only round pistons. F1 engine was the goal.
Your comment is what seperates my way of thinking to yours. Neither is correct and neither is incorrect. It's a personal thing. I look at it from a financial perspective. I'm not going to pay 100k for 125 bhp 1980's technology. I'm in love with how the bike makes me feel when I am riding. Everything from the power delivery/output to the handlign to the feel of a modern bike is superior. Like I said mate, you have to be an enthusiast to spend this kind of money on this bike.
That's cool. I tend to look at things from a "historical" or "restorationist" perspective. If I got the opportunity to restore a Hammond Novachord, the worlds first polyphonic synthesizer, vs buy a modern analog/digital synthesizer, I'd do so. The fascinating thing is about the R75's engine design and performance. As Neeves described its performance and response as "smooth" and "linear"; and listening to the sound of it, well... Thanks for disagreeing. You make it pleasant to reply to.
I never got over "the awe". In any form. It's something almost holy. If that could be imagined. And as addictive as a GOOD acid trip. If I didn't get my daily dose of "gasoline induced cryotherapy" from suiting up and riding, I'd NEED to be on something. Sometimes I need something to relax AFTER the ride. Ever seen Tim Cotterill's "trike"? I'd LOVE to park my ass on that beast and ride it on the same route he rides in his video. Completely impractical, but, what a HELAVA ride!!!
At this point, it ain't about speed, its about the risks that manufacturers took at a time when engine technology for bikes in a highly experimental stage. There is no other engine out there like this one.. for me, just hearing that bike via modern HD quality sound was a treat.. Its about engineering.. not speed, in 2011.
@TychoCelchu The NR was developed before the Blade, and I don't think one can consider the original 900 Ninja, or FZR in the same class as the later Blade, R1, GSXR1000 or ZX10R. The CBR1000F and ZX10 were around then too but all those bikes were much heavier than today's bikes whereas a 92 Blade is the same weight as the new one, spare a few kgs.
@TychoCelchu You're right about the Bimotas. Tbh I don't know much about them though I know they used Suzuki engines in a sportier frame. And note my original wording of "superbike" vs. sports bike. The GSXR1100 and FZR1000 were undoubtedly sportsbikes of some sort, as is the ZZR1400 and Hayabusa today. But to call them superbike is just wrong. Further, as stated above, the NR was developed earlier than the Blade. Baba-san started the blade in late 90s, whereas NR was late 80s.
There was an NR750 at the Paeroa Street Races yesterday. Absolutely beautiful but sadly overshadowed by the Britten V1000 just further up the stands from it
The 1198 is nice, but you pay the price for something that is only marginally better than a CBR1000. My friend's wife just bought an 848 and touts its ability to smoke any Japanese brand. But what she and most others fail to realize is that if Honda wanted to build a $25k bike to compete with Ducati just for the sake of it, they would. Except they don't need to because they can do it for a little more than half the cost. Remember, Ducati had to bump their displacement up to beat the RC45.
Yeah it's kinda hard to describe to a non biker what it feels like to ride these bikes. This is probably why it's easy for bikers to mix when they don't even know each other. It's something we've all experienced and have in common. It took me over a month to get over the awe I felt when I started on a 600cc sports bike. I wasn't able to believe how easy they are to ride at first. Especially the Honda's in my experience. Without bikes I'd probably be on drugs or summin lol
@TychoCelchu I'm saying that the original Blade is comparable to the new one in design ethos and purpose, whereas the FZR1000 and GSXR1100 were more like the current ZZR1400, which i would class as a hypersports tourer. I've seen 92 Blades on trackdays and they are fine, whereas the 2 GSXR1100s I saw were floundering around like fat birds on the dance floor. Now we're being pedantic but imo, the GSXR750 of 1985 was the first proper superbike, and the Blade, the first >750cc SBK
"Grand Prix rules at the time required a configuration with maximum of four combustion chambers. Honda engineers therefore came up with the highly innovative solution of constructing a "V8" engine in the form of a four-cylinder. This was achieved by designing an oval piston that allowed a total of 8 valves per cylinder, and connecting two con-rods to each piston"
To me, riding a motorcycle is as close to flight as I can get for now. And I absolutely love flight. Whether it's in a cropduster or a Pitts Special. But, I prefer the Pitts... lol
@noscopesnipa Nope, "oval pistons", basically too pistons welded together in a "race-track shape" more than an "oval shape" gave room for 8 quite normal valves, actually- : )
@StigRossi Unless you're referring to the racing class, then you're wrong about there not being any 1000cc or 900cc superbikes back then, as the Fireblade was introduced the same year - 1992. The GSXR1100 also predates it by a number of years. Other 'superbikes' of their day would include the GPZ900R and the FZR1000. Then you have the exotica, like the Bimota bikes of the same period.
