Practically an RSBFS staple, the NC30 is always a welcomed treat. While much nicer than the last NC30 we posted, it might be a bit of a stretch calling it fully restored as advertised. On the other hand I’d be proud too as it’s obviously been cleaned up a lot more than some of the JDM imports we see. The seller has included many close ups for you to decide for yourself. This example has 26k miles and is California plated with the 11 digit VIN. Current bid is past $7500 with reserve not met and over 6 days remaining on the auction.
dc
1992 Honda VFR400R for sale on eBay
from the seller:
Originally produced for the Japanese Domestic Market this NC30 is 400cc sibling of the RC30. If you were old enough to ride in the early 90’s then the bike needs no introduction. It’s not a rare bike in the UK in but they still command $4-$10k in fair to good condition. That being said there are only a handful of them in the US and even more rare are ones registered in California. I have yet to see one for sale in this condition ever at any price.
Full restoration less than a year ago under the supervision of RC30/V4 authority Jim Granger
Everything was completely gone through, reconditioned or replaced
Unmolested original example. Stock and OEM everything where possible including exhaust . Only exception is the windscreen that’s rarer than an albino unicorn.
Paint done by Jim Granger on original OEM bodywork in exact RC30 detail with OEM decals with a custom-fabricated solo seat cover (pillion Included)
Wheels- HRC Magnesium replicas in correct HRC gold
Derestricted UK ECU- no speed limiter
Everything that was done would be a long list, if you have questions just ask.
The story- I bought the bike in 2006 from an Air Force serviceman who brought it to the US on a Japanese MSO. It ran but hadn’t been ridden for a few years and the bike needed some TLC. I registered it with no issues in Washington State and left it with a shop to restore and long story short three-years later I boxed up the partial basket case and shipped it to Los Angeles. By miracle I found Jim Granger in Reseda, probably one of the world’s foremost authorities on the RC30’s and V4 motors and we spent the better part of a year restoring the bike.
We stripped it down to the swing arm and frame in Jan 2013 and completed it in Oct 2013. Jim went to work on all the mechanicals and we dissembled the entire bike bit by bit. My daily project was to degrease, scrub, wire brush, polish, prime, paint and clear-coat every piece. EVERYTHING was reconditioned or replaced when necessary. Every seal and hose was gone through or replaced. ALL fluids were changed. I even disassembled the clocks to ensure there was no fog on the interior glass of the speedo, tach and temp gauge. I replaced the bulbs in them too. A true nut and bolt resto and nothing was done half-ass.
Its a dream to ride and completely dialed in. Restoring it was one of the best educations i’ve received and now its time for the next. I’ve got a new toy and projects under way. If you know of an OWO1 I’m on the hunt too.
This looks like one of the nicer examples that have been posted here. But at this point I would just wait a couple of years and do a direct import from Japan. Given how the Japanese tend to take care of their stuff you should be able to find some really clean examples on the cheap.
I don’t know Viceroy. Most JDM’s I’ve seen on this website are in pretty bad condition. Lots of rust and damage from exposure to the elements. Evidently garage space is hard to find in Japan.
Much nicer NC30 ??? On the first look maybe. But on several places (which previous seller didn´t change) it can be seen it was very rusty and oxidated bike before. If you have to polish frame, repaint aluminium parts, brake rotor, brake calipers, so it couldn´t be in a good condition before. It costed $1000-1500 in Japan. Just spraying it into RC30 colours won´t help so much. This is not restoration, but only respraying, sorry.
Viceroy: 80% of imported japnese bikes are demaged, corroded and rusty. If you think, that japanese takes well about their bikes, you are wrong. They have them only as a product of daily use. There are only a few truely collectors.
There are nice Japanese bikes out there but the majority do have some corrosion/wear and tear.
I just got an 86 GSXR750 which is a jap import and it only had 6,500 kms. Still some minor corrosion around the dials and a small amount of rust on the front fairing bracket. Overall a really nice bike but not immaculate.
I’m with 916 on this one…
@916
Not true. I brought in two bikes from Japan not too long ago, and both bikes were practically in mint condition. Low mileage too.
This EBay VFR400 painted colors are a little off IMO. These bikes are also inexpensive there right now. You can get one that’s more original than the EBay one
Hey SR you are spot on. A landlord just got busted in Tokyo for jamming 16 little Japanese workers in a garage and forcing them to sleep there and pay his for it as weekly rent. There was a photo of 16 bunk beds in 1 car garage. They are all people mostly but wow this was a tight fit.
Linny:
I agree with you. Not all japanese bikes are rusty and with corrosion. Ofcourse you can find very nice examples, but average condition is not so good as Viceroy was thinking. And if you find nice example, so it is just not so cheap. Many japanese VFRs looks nice, but because of new cheap chinese reproduced ABS fairings. Try to find VFR in original nice fairings.
The average bike from japan will most likely have some kind of corrosion garage space is a luxury usually many bikes live life under a cover in the elements. Plus it’s also island country which i’m sure helps cause corrosion and rust non rusty corrosion bikes enthusiast or collector bike.
