I joined the forum a good few weeks ago but decided not to post until I actually received my new bike, as I did not want to look silly being a victim of an eleborate scam, thankfully that has not turned out to the case
I am now the proud owner of a 1991 MC21 SP in Cabin paintwork, it's a very low milage bike, about 5000K it has obviously been very well looked after.
The NSR has always been on of those bikes I have lusted for but have always believed it was going to be out of my reach, that was until I as fortunate enough to win one in a raffle....Yes it does happen. Without sounding like an advert I won it on JP Performance Classics which instead of selling some bikes, raffle them to give people like me a chance to own a bike that they would only dream of owning.
Now after many weeks I have managed to get the bike delivered not without problems I might add, let me explain.
I am fortunate to live on the Isle of Man, we have been for the most part covid free in the last 12 months apart from a few hiccups but certainly nothing like the mainland has had to endure, there is downside to that, in that our borders have been closed since March 2020 and although I could travel off Island I would have to self isolate on my return for periods which were varying but at one point was 21 days. This made it pretty impossible for most people to travel, including me as I run my own business here. After looking at piggy backing it with a van dealer who imports vehicles, which due to various circumstances never actually happened I eventually decided to get a bike courier to pick the bike up (plus another aquisition I bought) and pay the horrendous ferry costs to get my bikes here on the Island, this has now actually been done!
I have been riding bikes for close to 40 years, I raced for 20 of those competing in the MGP gaining double figure replicas, many Southern 100 and a couple of NW200's.
I started as many did on the classic Fizzy, then got stuck on Yamahas for good period, RD250E my first race bike was a 250LC, then TZR250 a jump to an FZ750 followed by an OW01 and a YZF750SP.
I did ride all the japanese marques for various sponsors, many CBR600's, GSXR600 &750 plus my own Kawasaki 600RR and Honda RVF400, I never went back to 2 strokes until recently when I bought another TZR250 2MA (Like I used to race), now I have my jewel in the crown NSR and most recently another scruffy TZR which I have plans for.
I have yet to even start the NSR as I am aware of its condition and would like to keep it that way but this Saturday looks like it might be the day! I have arranged to go out for a blast round the Island with a couple of mates and I am really looking forward to it.
I do feel I am in the right place here to ask questions about the NSR as there must be a wealth of experience, so here goes.
What would be the recommended 2 stroke oil for the NSR? I used to use Silkoline Pro 2 but I am not even sure if that still exists, is a fully synthetic the best path?
I am unsure as to whether it is restricted, I have read it will limit revs in 4th 5th & 6th, is this correct.
I am sure I will have more questions after its road test, the dry clutch is something completely new to me so that will be a steep learning curve.
If anyone has any tips as far as this bike is concerned I am like a sponge and am willing to learn all its little foybles and idiosycracies.
That’s one nice bike you have there, and a great back story to boot
Looking forward to seeing how the shake down ride goes and also your first impression
Sorry I can’t offer any help with your questions as I’m as green as grass having not been in a bike for close to 25yrs
I love the Cabin colours; for some reason it's a very rare to see one.
We use and recommend Rock-Oil Synthesis 2 Injector, but any synthetic 2T oil today is infinitely better than the Honda GR2 specified 30 years ago!
Many here swear by Motul 710 or Castol Power1 (formerly TTS).
Restriction doesn't strictly limit RPM, but stops the RC Valve opening fully in the higher gears, so you'll probably feel the motor running out of puff as speed increases beyond 70mph/112kmh. The NSR is geared low however, so even when delimited, unless you change the final drive (dropping down to 40T on the back for MC21 works well) it makes little difference on the road usually.
MC21 derestriction is incredibly simple though, needing nothing more than some side cutters, a soldering iron, and a 20mm hole cutter. (And most likely a re-jet.)
A shame you didn't check/post in classifieds for pipes... I have a brand new set of TYGA's here in the UK ready to go! _________________ 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.
Thanks for the welcome Andy, and thanks for the info, I may well be popping into on of the local bike shops tomorrow to A) Show off, and B) pick their brains on oil, The shop I am thinking of are big into motorcross and I think still race two strokes, if not, they are proper enthusiasts anyway not just out to fleece their customers.
Not being an experienced Honda let alone NSR expert, I have to be honest, I had never seen or heard of the "Cabin" edition, in fact I can only bearly remember the Cabin Hondas back in the day of 250 GP racing, if you had asked me to list out the liveries of the time I probably have omitted them entirely.
That said, I have been led to believe that they are very rare, my research tells me that only 2000 were ever produced world wide and online searches lead to very few actually being around now. I have to say that I still rate the Rothmans colours on an NSR as one of the sexiest bikes ever but for what I paid for my bike I would appear very ungrateful to complain.
I will have a look at your pipes and consider them as an option, if standard pipes in good condition are as sought after as in the TZR world, it seem a wise ting to save them for future use, I will let you know.