You forget most bike enthusiasts delight from a bike's distinctive sound, seeing just a LCD flying numbers just don't make justice to this bike. Suggestion: shoot a video but sync it to different, good quality sound takes: onboard, offboard at start, offboard while shifting, etc.
@TychoCelchu re the release date of both NR750 and Blade, I'll give you that though. However the Blade was the first non-750cc SUPERbike. Have you ever ridden any of those late 80s 1000s? I have and they were all shite. The Blade though even today is sublime, if a bit cramped.
@andymf150 There was only 300 NR750s made. Economies of scale would indicate that Honda wasn't able to recuperate developmental costs by spreading them out over 1000s of bikes the way they have w/ the Fireblade, CBR600RR etc., so they lost money on them. If Honda only made 300 Fireblades ever, they would be losing money on every one also.
The passion and love for motorcycle development has been dead since the 90’s. It’s too bad that everyone decided to stay inside the box of acceptable engineering.
I'm a Honda man. I have several Honda's in my stable, but i could never get excited about the NR. I always felt it was a case of style over substance. Perhaps someone might like to lend me one to convince me otherwise! Lol
I recall when this bike first came out one of the Britt bike magazines got their hands on a privately owned NR750 and crashed it. The fairing alone was $15,000 and the owners insurance company totaled it. Honda screwed up with this bike by tuning it as a regular street bike with more mid range than top end. For a much lesser sum than the $75,000 that the NR750 cost you could buy a Kawasaki ZX7 and blow the NR750’s doors off. One of the many cool bikes Honda’s marketing division screwed up. When yo pay that kind of $$$$ you expect to get the most bad ass bike on the planet,and the NR750 wasn’t it,just cool technology.
@@YouCantSawSawdust well,the RC30’s bodywork was made out of Carbon Fiber back then which was exotic,plus it was painted in the white,blue,red of Honda’s racing colors. Today $27k is still outrageous even for Honda. They must be marketing them for high end restorers. Even if I had that kind of money I wouldn’t pay that much when I can get an aftermarket carbon fairing for way less.
@@fw1421 Firstly,the RC30 bodywork is ordinary fibreglass. Secondly,if you want to fit some kind of aftermarket bodywork to an RC30 because of price,you would have missed the whole point of the bike.
@@YouCantSawSawdust well,as I remember it having lustily poured over it at the time it was carbon,but that being said you could buy an RC30 for about $10k if the dealer didn’t add additional profit on it. You could get a way faster bike from Kawasaki and Suzuki at the time. To get the RC30 up in power you had to buy one of the several race kits Honda had made and at the time,they were dam expensive.
@mattyoz0 Okay if you go read my first comment all I said was that its a "bloody shame" you coudlnt' go to Silverstone, not "why didn't you take it to Silverstone?" Its clear that MCN either assumed the owner didn't want them to go to a circuit or the owner specified it. Either way they should have a) not assumed or b) convinced the owner to let them take it to Brands Hatch, and also promised to go gently.
Engine design never took off because of the very high manufacturing costs involved in making oval pistons and rings...it sounds lovely though! It was purely made as a 'technology demonstrator'...This is what we can do...
This engine was originally designed for a Rancho-sponsored lifted sidecar racer. The engine was undertuned and could produce 1000 bhp. with sequential nitrous injection. The chairman of the company was murdered by a BIlstein executive, who killed the project. Had it gone through, the Rancho NR750 would have eventually taken the land-speed record from Thrust team.
