Honda’s two-stroke NS400R was ostensibly intended to capitalize on their Grand Prix racing efforts, but with less displacement and one fewer cylinder than rivals from Suzuki and Yamaha, it got lost in the shuffle at the time and suffered from a perceived lack of hairy-chestedness, compared to its 500cc competition. So why did Honda go with…
Update 12.20.2017: Steve has updated us that this bike has SOLD! Congratulations to buyer and seller! He also mentions that he has an even nicer one that will be ready in early January, stay tuned! -dc As profiled in the 1984 edition of Cycle World’s occasional “Forbidden Fruit” column, the RVF400R / NC35 was a…
This auction ended as the post was being edited, but the pictures of this super example are still available. Happy Thanksgiving ! In a rare maneuver, Honda sent the dainty VTR250 Interceptor to the U.S. – only and first – in part to keep Kawasaki’s 250cc plans in check. From 1988-1990 it was only here,…
Update 11.27.2017: SOLD! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc Our buddy Greg at Deftone Cycles has a near-constant stream of gorgeous grey-market bikes come through his doors every year, from fairly standard JDM imports in excellent condition to some real unobtanium pieces that you have to be fast to catch. It’s no surprise, then, that…
The Honda CBR400RR was designed to appeal to buyers in certain countries that were limited to bikes of smaller displacement because of tiered licensing requirements or heavy taxes on larger machines. Racing classes in those markets also existed to campaign 400cc motorcycles, and were hotly contested by the usual suspects: Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki also…
Back in the early ’90s, Honda was still known for pushing boundaries with build quality, poise and panache unrivaled among its competitors. Throughout the decade, Big Red claimed some truly great accomplishments that dragged motorcycling further toward the coming millennium. But in ’92, Honda spat out one of its craziest street creations on record, the…
It has often been said that riding a slow bike fast is far more enjoyable than riding a fast bike slowly. Most of the hyper-super-mega cycles listed on these pages can exceed national speed limits in seconds – and first gear. But with a smaller bike, you need to work much harder to maximize your…
Unlike Honda’s NSR250R, the RS250R was Honda’s over-the-counter race bike intended for privateer teams. Of course, if you were a factory outfit, you could get your hands on something like the NSR250 or RS250RW, which honestly gets a bit confusing. Especially the fact that the NSR250 and NSR250R are completely different bikes, and the one…