I've been a visitor on your forum for a few years now and have always loved the MC21/28 and lusted after one for as long as I can remember. As you know the NSR is a grey market bike in the US and they are very hard to come by, especially ones for sale.
I've luckily stumbled upon a 90/91 MC21 NSR250R for sale in my area, and am looking to purchase it for around $3000 USD. This is probably a bit pricey for one of these but I figure it's a bike I've always wanted and $3000 for a dream bike is pretty darn cheap...
My question to all you NSR owners out there is what do you guys think of owning NSR's in general? Is it worth it? It's an old bike, and like any old bike or car, things start needing to be replaced. I have a 91 CBR that I currently ride as well, and while it was an awesome bike in its day, the truth is that it's not running nearly as close to its potential as it could, and the cost of bring it back up to that potential is equivalent to--if not more than--simply selling the bike and buying a newer model. The brakes, suspension, and eventually engine will need to be overhauled... and what with the NSR250 being out of production for a while now, I hear its getting harder and harder (not to mention more expensive) to get parts to rebuild even things like carburetors for it.
Performance-wise, I think I would be perfectly happy with a well-running NSR - I know it'll hold its own against any newer sportbike in the twisties and even the track (at the amateur level, anyway). What do you guys think? The bike I'm buying is basically 100% stock and I can bet that it's been years since anything has been rebuilt on the bike (suspension, engine, brakes... I know the carbs were recently cleaned). It's also sat for the past year or so without being ridden.
Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated! I look forward to joining the NSR crowd soon.
$3000 is probably a bit much for an R model but like you say its you dream bike so it doesnt really matter.
I have had no problem at all getting any parts for either of my NSRs and as you probably know Charles one of the moderators of the site and his girlfriend both race NSRs, and there are plenty of American owners on the forum, so getting parts isnt an issue as i beleive most of the parts for the 21/28 are still made.
The bikes themselves are razor sharp and will out corner just about anything, and set up correctly you can happily seee a steady 63BHP and not compromise any reliability.
As you already own a Honda you are aware of the top build quality so you know you have no worries there.
There are sooooooo many upgrades that you can do, SP suspension, USD forks, Tyga stuff, HRC kit, it's all available so you can either leave it totally standard or...............well that depends how deep you pockets are
Welcome to the world of the NSR250 you wont regret it. _________________ MC21SP - Roth-tax
CBR400 - track
MC21R - sold
MC21SP - sold
Owning a two stroke is a stormy relationship. The highs are massively high, but the lows can be equally depressing!
There's not much else around that will give the same hit as a two stroke, the power delivery, the nimble chassis, the noise and of course the smell!
The NSR was very well screwed together by Honda at the factory, and has survived the years well. Various parts suffer depending on how moronic the previous owners have been, but the motors are generally very reliable, only showing problems when we try to extract more power from them without proper care and attention.
All bikes built after 1989 came from Japan restricted to 45hp, so the first thing on any owners' mind is to release what Honda meant to be there - 60+hp. Done properly, the bike will be just as reliable as in restricted form, since this was it's intended output before legislation castrated it.
60hp is good enough for 125mph, and plenty to embarass the crap riders on their big bikes on a twisty road.
An 'R' is a pretty basic model, but all the parts from the SP can be fitted, giving you a dry clutch, fully adjustable suspension, and magnesium alloy wheels. Alternatively, there are many upgrades from other bikes, to bring the suspension bang up to date, such as the upside down forks Monkey mentioned. Personally, I have simply had my SP forks rebuilt by a pro and they're top notch.
Parts are still easily available, and can be ordered from most Honda dealers - you just get the part number from the site and take it to the shop.
After market fairings, HRC parts, lightweight parts and tuning parts are pretty well covered on the net, though most emanate from the East, so you will have to get them posted in.
A few words of warning! Once you fall in love with the NSR, you may find yourself: penniless but elated, as you fit that exotic new bodywork. Upset yet giggling like a child, as you remember the corner before you crashed as you went round the outside of an R1. Depressed yet optomistic as you strip a siezed engine, and figure out how you can get more power out of it on the rebuild.