@StigRossi The GSXR1100 and FZR1000 were classed as sports bikes, nothing touring about them. You're still ignoring the Bimota superbikes of the same period. The original blade was the same time as the NR. Which means, whichever way you look at it, your original statement was wrong.
And still have nothing to equal this. Sure. A new liter sportbike could run rings around this. Neeves even said that in this video. But, in twenty plus years, what will your new liter bike be? Not even history. This isn't necessarily better, but it's unique.
I'm still trying to understand how they made oval piston rings work! And also wondering why 30 years later we don't see this type of innovation anymore, just like the 5 valve Yamaha engines.
Wow, famous bike, epic, awesome! Dream come true to ride it! Video: WOT in a straight line on a runway.....again.... Flat-out runs are good when sparingly used, but EVERY SINGLE MCN video that's came out of late was ONLY that. If it's such an epic bike, let's see it do some turns, let's see it actually get put through its paces!! Watching 500 MCN flat-out run videos and knowing my R1 can eat 75% of the bikes demo'ed is pointless. Show me things I CAN'T do with my R1 w/ 14k- IN SOME TURNS!!
This is a piece of motorcycle history worth more money than you'l ever see in 2 lifetimes. But beyond the money, it is irreplaceable. So who would run the risk of having it wrecked and destroyed. Who would pay for it and what would you do to bring it back. Just be grateful you actually got to see one run .
Yeah! You know what im talking about! Yeah on a 93 zx250 they looked like hoses almost! But whats weird is on this bike they look almost structural supports but you absolutely could be right. How good of a bike was that zx250 anyways? Im looking at one, a 93 too to be exact.
They should be part of the airway to the engine. If you look closely at pictures of the NR750 you can see the two inlets just below the wind screen on the nose fairing, the "tunnels" are connected to those.
At 30 seconds he states " that it's essentially a V-8" because of the number of valves. NO! It's still a 4- CYLINDER engine My 2018 Mustang GT has a V-8 4- valves per cylinder engine. It DOES NOT mean that I have the EQUIVALENT of a 16 cylinder engine because of the number of valves it has. It just means that the engine "BREATHES EASIER" because you have 2-intake and 2- exhaust valves per cylinder, verses a single intake and exhaust valve which in turn means more horsepower.
Yep, not quite as I remember it. I guess time flies. But still, it was an awesome bike when it came out. Now, I would probably sell it, buy a S1000RR and keep the rest of the money.
One of the greatest bikes ever made, an engineers wet dream of the early 90's;
and it is such a timeless beauty...
thanx for that ride-clip !
@@johnnyrebel3340 For me this bike is a unicorn, so exotic and unique, I just can adore it from the distance.
Back in the early 90s, there were just 2 Bikes that made me wet dreams:
The Bimota Furano and this one. Both are absolutely unique and peerless.
I've ridden one. I'm lucky enough to know a guy that owns one. To be honest it isn't that great as a sports bike, a 92 Fireblade was lighter, faster and handled better.
What this was and is, is a technical marvel. Beautiful engineering and very gorgeous.
It was a technical showcase for Honda.
This is a supreme work of art created by the Japanese
The oval shaped pistons allowed 8 valves per cylinder, rather than four, for a total of 32 valves - same as a V8. It's that valve area that Honda was chasing, and that's what makes a V8 make its power.
When I was a kid I got a Model in 1:18 of this bike.
Then my dad bought a cbr 1100 xx and I recognized that they used the same rearviewmirrors on both bikes. amazing :D
Just saw it once in person, I think I will never see it again.. Greatest bike of all time...
The most exotic sportsbike ever, built in 1992 and still the King, I love Honda!
i have to say that riding this bike is a dream for me that seems soooooooooo far away, that seeing this guy riding it already makes me feel better...someone made it! thats simply great! the best "machine with a heart" of all times...thanks Honda!!!
I've been waiting for this day to come... when there was an actual video of this beast being ridden :) i used to own a small model of this bike when i was younger (may have it somewhere hidden in the house in a box still) but i brought it with me everywhere i went! Amazing!!
wow, it seemed so effortless for that bike to move, I know he wasn't pushing it at all, but even what he was doing, I could tell that the bike was not breaking a sweat and could handle those speeds for days.
