Honda Nr750
CYCLE WORLD TEST
HONDA NR750
WE RIDE THE OVAL-PISTON WONDER
AGOSTINI'S MV AGUSTA TRIPLE. The Moto Guzzi V-Eight. A Brough Superior SS100. Any Arlen Ness special. How far would you go to obtain a ride on your Dream Bike? Donate a kidney? Give up your first-born? Maybe hock the wife? And what would you give for seat time on Honda's $60,000 NR750, the dreamiest two-wheeler ever to come from Japan?
The NR is an art piece, a Faberge Egg of a motorcycle, destined more to a life of collecting dust than stone chips on its belly pan. For fans of high-performance, high-tech hardware, the 32-valve, ovalpiston NR truly is the Holy Grail on Michelin TX radials.
Cycle World wanted one. But what began as a noble quest to obtain the bike that's billed as the most technologically advanced piece of two-wheeled exotica ever to roll off an assembly line just wasn't coming together. Because it's not for sale here. American Honda said thanks but no thanks to its parent company in Japan, opting not to import even a solitary example, leaving the CW staff to our own devices and the prospect of sourcing one of the rare oval-piston wonders from the private sector.
Our choices were few, as there is currently but one NR750 loose in the States. Its owner, a noted L.A. featurefilm director with much enthusiasm for the sport, was coaxed into lending us his pride and joy. First, his attorney drafted up a multi-page contractual loan agreement that held CW fully accountable for the slightest slip, blunder, mech failure or paint chip while the bike was in our clammy hands. After a lot of negotia tion, we were granted custody of Honda's prodigal son for a period of 72 hours and up to 250 miles. Not bad, consider-
ing a handful of the international press, including our own Euro Editor, Alan Cathcart, had each been allotted a single 24-minute stint aboard the NR750 at an intro held in France a couple of years ago (see "Aboard the NR Express," CW, February, 1992).
Obtaining performance numbers for the NR proved prob lematic. Attaching our third-wheel test instrumentation would put the bike's beautifully sculpted one-piece tank cover/tailsection at risk. Understandably, the owner wasn't keen on this, nor would he tolerate hard dragstrip launches and the resultant stress to the clutch and drivetrain. These stringent rules of engagement relegated us to measuring top gear roll-on acceleration with a hand-held stopwatch, while stopping distances were achieved with a tape measure and a prayer. Obtaining 0-100 mph acceleration-with interval times-just wasn't feasible and has been omitted from this test altogether. Still, we feel confident that the numbers obtained give a decent representation of how the NR stacks up against more run-of-the-mill machinery.
Enough with the preliminaries. The question is this: Does NR reality live up to the fantasy? Well, that depends on how you look at it. Not that the Honda is bad in any way, shape or form. It's just that in terms of pure performance, more can be had for a hell of a lot less. But the NR750 isn't about outright performance and it's certainly not about dollar value. Dream Bikes seldom are.
Without a doubt, the NR750 is the most finely finished production bike we've ever ridden. Attention to detail begins with its polished frame and swingarm, and doesn't end once you delve beneath the immaculately finished car bon-fiber-reinforced plastic bodywork. Not a solitary weld, fastener or component appears cobby or misplaced. The engine itself is a magnificent sight to behold, looking more like a V-Eight liberated from an Indycar chassis than a motorcycle mill. Indeed, the NR's fuel-injected, eight-valve, oval cylinders are unique among motorized vehicles.
With an ultra-short stroke and incredible valve area, this motor lives to rev, but, ironically, spinning it to the sky-high 1 5,000-rpm redline is all but unnecessary. There is ample power right off idle, building progressively through the lower rev range, with a noticeable increase in output as the tacho needle sweeps through 7500 rpm. From that point on up, power is linear and seamless.