Buy with confidence, and enjoy! _________________ MC21SP Plaything
BMW F800GS Bumblebee
Triumph 9551 Daytona Big boys toy
FJ1100 Sporting relic
GTS1000 oddball
Dave Ett wrote:Once you fall in love with the NSR, you may find yourself: penniless but elated, as you fit that exotic new bodywork. Upset yet giggling like a child, as you remember the corner before you crashed as you went round the outside of an R1. Depressed yet optomistic as you strip a siezed engine, and figure out how you can get more power out of it on the rebuild.
!
dave thats almost poetic _________________ MC21SP - Roth-tax
CBR400 - track
MC21R - sold
MC21SP - sold
wellcome, I thought id just add my 2 cents. I bought My NSR250R about 4 months ago. I didnt look for a mint example just one thats been mechanicaly looked after. I paid £1200 for my R it just had a new crank and i belive looking through the history the top end was done as well about 3000kms before the crank. so the bike was ideal for me.
Now im a big fan of bikes any bikes i love em, BUT the nsr is fantastic even stock suspension (and mine is 15 years old now) it out handles bigger bikes. At the last track day i couldnt stop laughing as during a long corner i was changing up gears and catching bigger bikes and in some casese passing them. ITS FAB. As for a money pit well thats up to you. You can keep it standard and just keep it maintained it shouldnt cost much, Parts are fairly easy to get and LIKE everyone says its a honda.
For me ive already spent £600 on parts from tyga, another £40 on brake lines £150 on new rearsets, £140 on a ZXR400 front end and im goning to have to spend another £3-400 on setting it up when the bits arrive from Tyga. After that i have planned new bodywork, ohlins rear shock etc etc etc it goes on. but its what i enjoy and it makes me happy
Stay tunned to this site, Lots of clever people here. its helped me no end.
I think i can add, make sure the bike your looking at has been well looked after, you dont want a rebuild bill before you get to ride it.
Kuni, does the bike have a title? If so, then it's well worth $3000.
In the UK, that sort of money nets you a mint example of an "R" model, but then again they are legal here! Getting a bike with a US title (especially in CA) can be worth a lot of money. _________________ 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.
i payed 6000nzd for my 21se and i just put it on trade me after i had an accident but not selling it now ive reonsidered and i recieved five emails almost simultainously with a price tag of 5500 so now im going to hang onto it as people are having real diificulty finding these machines!
I am a learner rider and brought mine and its way overpowered for me im having trouble ontrolling it hense the crash!
but they are a awesome bike theres nothing like them so I say go for it!
$3000 is super cheap for a CA titled NSR. I paid $5800 for my R model almost 3 years ago. It had Tyga bodywork and tons of spares hence the price.
I'm also pretty sure I can sell for at least $6000 now with all the mods that are done to it. My friend is actually selling his titled MC21 SP for 5k bone stock. Sooooo. $3000 is well worth it!
Actually, it's not CA registered. $3k for a CA reg'd NSR would be a steal... a friend of mine in San Diego has a CA registered MC21 250R (stock with Moriwaki chambers) that he's selling for $5k too, but I can't bring myself to spend $5k on it... (I'd easily swoop up a MC28 SP w/ CA title for $5k though!)
JohnBlaze,
I live near Irvine but I went to school in San Diego (UCSD) so I have a lot of friends in SD, and am there several times a month. Maybe we can meet up sometime.
3k isn't bad. Shoot, I threw 4 for my 92' SE and still wonder if it was worth quite that much.
As for getting it back to the states and getting it titled, I've heard nothing but bad news for CA. If I can, maybe taking out the motor, pull off the fairings, unbolt the expansion chambers and remove the model number (or not, not sure if it'll hide what it is) then just get the frame re-stamped when it gets to the states as a CBR250 or something that won't raise a fuss. I run across vin's from junkyard bikes all the time where I was from. I've heard something about a "special operations" vehile title before, but haven't looked more into it.
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