ALL straight-line riding... wonder how it does in the real world with corners and sweepers???
The development of the NR goes back to the early 80's when formula 1 motorcycle racing was 500cc 2 stroke's. They were very fast but had an on/off switch power bands. Four strokes were more controllable in & exiting corners they were allowed but couldn't be bigger than 750cc's & 4 cylinders. With the technology of those days Honda figured they needed a V/8 to make enough power to compete. Thus the design of a V/8 with 4 cylinders. Honda has deep pockets & lot's of very smart engineers. They were running both 2 stroke & 4 stroke programs.They were out spending their competition & getting close to there goal of a 4 stroke race bike that could beat the 2 strokes when FIM outlawed oval pistons putting an end to there program. Thus the NR750 streetbike. I've seen and sat on one of these bikes running in the mid 90's & will never forget it! It was an absolute work of art.That thing was carbon fiber when only nasa had it. Now think about how many technology's had to be invented then perfected to make that thing run. Oh yea, those tubes from the windscreen to fuel tank are ram air ducts.................Terry
Very nice commentary. Just a small mistake; carbon fiber has been since a long time; that began at industrial level in the sixties with the Japanese PAN method of fabrication. In the 70ties it was already used by a lot of people in aeronautic-spatial industries. It arrived in sports beginning of the 80ties (Courtaulds in England was the main provider). It is used extensively in racing boats since at least 1982-83, Multiplast was one of the pioneers of making big multihulls entirely in carbon fiber (I made a small catamaran in 1983 with UD and clothes made by Brochier which included them in his 1985 "ordinary layman" catalog). Anyone could buy carbon fiber in 1984-85 at 120-150 US dollars a kg. When Honda made the NR750, carbon fiber has been used "commonly" since more than 10 years.
Also John Britten used carbon fibre on the v1000, wheels and front fork girders were carbon
@terry m Excuse me my friend, but you 're incorrect. FIM Regulations were allowing 4 cylinder engines up to 500cc, not 750, and oval pistons were never banned. Honda made NR because they always didn't like two strokes. They liked four strokes. Even great Soichiro was very vocal about his preference for four strokers. So they tried to beat smokers using oval pistons but they failed badly. The bike was slower than two strokes and very unreliable too. After few years they abandoned NR project because they understood that a four stroke couldn't beat a two stroke of the same capacity. In 1982 they made the 3 cylinder two stroke NS500 and guess what... they won after just one year with legendary Freddie Spencer! That's the story.
Guy who wrote the description does not know the first thing about "Trashing" a bike. Driver handled the bike like a gentleman.
Guy who wrote this comment can't read. He said "thrash" not "trash"
I remember an MCN test report on this when it came out, and it was compared to a VFR750, a popular sister bike but with normal pistons. The conclusion was, despite it price tag (5x the price of VFR) it did not seem to offer much more in rider pleasure, although it had to be said that the VFR was also rated a superb bike to ride. Still a unique motorcycle, which is probably why it commands it 6 figure sum.
Its all about the engine... And the full carbon body...
Way ahead of its time
Nice to see one being ridden and fast too. Technological marvel. Would love to see one on the road.
It has to be the coolest bike ever built I’ve only had a toy model and a motorcycle magazine of it when I was 13 years old sadly the closest I’ve ever got to on outside of also watching RUclips videos these days, it’s a true work of art a real masterpiece! How sick to be able to ride one! They should at least bring back the look for what most modern sport bikes lack brilliance! Absolutely brilliant!
"Everything is very Honda".... :)
Cause Honda makes everything with love.
You meet the nicest people
On a Honda...
The power band and torque curve on this engine is just like Neeves described it: Linear.
I would LOVE to see this engine and machine design pursued to its ultimate.
Just had 2 NR750 at Donington for an RC event I organised. Everyone's jaw dropped when they saw two go around the track.
Such a smooth sounding engine. I actually quite like the way it looks especially considering when it came out.
Magnificent machine.. A piece of motorcycle art
Beautiful bike. had the chance of seeing an rd400 for a while once. that is beautiful also
Priceless
To quote you: " I'm in love with how the bike makes me feel when I am riding. Everything from the power delivery/output to the handlign to the feel of a modern bike is superior."