I’ve owned one of these for six or seven years and have been watching them go up in value wondering what mine would now be worth, having paid $4K for it. It’s custom painted in yellow, grey and silver and looks great, but will never be worth the same as an original example, which is ok, because I’ll never sell it! A fabulous ride for a smaller rider, ( I’m 5’6″ / 135 lbs) – not much lower end of course, but they rev so effortlessly and the V4 sound really is addicting.
Like I said smoking joe, they have found small japanese people living in bunks in garages in Tokyo. They found 16 little fellas sleeping in a single car garage in Tokyo and they had to pay the land lord rent. I think they were forced to use a portable toilet to defacate and were asked to shower at work. They of course had a rice cooker in the garage as it had 3 phase power
Yea my friend has an RVF400 it is a fun bike to ride handles awesome power n speed wise it’s right there with my 250 smokers I find myself revving it just so I can hear the gear driven cam whine.
I have seen this bike in person at the rock store and at Jim Granger shop when he was working on it for just about six months, I first spotted this bike when it was stripped down without the plastic, it was in god awful shape, just aluminum pieces painted, every nut & bolt was rusted , everything about this bike look like it was in the Japan junk yard Then when i stopped by Jim shop , he was prepping the body work , I can attest the body work was tattered, the tank was fix up junk basically you have a 900 VFR400 with a 5,000 paint job “lipstick on a pig”
Wow….
Not saying the bike is horrible or anything but like wheres waldo you can see oxidation and rust in several of the pictures. Upper trip nut, electrical tabs holding the harness, rear brake cable, rear suspension parts, etc.
Incredibly the bidding on this is up to $9300 with the reserve not met. I guess that sort of answers my question about non standard paint! It is a great looking paint job, but I haven’t seen original ones go much beyond $6K. These bidders should be reading RSBFS.
Sweet bike
Dean- Lipstick on a Pig? Obviously you’re out of your element on this one, But that’s the beauty of the Internet, I guess. My Restored or ”cleaned up” bike (as DC on RSBFS refers to it) is more than just a $5k paint job. You even make comment that “it was stripped down without the plastic, it was in God-awful shape” Yes you are correct, hence the restoration. You must have missed the “partial basket-case” in my listing description. The long story- I hired a shop in Seattle to restore a completely un-abused stock NC I dropped off in running/riding condition only to find it stripped down in the sorry state you saw it in. Losing my $1200 deposit when the shop owner absconded and collecting my bike in boxes wasn’t part of the plan.
You also mention every nut and bolt was rusted, not true, actually for a 20 year-old bike it was in pretty good shape. Outside of new hex head body and windscreen fasteners I reused just about every bolt, screw and hose that was on the bike. I wanted to retain as much of the original bike as possible.
As for the painted parts changing an NC to RC livery required all the black bits to be painted silver and gold. As for the rusty hose fittings & triple clamp nut they were wire brushed down to bare metal. I live (and ride) close to the beach and after putting 600 miles on the bike a little surface rust from the salt air on bare metal happens, it’s easy to remove and clear coat. Or replace with SS lines and a titanium steering nut.
Do you consider the following lipstick?
Wheels- New wheel bearings- wheels painted correct HRC gold, HRC decals. New tires, rear carrier was removed from the swingarm, cleaned and greased. Rear nut and spacer were painted silver
Brakes- Calipers fully rebuilt. New pads and seals then painted Gold to match the RC theme. Rotors are OEM. Painted the centers to match the RC theme. Lines cleaned reused and filled with DOT4
Front end pulled- legs, triple clamps and clip-ons pulled and painted with epoxy silver to match the RC theme. Forks disassembled, new fork seals, dust covers and new fork oil. New headrace bearings and dustcovers. Adjusted fall-over.
Rear suspension Cleaned and adjusted to 5’10 220lb rider
Instruments and lighting- Disassembled and gone through. Repainted front sub frame black. Cleaned all wiring contacts and connectors. All new bulbs, new flasher relay, disassembled the clocks and cleaned. All OEM original parts. Adjusted hi/low beams (needs foam around the headlamps), New battery.
The fuel system was completely gone through the gas tank was hot-tanked and sealed. A new inner filter, petcock, fuel lines, in-line filter. A new set of carbs was sourced and cleaned; a new gasket kit was done, new stock jetting, new rubber boots. Fuel cap was sprayed in silver epoxy.
The cooling system was all pulled and gone through and the lower core was welded. The upper radiator and grate was repainted silver. A new thermostat and a water neck was done. Filled with water-wetter and distilled water.
Sub frame was removed and painted in silver epoxy. The tray was cleaned up and the wiring harness was pulled and cleaned. Every connector and relay was pulled cleaned and reassembled.
Rearsets were scrubbed prepped and painted in Epoxy silver.
Bodywork and paint on the original OEM plastic and tank. OEM decals used including Genuine RC 30 Gold tape and number plate. In EXACT RC colors.
Valves adjusted and Motul semi-synthetic was added with a new filter.
Oh and it bid to $9900, that was $99 shy of my reserve.
Just sold for $10,500