Threesome: 1986 Honda NS400R

The Honda NS400R is a bit of an odd duck in the annals of rare bike collections. Bigger than a 250 but lacking the brutal thrust of the 500cc smokers, the V-3 two stroke is neither fish nor fowl. Nearly all other two strokes are apples to the NS400R orange. With typical Honda flair and…

Honda NS400R 1986 Rothmans Livery

In celebration of Freddie Spencer’s 1983 500cc championship (or was it the competing Suzuki RG50o and Yamaha RD500 ?), Honda developed a race inspired 400cc two-stroke triple.  The rare 90-degree ( center cylinder up, outside cylinders ahead ) was little wider than an upright twin, putting out a smooth but peaky 72 hp.  The ’85-87…

Some Assembly Required: 1986 Honda NS400R

Honda’s NSR400R was a snarling, two-stroke middleweight from an era of unprecedented experimentation; a three-cylinder, triple-piped sportbike with cutting-edge specifications. The 1980’s must have been a very discouraging time for European and Italian manufacturers. While they were barely hanging on by their fingernails, Japanese manufacturers were in the throes of an era of funky, experimental…

Two-Stroke Triple: 1985 Honda NS400R for Sale

This Honda NSR400R was up for sale recently, but did not find a buyer. Hopefully, it will sell this time around! After years of relatively conservative technology, where overhead cams were considered pretty cutting-edge, motorcycle design went into overdrive during the 1980’s and the Japanese, fueled by their 1970’s domination of the market, were at…