That succinctly and perfectly describes my reason as well to love the older bikes. But I love the newer ones too. It's the perfect mantra for a true aficionado of motorcycle performance. Thank you for that thought.
And the NR750 is nothing short of a technological marvel for its time. One from which Ducati stole two features: the tucked exhaust and the single sided swingarm.
I don't hate Ducati. They make gorgeous machines. But I don't like how they've manipulated the superbike class by continually bumping their displacement to keep up with everyone else, and I don't appreciate that the FIM allow them to do it. Their premier bike in the superbike class at one time was 851cc.
Bat Motorcycles had one of these in about 5-6 years ago it's an awesome bike to see in the flesh !
That is such a gnarly sound
Matt Oxley devotes a whole chapter to this bike and how it was developed and how it influenced later designs in his book "Fast Stuff". A great read.
Can’t imagine plopping my helmet down on the tank like that. Paint Scuffs.
it could be the bottom of the helmet is soft - liner material sticks out just a bit out of the hard shell sometimes.
@@180FiftyFive The solid part of the strap could scratch it and the shell can also scratch the tank if the padding is soft enough
My dream bike!
I didn't know this bike even had an aftermarket windscreen! The NR750 the greatest engineering marvel on two wheels and the sexiest and therefore the greatest bike of all time.
And that comes from a F4/Duc owner and worshipper.
That goes without saying, but for the same price with a few mods, the Honda will more than handle the 1198. They've been doing this for decades. Reliable and practical for the street, but with the factory and aftermarket support to make things happen on the track. Witness the RC45 and the RC51. When Honda feels like they need to put Ducati in their place, they will. And then Ducati will cry to the FIM and have their displacent increased again. LOL.
This and Honda Rune in my garage. Dream....😵💫
I remember seeing one for the first time at the NEC, loved it then and still love it now, come on lottery ticket !!!!!!!!!
and this was in 2011 its now 2022 still what a bike
@silverbacknr thank you for letting the bike out, and not making it a garage queen so the rest of us who are not fortunate enough to own one can experience this awesome NR750.
That's my favorite sport bike, classic.
the oval pistons aside the design is absolutely fabulous!
I thought it was interesting that it was the most expensive vehicle Honda sold at the time it came out. The NSX was cheaper to buy than this motorcycle. Motojournalists at the time also wrote that Honda designed in vibrations because the motor was naturally too smooth and didn't indicate to the rider how fast it was spinning. Not sure about that since it is firing and moving like a short stroke V4.
Quote "The NSX was cheaper to buy than this motorcycle." This is plain wrong. I don't know if this is out of ignorance or somebody feeding your stories, but I owned an 92' NSX, and it was way more than £38k. The NSX at the time was £53,850 if I remember rightly.
In fact I very nearly owned an NR750 also. But then came the dot-com-bust.
As for second hand prices; I once saw a used NR750 for sale for £13,500, or £16,500, in 93' I think. Not too long after it came out it was. I wonder if it were possible to see an old MCN, view the classifieds, and cry together.
Would I buy an NR750 today? Hmmm, yes and no. Yes, to keep and look at whilst I sip booze and listen to music, but I think I'd rather chase down a 500cc ex-GP bike, and do track days only - since the standard of driving on the public roads continues to fall, and I don't wish to be a victim of it.
Wow that thing is very unique. Awesome bike.
They are now actually losing money. An immaculate NR sold for£57,000 at auction last year (Bonhams). They went for £36,000 new in 1992, that 's £63,000 in todays money.
Proud owner of a Honda!
That NR also came with a RACE tune that made 205 rwhp and 18,000 rpm rev limit. It was endurance raced then they changed the rules to only round pistons. F1 engine was the goal.
It was called the RC40.
Your comment is what seperates my way of thinking to yours. Neither is correct and neither is incorrect. It's a personal thing.
I look at it from a financial perspective. I'm not going to pay 100k for 125 bhp 1980's technology. I'm in love with how the bike makes me feel when I am riding. Everything from the power delivery/output to the handlign to the feel of a modern bike is superior.
Like I said mate, you have to be an enthusiast to spend this kind of money on this bike.
