In standard/delimited form, while the NSR is still undeniably a better package in every aspect, there's not a huge amount to choose from between the NSR, RGV, RS, KR1S*, or TZR for the average user. As we've shown before with the dyno shootout, they all produce close to 60hp (some a couple over, some a couple under) at around 11,300rpm. Honda certainly hit the sweet spot engineering-wise with a 54mm (ish) bore 250 V-twin 2-stroke at the time!

It comes down to what you want. They are all going to feel fast, light, and agile compared to a CBR250RR (they are, after all proddy race bikes in disguise, something the CBR can never be accused of!) so it comes down really to who your 250/500 heros were, your faith in a particular manufacturer to deliver the best product/build quality at the time, which one you like the look of most, and which you feel will be easiest to get parts for/has the most support.

There were countless more RGV's built and sold than NSR's, purely down to the fact that unlike the NSR, it was an official model outside Japan and therefore thousands exist in foreign markets all over the world. The RGV also shares a number of parts with the Aprilia RS250 - some of the RS engine parts can be considered as an upgrade to RGV parts. (The NSR was the best selling 250 in Japan for several years running though!) This means that there's likely to be a lot more spares and spare bikes floating about, although you will still more than likely need to source a great number of parts from abroad.

If your ultimate aim is performance, the Honda wins hands down though. Both the motor and chassis have GP heritage, and consequently both are easy to tune. My next choice would always be a 3XV, but it's considerably harder to screw the performance out of for Joe Bloggs withouth the Sugo race kit, plus unless you have an SP** (or extremely rare SPR) you are fighting a losing battle from the start, and aftermarket support is extremely limited.

* Kawasaki were the only manufacturer not to follow Honda's lead and switch to a V-twin.
** Unlike the TZR, all NSR variations of each model are equally "tuneable". You can use an "R", an "SE", or an "SP" as your base and see exactly the same results once tuned. All the porting is the same, all the carbs are the same, all the ECUs are the same, etc., etc., etc.
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Andy.
NSR-WORLD.COM

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