As rare as the Honda NR750 is, if one was in the market to buy, there are usually a couple to choose from at any given time somewhere in the world. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen one for sale in the U.S. And it’s the second bike this week that was reportedly owned previously by Nicholas Cage. Sporting just under 2,500 miles, this NR750 is currently bidding at just over $50k with reserve not yet met and 5 days remaining.
dc
Honda NR750 for sale on eBay
from the seller:
If you are looking at this motorycycle, you know what it is. Once owned by Nicholas Cage. New tires and just tuned. Ready to ride or show. Beautiful condition. Thinning the collection.
The Honda NR (New Racing) is a v-four motorcycle engine series started by Honda in 1979 with the 500cc NR500 Grand Prix racer that used oval pistons. This road going NR750 uses elliptical piston with curved long sides. The bike was originally sold in Austria and is the highest performance version of the NR750. These bikes are rarely for sale. Will not go cheap.
The seller states on the ebay listing that this is a 1979 motorcycle. Perhaps the NR program started in 1979, but what year is this motorcycle?
1992, the only year they were made.
They were sold in ’92.
The NR engine development started in ’79 with their GP bikes….many configurations….many new technologies explored and some just resurrected. The ’79 GP bike had oval pistons.
As Randy states, they were sold in ’92. First I’ve seen for general sale in the US apart from a couple that changed hands privately.
As a side comment, the NR stood for New Racing, but got the ignominious names of ‘Not Ready’ or ‘Never Ready’. Mostly by journalists looking for a heated debate. This is a important bike in Honda’s history.
Mark
Fay Meyers out in Colorado used to have one on display/for sale, so the fact that this is in the USA isn’t totally unusual….I have to say for this money I would still prefer something like a pristine desmosedecci…this one is more of an engineering marvel but I dont think I would ever ride it
This is definitely for the dedicated collector. Unlike a Desmosedici, Supermono, 2 stroke GP refugee, or homologation special this doesn’t offer much in the way of riding experience that a VFR won’t provide. Nifty to know of the exotic cylinders but that doesn’t translate much to anything in the seat. Nice to see these still out there looking so fine.
Funky, and finding replacement oval pistons will prove to be a biotch. Oh yeah, ugly…
Oil ring sealing is their bugaboo. They blow oil commonly, and there isn’t much you can do about it. On the bright side, perhaps Honda would support parts for this well, but you’d be dealing directly with Japan. And CF bits and bodywork would be astronomically expensive.
Put bar risers and bags on it and it makes an excellent cross country sport touring mount.
At this years outdoor European Motorcycle Show at the Larz Anderson Museum of Transportation (Brookline, MA), there was 1 on display inside. There was a brief description of the bike on a card attached.
I was with some non-riding friends, and they were astounded at the technology.
I think this is an amazing bike, and I wish I had the money to buy it.
And yeah, I would ride it!
Piston rings(and almost every other part) are no longer available from Honda.
This is as rare as it gets. I hope that whomever can afford this bike is stoked as hell when he receives it. I’d snatch it up in a heartbeat if I had 70gs just lying around.
Saw these run when I was racing at Laguna and had high hopes for them, but unfortunately, they were less than competitive. Honda was the 600 LB gorilla in the room and the mere fact they would design and compete with something like this was impressive. Pretty amazing when you realize Honda’s history in the 60’s developing 250 and 350 six cylinder four strokes (and others) revving to the stratosphere with Hailwood aboard and winning races. I’ve see a few at the Rock Store over the years being ridden by their owners. Cheers to them!
should we be checking up on Nicholas Cage and see if hes ok? he seems to be selling off bikes lately…….
^ best joke ive heard on rsbfs in ages
Of about 700 produced, zero were “officially” imported to the U.S. Honda attempted to recoup the ocean of yen it took to develop the NR racing program and sold a batch of these at a then (and now) astronomical sticker of $50,000. The seller not only states the incorrect year, but also the model name; the street version was simply called NR. The 750 street bike made about 125 HP at 14,000 RPM. The original NR500 was really just a sly way to build a V-8 engine while complying with rules limiting engines to four combustion chambers. Nice to look at, but………
No sale at $62,600.
dc