That's cool. I tend to look at things from a "historical" or "restorationist" perspective. If I got the opportunity to restore
a Hammond Novachord, the worlds first polyphonic synthesizer,
vs buy a modern analog/digital synthesizer, I'd do so. The fascinating thing is about the R75's engine design and performance. As Neeves described its performance and response as "smooth" and "linear"; and listening to the sound of it, well...
Thanks for disagreeing. You make it pleasant to reply to.
that bike looks AWESOME! just like a newer bike and sounds really agressive
I never got over "the awe". In any form. It's something almost holy. If that could be imagined. And as addictive as a GOOD acid trip. If I didn't get my daily dose of "gasoline induced cryotherapy" from suiting up and riding, I'd NEED to be on something. Sometimes I need something to relax AFTER the ride.
Ever seen Tim Cotterill's "trike"? I'd LOVE to park my ass on that beast and ride it on the same route he rides in his video. Completely impractical, but, what a HELAVA ride!!!
At this point, it ain't about speed, its about the risks that manufacturers took at a time when engine technology for bikes in a highly experimental stage. There is no other engine out there like this one.. for me, just hearing that bike via modern HD quality sound was a treat.. Its about engineering.. not speed, in 2011.
that bike is amazing. I knew this bike would go up in value.
It sounds just like an NC30 - must have the same crank configuration.
I love MCN reviews always have interesting bikes!!!!!!!
@TychoCelchu
The NR was developed before the Blade, and I don't think one can consider the original 900 Ninja, or FZR in the same class as the later Blade, R1, GSXR1000 or ZX10R. The CBR1000F and ZX10 were around then too but all those bikes were much heavier than today's bikes whereas a 92 Blade is the same weight as the new one, spare a few kgs.
@TychoCelchu
You're right about the Bimotas. Tbh I don't know much about them though I know they used Suzuki engines in a sportier frame. And note my original wording of "superbike" vs. sports bike. The GSXR1100 and FZR1000 were undoubtedly sportsbikes of some sort, as is the ZZR1400 and Hayabusa today. But to call them superbike is just wrong. Further, as stated above, the NR was developed earlier than the Blade. Baba-san started the blade in late 90s, whereas NR was late 80s.
There was an NR750 at the Paeroa Street Races yesterday. Absolutely beautiful but sadly overshadowed by the Britten V1000 just further up the stands from it
must've been a good day for you!! lucky bastid!!
Glorious machine
The 1198 is nice, but you pay the price for something that is only marginally better than a CBR1000. My friend's wife just bought an 848 and touts its ability to smoke any Japanese brand. But what she and most others fail to realize is that if Honda wanted to build a $25k bike to compete with Ducati just for the sake of it, they would. Except they don't need to because they can do it for a little more than half the cost. Remember, Ducati had to bump their displacement up to beat the RC45.
Yeah it's kinda hard to describe to a non biker what it feels like to ride these bikes. This is probably why it's easy for bikers to mix when they don't even know each other. It's something we've all experienced and have in common.
It took me over a month to get over the awe I felt when I started on a 600cc sports bike. I wasn't able to believe how easy they are to ride at first. Especially the Honda's in my experience.
Without bikes I'd probably be on drugs or summin lol
@TychoCelchu
I'm saying that the original Blade is comparable to the new one in design ethos and purpose, whereas the FZR1000 and GSXR1100 were more like the current ZZR1400, which i would class as a hypersports tourer. I've seen 92 Blades on trackdays and they are fine, whereas the 2 GSXR1100s I saw were floundering around like fat birds on the dance floor. Now we're being pedantic but imo, the GSXR750 of 1985 was the first proper superbike, and the Blade, the first >750cc SBK
"Grand Prix rules at the time required a configuration with maximum of four combustion chambers. Honda engineers therefore came up with the highly innovative solution of constructing a "V8" engine in the form of a four-cylinder. This was achieved by designing an oval piston that allowed a total of 8 valves per cylinder, and connecting two con-rods to each piston"
Honda Blackbird mirrors FTW!
I was waiting for the flux capacitor to kick in...
Back to the future
thanks for sharing!!
