Hello, I am new to this forum. I am travelling to the UK on Monday the 22nd of Feburary. I am going looking at a few NSR 250's. Does anyone have any for sale that I could look at? I will be travelling from Manchester to Doncaster to Norwich and flying back late Tuesday night. Also while looking at the Sp model is there anything I should be looking out for besides the MagTek wheels and Forks? Is there a special Chassis No. or anything that was only on the SP model and not the SE model. Any general advise would be much apreciated. Thanks lads.
I'm afraid the SP chassis were plucked randomly out of the production line. There's no specific prefix/suffix to identify them. For all intent and purposes, an SP is "just" an SE with Magteks... an SE is just an R with a dry clutch and adjustable suspension. In reality, it's going to be impossible to tell a genuine SP from a non-SP, unless you can get Honda to confirm it. (Varying success rate on having Honda confirm chassis numbers here in the UK.)
Basically, you will just have to play it by ear. Get a feel for the seller, and if anything causes you doubt, just trust your instincts. NSRs aren't cheap these days, and we've seen a lot sell for very good money that have required a lot of time and money spent after purchase! It can be a real minefield. There are some great bikes out there though, but the owners don't seem to want to sell them!
Finally, what do you want from the bike? If you want to derestrict it and hoon about like a looney, then an MC21 is the sensible choice. 60hp+ is yours pretty much for free, within an hour or so, and they are cheaper than an MC28. If you're looking for ultimate appreciation, then it's probably going to cost you in the form of an MC28. However, HRC jet kits are virtually nigh on impossible to get for them now, and derestricting them is expensive. Of course, the MC21s (and MC18s) are appreciating in value too. _________________ Andy.
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A Rothmans SP is always going to be the most desirable of the NSRs, but if I personally had to make a decision based on just those photos and adverts alone, it would be the SE. The SE looks a far more genuine bike.
Impossible to advise anything else, other than that's a shed load of money! Get some kind of warranty for that kind of outlay! _________________ Andy.
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thanks very much for all your help. I really cant wait to start looking. If they arent perfect I wont be buying. also they are very expensive. any ideas of the price ranges of SE models vs Sp models
Thanks, so about £6000-£7000 seems to be the going rate for a nice MC28. Thanks for all the help, im leaving first thing in the morning, looking forward to it now. Any parting advice?
Yeah, as I say, while I've yet to personally come across a genuine import dealer since the mid 90s, the SE advert/seller seems far more genuine.
The Rothmans advert seems to be rather unencouraging! Another just jumping on the 2-stroke bandwagon perhaps? Buyer beware. I may be completely wrong, but the least any seller can do when trying to operate in a specialised market, is prepare accurate advertisements!
We've looked into ourselves, and just don't see how these sellers are making a worthwhile profit, unless the bikes aren't all they appear to be. Judging by the level of work required on [expensive] bikes subsequently bought in to us, most aren't what they appear to be!
As I said before; get some kind of warranty, or at the very least, an itemised receipt of what's been done to it since arrival in the UK! I would want as close to perfect as is possible, for that kind of money.
If it were me, and was thinking of spending £6-7k, then I would rather buy a bike for £3~4k, and spend £3-4k on it. You would have, for all intent and purposes, a new bike built to your personal specification! _________________ Andy.
NSR-WORLD.COM
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Please DO NOT PM me for technical advice. My time is precious, and you will probably receive a faster response on the Forum anyway.
That Rothmans bike has been for sale a long time, so presume that is august last year. Most of those importers just unload them out the crate, might wipe em over, might fire em up, and put a inflated tag on em, in the case of this one he states the bodywork has some cracks, so £6 grand plus is very salty, for that money you want to be getting one thats had all that work done, probably better off getting something off someone thats already spent 2 or 3 grand on it, cause believe me thats what youll end up doing till you are happy with it, then you'll have an nsr that stands you in something approaching 10 grand. The problem now is nsr,s are becoming scarcer, even the japs are re buying out the auctions at inflated prices, making it harder for the importers to get a bargain. My advice would be bide your time for something thats been fettled by an enthusiast, there are plenty out there, i certainly wouldn't be giving 6 or 7 grand for something straight out the crate that could turn into a financial pit, especially engine wise,seen too many go that way. _________________ Proud Father of , 05 ktm 400exc supermoto 2018 honda crf rx supermoto
What would the price of a good SE MC28 be around? Thanks very much for all of your input lads. When i was young i loved watchin Mick Doohan on the 500's. Theres zero chance of me buying a 500 so the 250 is the closest thing. Its just something I've always wanted and I've always had my heart set on the MC28.
That Rothmans one also looks like it's been stored under a tarp in a carpark!!
As others have said you really need to know what you're buying. When I bought my first NSR I went for a cheap <£1000 one so that I knew I couldn't be disappointed! Predictably I found the bores and pistons ruined and various other things. Doing the top-end alone with new parts and re-coated cylinders is the best part of a grand. So if you're paying £6000+ then you want to be confident it's going to have a lot of life in it. However it depends if you want to buy one good to ride or have a project - every day my project bike seems to get further from completion!
One way to know you're getting a good one is to examine it as thoroughly as you can, the other way is - as Andy advises - to use your judgement on how genuine the seller is. I bought an MC21SP off a known member on here and I had absolutely no doubt that it was a good buy - you just have to use your intuition, because unless you're buying one in bits how do you know if it's been recently seized/abused?
Hi all. So i saw the SE model today. First off the staff were very helpful. They done everything i asked including taking off the fairings. I examined the bike for a good half hour. Everything was perfect and not even so much as a bit of dirt or grease was on anything. Perfect OEM fairings and casings. I must say i was very impressed. Beside it was a ZXR 750 and about 25 other classic bikes. In total id say he had about 100 thousand in the show room easy. Lots of classics including a RD 350R. I will go back to Ireland to think about it. He didn't offer me a warranty but im going to push for one.
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