Description
Please Note: In response to customer requests, we are implementing an automatic bid bump: if your proxy bid meets or exceeds the reserve price, bidding will jump up to meet that price and you will see “Reserve price has been met” under the price. Please contact abhi@iconicmotorbikes.com if you have any questions!
Additional photos of this Honda NR750 are available here for your perusal.
The easiest way to summarize the NR is to simply say that when it was released, it was the most expensive production motorcycle the world had ever seen. But the NR is much, much more than a hefty price tag – it’s a symbol of what can happen when one of the world’s best manufacturers goes all out. Engraved on the gas tank and displayed on the rear wheel is a simple message, but it’s a bold claim from a company as large (and typically modest) as Honda: “THE RESULT OF A DECADE’S PERFECTION”.
Just 300 examples were built, and with a price tag of approximately $50,000 when it was released, the NR has only been available to a select few. The bike owes its existence to Honda’s NR (New Racing) program, which started with the NR500 Grand Prix racebike of 1979. It was Honda’s attempt to fight off two-stroke dominance while being boxed in by GP rules that limited the number of combustion chambers in an engine to four. Honda got around it by essentially creating a V-8 as each piston was oval-shaped with two connecting rods. It was insanely complicated, but the 500cc race motor was capable of putting out 130 horsepower at 20,000 rpm!
The street bike was also known as the RC40 and while it’s informally called the NR750 the correct name is simply “NR”. The street motor produces 120 horsepower at 14,000 rpm, and it was full of features that were either incredibly rare or completely novel to a production street bike: eight valves per cylinder, twin connecting rods, partial carbon fiber bodywork, digital speedometer, titanium-coated windshield, underseat exhaust, single-sided swingarm…the list goes on and on. Many of the styling cues were unobtanium to the public until Ducati came out with the gorgeous 916 a couple of years later.
Approximately 300 examples were produced worldwide, and people are still in awe about what Honda was able to bring together in a production road bike. For more examples of what made the NR ahead of its time, check out this profile on Visor Down.
This example is VIN: RC402000098. The seller acquired it 14 years ago from Rick Degan of RMD Motors in Japan through the Tokyo Moto Auction. It was a one-owner motorcycle previously, the Japanese citizen who owned it couldn’t find one in Japan so he imported a European-spec model.
We believe it’s is a European (full-power) model that was originally sold in France as it has the larger exhaust baffles, French/English decals, and no fog lights. As a European model, we’d expect it to have a projector beam headlight, however the seller states that the “head of the global NR registry said that HID/projector beam lights were not yet approved by the French government” when this bike was sold new.
The owner has not ridden it at all – the odometer shows 4,211 kilometers (2,616 miles).
This is one of over thirty motorcycles that we will be auctioning off from the Alan Wilzig collection over the next couple of weeks. In preparation for the listing, Alan had us install a new battery.
Modifications:
This NR750 appears to be completely stock.
Cosmetic Blemishes:
We do not see any cosmetic blemishes of note.
Inside of the tank:
It is riding on Michelin Pilot Sport tires from 2004.
The sale includes three keys, OEM stand, belly plan plate, tool kit, c-spanner, two plugs to cover the key hold in the front of the seat, and an owner’s manual.
Please Note: In response to customer requests, we are implementing an automatic bid bump: if your proxy bid meets or exceeds the reserve price, bidding will jump up to meet that price and you will see “Reserve price has been met” under the price. Please contact abhi@iconicmotorbikes.com if you have any questions!