Hello, an welcome, i love the bike. I found Motul oil works well with mine. I think Castrol changed their formula and I dont like the new stuff, but this is anecdotal.
prelude2.2 wrote:Hello, an welcome, i love the bike. I found Motul oil works well with mine. I think Castrol changed their formula and I dont like the new stuff, but this is anecdotal.
Thanks very much for that wisdom, I will have to see what I can actually purchase here on the Island, surptisingly, we are not over blessed with bike shops, contrary to what you might think and the amount of bikes that are on the Island.
We do have a Honda Dealer (I think) and I will see if they stock Motul, you'd have thought so as they are a big sponsor of the Road Racing team.
Mind you they also used to sponsor Loctite Yamaha and I know from a good source that Motul was never used in their race bikes, it was always Bel-Ray.
Welcome Fair play,that's an excellent result for you in these times!It's an iconic livery,and that bike looks right.It will be interesting to hear what you think of your MC21.
IomMan wrote:
Not being an experienced Honda let alone NSR expert, I have to be honest, I had never seen or heard of the "Cabin" edition, in fact I can only bearly remember the Cabin Hondas back in the day of 250 GP racing, if you had asked me to list out the liveries of the time I probably have omitted them entirely.
I believe Cabin colours only appeared for one year in WGP [1989] on the NSR500, ridden by Rob McElnea and Bubba Shobert. The Cabin NSR250 was only raced in the All-Japan domestic series, other than a wildcard for Tadayuki Okada at Suzuka.
It's much more widely known for the 8hr endurance VTR1000 SPW (SP-1/SP-2) in 2000 & 2001.
Rothman's is arguably the most iconic livery, but as I say, I really like Cabin. I seem to recall Johnny Mac has a really nice one, and every now and again Lorraine Pinner pops up on here, and she has an absolutely immaculate one. (If I remember correctly, she managed to score a brand new set of NOS bodywork for it several years ago too.) _________________ Andy.
NSR-WORLD.COM
Please keep all responses to Forum posts on the Forum so that others may benefit.
Please DO NOT PM me for technical advice. My time is precious, and you will probably receive a faster response on the Forum anyway.
Well thanks you all for your helpful and informative comments, it's good to have that information as I have found out that suddenly people want to talk to you about the bike and take pictures. I also was given thumbs up by car drivers when they saw the bike out and about, it's a bit like going out with a super model.......I suppose....but that has never happened to me!
I did, as you might gather, I did get the bike out for the first time yesterday.
It was a bit of a bitch to get going but after sitting for nearly two monthsI guess that is to be expected, that. and my inexperience with the bike, how much choke? how much throttle, do leave the choke on or switch it off as soon as I can? I got it sorted and warmed up OK and that was that issue done.
Handling wise, absolutely faultless! it goes wherever you point it and I soon put any issues with that to the back of my mind.
Learning to ride a two stroke again after many years on big fours, well that is a work in progress, it is coming back to me and I have to really work at the gearbox to keep it bubbling. Almost every time you tip into a bend you need to go down a gear regardless, whereas on a big four a roll off and roll on would suffice.
Riding with a couple of mates on big Ducati's and BMW's passing traffic was a twist of the wrist for them, I needed to be far better prepared but that is part of the learning curve. Long runs especially uphill they definitely had the advantage, in the twisty bits and on braking, they struggled and the NSR eased ahead effortlessly.
I did find the bike a little cramped for my 6' 2" frame, which is one of the reasons I stopped racing TZR's and jumped to bigger bikes, once crow barred on though I seemed OK but I won't be touring on it that is a given. I need to do something with the gear change, and probably the rear brake pedals as they seem very tucked into the frame and my big plates tend to stick out when I am riding and I am having to twist my foot inwards to access the controls. I would also like to reverse the gear change as I prefer to ride with a One up the rest down configuration, this is usually done by reversing the linkage by 180 degrees and may need some machining of the final drive casing unless someone else here has already done it without too many problems can advise on that.
Initially, I seemed to be getting issues with gear jumping, which was a bit concerning but that may have been operator error, the close ratio box just need a nudge and it might well have been me trying to get myself settled into some form of comfort, as the the day went on it stopped being a problem.
Overall though, massively pleased, when you get the gear changes right and powering out of the bends it is so satisying, when you get it wrong, very frustrating, it all has brought back the real joy of riding a bike that is not so powerful it's going to kill you with your next mistake and well behaved to forgive you your errors.
As you can probably gather, despite its rarity and pedegree this is a bike that is going to be ridden not hiden away in a garage. Yes it will be a sunny day bike but these were not built to be stored they are to be enjoyed as much by other people seeing it as Myself who is lucky enough to actually own it.
Funny you ask, I needed to take some for insurance purposes and as soon as I can work out how to post them, I will.
It seems there is a limit to the size of Photo's that can be uploaded.
I am not the most computer savy person you will ever meet!
That is good to hear that you did not become a victim of SCAM. I think the bike is nice and you are going to enjoy riding it. The bike is also good for racing.
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