With a powerband nearly 8000 rpm wide, shifting becomes an option. The NR’s gearbox works well enough under moderate to hard acceleration, but became notchy at times, even displaying a tendency to catch neutral when short-shifting at a mild cruising pace. Drivetrain lash is more pronounced than we would expect from a bike of this caliber.
To get a perspective on the NR’s performance, we’ll draw comparisons against Honda’s own 1994 VFR750, a bike that has been cited as being “the poor man’s NR.”
Dragstrip testing showed the NR’s top gear roll-ons to be slower than the VFR CW tested last February, which took 3.7 seconds to get from 40-60 mph; 4.3 seconds, 60-80. The NR took 4.7 and 4.8 seconds, respectively. While the NR revs way beyond the VFR, both bikes start the 40-mph rollon in the neighborhood of 3000 rpm, placing the high-buck bike deeper into its sub-powerband basement. It should be noted, however, that the VFR is better than most at roll-ons; other 750-class sportbikes, as well as Ducati’s 888, tum in numbers more in line with the NR’s.
Although substantially faster than the VFR at the far end of the quarter-mile, the NR was slower in elapsed time, posting a best run of 11.71 seconds at 125.69 mph against the VFR’s 11.30/119.36. The ET is a reflection of the VFR leaving the line in full-on motorscreamin’, clutch-slippin’ dragstrip glory, while the NR received the sort of consideration you’d administer while backing a yacht out of its Newport Harbor slip. To obtain quarter-mile figures, we rolled the NR through the start lights at about 5 mph, then gassed it through the gears. This gave us a best rolling-start time of 11.13 seconds, a number that we extrapolated to an 11.71-second standing start. Under ideal conditions, Road Test Editor Canet felt that another two-tenths might have been shaved from the Honda’s ET.
Past our radar gun, the NR posted a best top speed of 153 mph, within range of the rest of the 750 repli-racer class. Could the NR be faster? Recently, GP pilot Loris Capirossi took a specially prepped NR to several FIM world speed records, averaging 186 mph for the flying
mile. That bike made a reported 155 horsepower. Our testbike, a United Kingdom model-the most powerful of the production versions-is rated at 125 crank horsepower (actually 108 on a rearwheel dyno). It’s obvious, then, that Honda pulled its punches with the production NR. After all, it wouldn’t do to have this technological calling card, a showpiece for 10 years and millions of dollars of oval-piston research, stressed to the point that it scattered itself with the first missed upshift. Besides, if you buy an NR750 to challenge GSX-R punks stoplights, you need professional help.
On the flip side of speed and acceleration, the NR’s ability to stop is on par with the class leaders. The front-brake system, utilizing four-piston calipers acting on 12.2-inch stainless-steel floating rotors, is powerful, with progressive feel.
Foul weather cut our street riding short. Although we're not opposed to riding in the wet, doing so on a borrowed $60,000 mount isn’t exactly wise. As a result, we didn’t obtain fuel-mileage figures, and our impression of ergonomics isn’t backed by a long day in the saddle. Of course, if you can afford the NR’s mortgage payments, filling the
fuel tank probably isn’t a concern, and if you feel inclined to rack up lots of miles in a single sitting, rest assured that this is one smooth-running platform. Engine vibration is next to nil, with only the slightest bit creeping through the grips and pegs as the engine works through the rev range. The riding position falls somewhere between that of the VFR and the RC45, and the solo seat cushion is well-shaped, if not thickly padded-which is to say it’s pretty comfy by repli-racer standards.
Another feature unique to the NR is its “floating” digital speedometer. The back-lit liquidcrystal display lies in a horizontal
plane, using a mir-
plane, using a ror to reflect the image back to the rider. The display appears to be about 6 inches farther from the rider than the norm, allowing quicker focus as eyes shift from the road ahead to the display and back to the road again. Analog instrumentation includes a white-faced tachometer positioned center stage flanked by smaller gauges monitoring oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature and fuel level. Front tumsignals are cleverly housed in the mirrors, which offer an excellent rearward field of view.
