I shouldn’t say shopping, I was actually just casually browsing my Google Alerts and a couple of sharp looking NC30 VFR400’s came up on Craigslist. Unfortunately they’re both overseas. But they’re so good looking that I was curious to see what current exchange rates would equate to.
First up is this NC30 Honda VFR400 For Sale in County Durham, UK. Listed on Craigslist for £1795 (~$2900 today):
quote from seller’s Craigslist posting:
Honda VFR400 NC30, excellent example of a classic, J-reg, low milage at 16500miles. Sounds amazing, starts first time.
The second VFR400 is located in Yokohama, Japan and is listed on Craigslist for ¥200,000 (~$2000!):
quote from seller’s Craigslist listing:
Honda VFR 400 V4, 19 months shaken, new tyre, battery, excellent condition 14,000 km only. Regrettable sale due to baby. Also come with race pipe.
They both look pretty nice, but the black and red one is so sharp it’d by my pick; especially at two grand! How much do you think it would cost to ship a bike like this from Japan or the U.K.? Of course these wouldn’t be legal for road use, but I’ve posted plenty of bikes on this blog that should fall into the same category and many feature titles and registration.
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on value, cost of transportation, and if it’d be worth the trouble! Please join our conversation and leave a comment!
dc
I owned an ’93 NC30 a while back. This was a CA titled bike that DID NOT have a 17 digit VIN. That proved an unsolvable problem for me. But it was a wonderful bike in several ways and I wish I still had it as a street-able bike.
Here’s what mine looked like (don’t know if pic will show):
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d133/gpracer2500/P8100029_resize1.jpg
I’m not sure what shipping would cost. US $500 to a local shipping terminal? I don’t know. Are they worth $2500 or $3000 delivered as a no title bike? Maybe. All depends on what you had in mind for it. Spares for another bike? To flog around the track? What else could you do with one? I’m open to ideas because I think NC30’s in decent shape are good enough bikes that at $2500 a pop to warrant some brainstorming on how to justify actually doing it.
If I was serious about getting an NC30 from overseas I’d likely inquire about the possibility of swapping the rear wheel prior to purchase/shipping. The NC30 has a 18″ rear which screws up tire selection. The likelihood of finding a direct replacement 17 incher in Japan or the UK might be higher. I can’t remember the options other than a NC35 rear.
$0.02
Oh man, that bike is gorgeous! Let’s hear a little bit of a ride report on that!
And I was definitely trying to suggest that it would be worth it if one had a way to ride it on the street. Although I think a dedicated track bike would be a very close second for a beginner like me.
Thanks GP!
dc
Hi guys just looking through pics of the vfrs on google, funnily enough im from newcastle upon tyne in england and bourght that VFR up top (red/white/blue) runs a dream and is well fast, done me a few trips to london and back aswell!
weird!