Iconic Motorbike AuctionsĪnd then, of course, there was That Motor. Single-sided rear swingarm was another OMG feature of the NR750. Not a totally new idea, but one they expanded on with what many consider the Son of the NR, the brute Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird, which came five years later and held the World’s Fastest Stock Motorcycle title for a time (Disclosure: Author owns a 1999 Honda Super Blackbird). Carbon-fiber tubes run from the high-pressure front of the fairing to flow cool, pressurized air into the airbox. The rear swingarm is single-sided, a clear nod to the NR race bikes. Small driving lights are tucked into the fairing. Other touches abound: the kickstand cover folds in flush to the body when closed. The NR’s display, which appeared to “float” in the dash, was next-level - as was the color-changing, titanium-treated windscreen designed to shade the display during daytime riding. In the cockpit, a swank (and likely expensive) digital display showed speed, tripmeter and odometer data years before most bikes had LCD panels, but Honda had done much more simple LCD panels before with the Sabre 1100 V4 back in the early 1980s. Note the 15,000 rpm redline! Iconic Motorbike Auctions The NR750 cockpit blended analog clocks with a 'floating' LCD display. may have warned off some from immediately pulling the trigger, but those who did received a machine that was not only novel, but revolutionary is some unexpected ways. A price tag of over $50,000 and the bike’s highly unconventional. Like the legendary CBX inline six from 1979, which was another poor-selling (but also broad market) “statement” bike by Honda that’s now a coveted classic, the NR750 didn’t sell “well,” even though every one of the 300 produced were sold. Except for one final signature Honda we-can-do-anything-we-set-out-do technical statement: The 1992 Honda NR750 oval-piston streetbike. But the expected domination at the racetrack didn’t materialize and the technical hurdles were considerable, and after a decade of frustration despite continued refinement, the NR oval-piston engine project was shelved and Honda re-focused on motors using boring old round pistons like everyone else - and has ever since. The result was the NR development series of heavy-breathing “V4” 500cc race bikes that featured eight valves in each oval cylinder head, along with two conrods and those weird-Harold oval pistons.
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