To me, riding a motorcycle is as close to flight as I can get for now. And I absolutely love flight. Whether it's in a cropduster or a Pitts Special. But, I prefer the Pitts... lol
It was meant to show off their engineering capabilities. In that sense it worked out pretty well. How many Ducatis sell for six figure prices?
@TheInsomniac247 I remember that. They had it there for quite a while.
Definitely ahead of it's time.
dream bike
@Sidrcride the oval piston was not the best idea although it had more valves per cylinder the way it wore did not work well or something on that line
One of my favorite bikes of all time but it's a 1992 750cc so how much power do you expect? Exotic engine or not.
@noscopesnipa Nope, "oval pistons", basically too pistons welded together in a "race-track shape" more than an "oval shape" gave room for 8 quite normal valves, actually- : )
I actually own a new NR750 piston and they are oval.The skirts are not parallel.
They are on the NR500.
I love retro futuristic.
@StigRossi Unless you're referring to the racing class, then you're wrong about there not being any 1000cc or 900cc superbikes back then, as the Fireblade was introduced the same year - 1992.
The GSXR1100 also predates it by a number of years. Other 'superbikes' of their day would include the GPZ900R and the FZR1000.
Then you have the exotica, like the Bimota bikes of the same period.
You forget most bike enthusiasts delight from a bike's distinctive sound, seeing just a LCD flying numbers just don't make justice to this bike.
Suggestion: shoot a video but sync it to different, good quality sound takes: onboard, offboard at start, offboard while shifting, etc.
Legend
161MPH not bad :)
Thats a great flat! Does it actually end? :)
This is the brake and body the vfr400 should have had after the nc30, rather than changing to the rvf400
@TychoCelchu re the release date of both NR750 and Blade, I'll give you that though. However the Blade was the first non-750cc SUPERbike. Have you ever ridden any of those late 80s 1000s? I have and they were all shite. The Blade though even today is sublime, if a bit cramped.
@andymf150
There was only 300 NR750s made. Economies of scale would indicate that Honda wasn't able to recuperate developmental costs by spreading them out over 1000s of bikes the way they have w/ the Fireblade, CBR600RR etc., so they lost money on them. If Honda only made 300 Fireblades ever, they would be losing money on every one also.
What is the bike on the front?it's looks a lot faster than the NR750
The passion and love for motorcycle development has been dead since the 90’s. It’s too bad that everyone decided to stay inside the box of acceptable engineering.
Maybe Honda, but you can't ignore Kawasakis and Yamahas ingenuity with their respective supercharger and crossplane engine works.
One of my dreams...
I'm a Honda man. I have several Honda's in my stable, but i could never get excited about the NR. I always felt it was a case of style over substance. Perhaps someone might like to lend me one to convince me otherwise! Lol
32 valves... unbelievable
@MotorbikerTom yea i am with you but i wonder what the conversion to mph would be ?
I recall when this bike first came out one of the Britt bike magazines got their hands on a privately owned NR750 and crashed it. The fairing alone was $15,000 and the owners insurance company totaled it. Honda screwed up with this bike by tuning it as a regular street bike with more mid range than top end. For a much lesser sum than the $75,000 that the NR750 cost you could buy a Kawasaki ZX7 and blow the NR750’s doors off. One of the many cool bikes Honda’s marketing division screwed up. When yo pay that kind of $$$$ you expect to get the most bad ass bike on the planet,and the NR750 wasn’t it,just cool technology.
Honda have started remanufacturing the RC30 fairing. It's $27,000 as at 27/11/22.
@@YouCantSawSawdust well,the RC30’s bodywork was made out of Carbon Fiber back then which was exotic,plus it was painted in the white,blue,red of Honda’s racing colors. Today $27k is still outrageous even for Honda. They must be marketing them for high end restorers. Even if I had that kind of money I wouldn’t pay that much when I can get an aftermarket carbon fairing for way less.
@@fw1421 Firstly,the RC30 bodywork is ordinary fibreglass.
Secondly,if you want to fit some kind of aftermarket bodywork to an RC30 because of price,you would have missed the whole point of the bike.