Also in view is the distinct NR logo, which has been cast, machined, stamped, screened or molded into numerous parts distributed about the bike, serving as a constant reminder that what you’re sitting upon or gazing at is something special, a symbol of a decade’s worth of blood, sweat and tears from Honda’s R&D team. Purchasing an NR is buying into a legacy, a piece of mechanized history that will surely be passed on to future generations.
What the near future holds for oval pistons remains unclear. Perhaps a yet-unturned stone of technology will provide the key to bringing the NR’s engine configuration into the mainstream at an affordable price. But, right now, of the less than 700 production NR750s built, only one has found its way to American soil. As tempting as it might be to double this residency; as striking, as important, as alluring a motorcycle as the NR is, it’s not worth losing body parts or immediate family members over.
But it’s awfully close.
HONDA NR750
$60,000
SPECIFICATIONS
*Horsepower/torque readings not available below 7000 rpm
EDITORS' NOTES
OPENING THE NR's THROTTLE MAKES my pulse quicken and my breathing irregular. Unfortunately, this has little to do with the bike's performance. I'm more worried about flat-siding the Honda's swoopy red bodywork-then having Mr. Editor Edwards make forced deductions from my bi-weekly paychecks from now until retirement. Don't get me wrong, getting to ride
the NR750 was fantasy come true for me. But to be honest. I was glad when the dream had ended and the $6O~OOO bike was back, safe and sound, in its home stable. Bikes like the NR are just too rich for my blood; I prefer riding something that costs a good deal less than two years of the average American's salary, something that won't suck the savings account dry with repair bills should gravity get the better of you in a tight, off-camber corner. -
I suppose those who own expensive, exotic machinery such as the NR are better equipped or conditioned to deal with the stress and consequence of a moment’s mishap. Which leads me to think, if you’re going to take to the street on a small fortune, it may as well be state-of-theart, with all the latest features in self-preservation working for you. The NR has its share-strong, reliable brakes, solid handling, sticky tires, crisp throttle response and clean power on tap wherever, whenever you need it. How many other high-dollar collectibles can boast all these traits? Certainly not any 1950s Italio-classic or golddipped H-D custom.
Heck, I’m feeling better already about Honda’s flagship wonderbike. I wonder if my loan officer would feel the same? Yeah, dream on. -Don Canet, Road Test Editor
No MOTORCYCLE SHOULD COST THIS much-unless it once belonged to Lawrence of Arabia, Steve McQueen or Elvis Presley. That's the real shame of the Honda NR750: As neat as all that 32valve, oval-piston technology is, to real gearheads like you and me, it's about as accessible as Elle MacPherson. Besides, any shirtless surf geek on a CBR900RR can blow past the NR like its trick, sin-
gle-sided swingarm has been padlocked to a lamp post.
And can it really be that this NR750 collector bike marks an end to one of the most daring attempts at four-stroke engine development in recent times? Let’s hope not. I see a greater calling for oval pistons. While the original NR concept was to make a four-cylinder engine act like a V-Eight, why not shake up the Superbike world and rework the NR into a V-Twin that thinks it’s a Four? As underscored by Ducati’s recent successes in American and World Superbike racing, a Twin is lighter, narrower, less stressful on its tires and easier to ride than an inline-Four. Bump the thing up to the current lOOOcc limit for Twins, then go Duck hunting. Sell a street-going replica, even if it has to be priced as high as $15,000-about the same as the average Harley Big Twin or a 916 Ducati.
As nice as the NR750 is-and, believe me, it is very, very nice-it’s really a bike that only bucks-up collectors, Hollywood movie directors and a few lucky magazine editors will ever have a chance to ride. Interesting, yes; attainable, no. But a lOOOcc oval-piston V-Twin, finished to the same high standards as the NR, and with a semi-affordable price tag? Sign me up yesterday.
-David Edwards, Editor-in-Chief
