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Difference between revisions of "Honda NS400R"
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'''[[Honda]] NS400R''', 400cc, triple cylinder 2 stroke. As close as Honda ever came to a real large capacity road race replica. The largest capacity, road going 2 stroke Honda ever built. | '''[[Honda]] NS400R''', 400cc, triple cylinder 2 stroke. As close as Honda ever came to a real large capacity road race replica. The largest capacity, road going 2 stroke Honda ever built. | ||
Riding a [[Honda|Honda]] NS500 V3, [[Freddie Spencer|Freddie Spencer]] became the youngest-ever World Champion on in 1983 at the age of 21. The NS400R released in Spring 1985 was supposedly a road-going replica. Great idea but unfortunately [[Yamaha|Yamaha]] had beaten Honda to it with the [[Yamaha RD500LC|Yamaha RD500LC]] and the [[Suzuki RG500|Suzuki RG500]] was due in showrooms soon! | |||
Although all three bikes were no-compromise two-strokes, with knife-edge powerbands and the latest chassis technology, Honda probably shot itself in the foot by producing a 400 (the most important class for its home market) instead of a more powerful 500. | |||
In fact, the true capacity was 387cc, so the NS only had about 40cc and a few horsepower more than a Yamaha RD350 Power Valve, which cost two-thirds as much! | |||
Like the RD500 and RG500, after the initial hype, sales dwindled. The NS was dropped in 1988, by which time it has been pushed into the background by a string of four-stroke race reps that were far more practical for general use. | |||
NS400Rs were available in red/white/blue HRC colours or Rothmans blue/white. Even with Honda’s ATAC system there’s little power until 8000rpm but from there it picks up fiercely. | |||
<gallery> | <gallery> | ||
Image:ns17.jpg | Image:ns17.jpg | ||