@@YouCantSawSawdust well,as I remember it having lustily poured over it at the time it was carbon,but that being said you could buy an RC30 for about $10k if the dealer didn’t add additional profit on it. You could get a way faster bike from Kawasaki and Suzuki at the time. To get the RC30 up in power you had to buy one of the several race kits Honda had made and at the time,they were dam expensive.
@@fw1421 I own one. They are fibreglass,always were. Even the pre-production RC30's had fibreglass panels...never carbon fibre.
@mattyoz0
Okay if you go read my first comment all I said was that its a "bloody shame" you coudlnt' go to Silverstone, not "why didn't you take it to Silverstone?" Its clear that MCN either assumed the owner didn't want them to go to a circuit or the owner specified it. Either way they should have a) not assumed or b) convinced the owner to let them take it to Brands Hatch, and also promised to go gently.
Well, where'd that part go then??? I wanna see that!
Engine design never took off because of the very high manufacturing costs involved in making oval pistons and rings...it sounds lovely though! It was purely made as a 'technology demonstrator'...This is what we can do...
This engine was originally designed for a Rancho-sponsored lifted sidecar racer.
The engine was undertuned and could produce 1000 bhp. with sequential nitrous injection. The chairman of the company was murdered by a BIlstein executive, who killed the project. Had it gone through, the Rancho NR750 would have eventually taken the land-speed record from Thrust team.
@StigRossi The GSXR1100 and FZR1000 were classed as sports bikes, nothing touring about them. You're still ignoring the Bimota superbikes of the same period.
The original blade was the same time as the NR. Which means, whichever way you look at it, your original statement was wrong.
261 KM =162 MPH
And still have nothing to equal this. Sure. A new liter sportbike could run rings around this. Neeves even said that in this video. But, in twenty plus years, what will your new liter bike be? Not even history. This isn't necessarily better, but it's unique.
I'm still trying to understand how they made oval piston rings work! And also wondering why 30 years later we don't see this type of innovation anymore, just like the 5 valve Yamaha engines.
Wow, famous bike, epic, awesome! Dream come true to ride it!
Video:
WOT in a straight line on a runway.....again....
Flat-out runs are good when sparingly used, but EVERY SINGLE MCN video that's came out of late was ONLY that. If it's such an epic bike, let's see it do some turns, let's see it actually get put through its paces!! Watching 500 MCN flat-out run videos and knowing my R1 can eat 75% of the bikes demo'ed is pointless. Show me things I CAN'T do with my R1 w/ 14k- IN SOME TURNS!!
This is a piece of motorcycle history worth more money than you'l ever see in 2 lifetimes. But beyond the money, it is irreplaceable. So who would run the risk of having it wrecked and destroyed. Who would pay for it and what would you do to bring it back. Just be grateful you actually got to see one run .
@StigRossi yeah your right but i really dont think honda would have made a loss on every one they made...
What do you call that where the handlebars have those tank support looking things over top of them?
Yeah! You know what im talking about! Yeah on a 93 zx250 they looked like hoses almost! But whats weird is on this bike they look almost structural supports but you absolutely could be right. How good of a bike was that zx250 anyways? Im looking at one, a 93 too to be exact.
They should be part of the airway to the engine. If you look closely at pictures of the NR750 you can see the two inlets just below the wind screen on the nose fairing, the "tunnels" are connected to those.
+Roger J Hampson what carbs? The bike is fuel injected.
no,not anything like a v-8,because all the con-rods are on the same stroke,and that's why it doesn't have as much power as it could have had
Sounds just like a VFR ?
At 30 seconds he states " that it's essentially a V-8" because of the number of valves.
NO! It's still a 4- CYLINDER engine
My 2018 Mustang GT has a V-8 4- valves per cylinder engine. It DOES NOT mean that I have the EQUIVALENT of a 16 cylinder engine because of the number of valves it has.
It just means that the engine "BREATHES EASIER" because you have 2-intake and 2- exhaust valves per cylinder, verses a single intake and exhaust valve which in turn means more horsepower.
I saw you mike drawling over this bike at goodwood... Speaking to keith Amor about it...
Yep, not quite as I remember it. I guess time flies. But still, it was an awesome bike when it came out. Now, I would probably sell it, buy a S1000RR and keep the rest of the money.