ATTN: Paging All Honda Motorcycle Fans

"Peter Monshizadeh" (practicalenthusiast)
07/28/2015 at 10:10 • Filed to: Honda, NR750, Rare, Superbike, Sighting, Sportbike, Unobtanium, HRC

Usually, at some point in the day, I find myself browsing random motorcycle listings on Ebay. It’s a time-honored event that typically allows easy passage of the after-lunch food coma. Sometimes during these unsuspecting digital safaris one catches a glimpse of an endangered beast that lurks in the shadows.

On this particular occasion, something truly alarming caught my attention. There it was in the background of this unassuming !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Image courtesy of Ebay

That’s right ladies and gentlemen. Nestled into the back of a motorcycle dealership just outside of Denver, Colorado, is quite possibly the rarest of rare Honda production bikes.

The beautiful, groundbreaking, and rightfully expensive, Honda NR750.

Image courtesy of Ebay

Honda moto aficionados understand the importance of such a finding. It is holy grail of unobtanium-grade motorcycles. It is mind blowing to me that the ad does not even mention its presence, as if it’s just another bike straight off the production line.

If you’re not in the know, do yourself a huge favor and check out the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on this baby. I just have one thing to say: oval pistons.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Now excuse me while I go sulk in the corner knowing I will probably never come closer to seeing one of these museum pieces.

Bonus Round: I spy another piece of Honda royalty. Can you find it and name it?

DISCUSSION (31)

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 10:13

Didn’t see anything interesting in the shop, but is that an NR500 in the background of the NR750 engine pic?

pip bip - choose Corrour > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 10:17

send them an email , ask how much for it?

let us know.

Patrick Nichols > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 10:19

Kinja'd!!!

grom?

450X_FTW > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 10:35

oval pistons, 8 valves per cylinder. This is one crazy ass engine concept

DrJohannVegas > pip bip - choose Corrour
07/28/2015 at 11:00

Kinja'd!!!

Peter Monshizadeh > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/28/2015 at 11:29

Hint: It's right next to the NR750.

Peter Monshizadeh > pip bip - choose Corrour
07/28/2015 at 11:29

Last time I saw one for sale, it had a couple more zeros in the figure than I could possibly afford.

Peter Monshizadeh > Patrick Nichols
07/28/2015 at 11:30

Haha...close!

Patrick Nichols > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 11:37

I’ll never get it. What I know of bikes comes from casual conversation with some people and the propaganda that brainwashes me on the FP. The only other hyped up honda I could name would be the africa twin.

iSureWilll > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 11:45

white liveried RC30???

Peter Monshizadeh > iSureWilll
07/28/2015 at 11:47

Very, very close. An older brother in fact.

Peter Monshizadeh > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 11:47

And by older, I mean younger.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 11:57

RC45?

Kinja'd!!!

Peter Monshizadeh > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/28/2015 at 12:05

DING DING DING!!! We got ourselves a winner!

WiscoProud > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 12:21

Kinja'd!!!

Very cool idea. I read they did it so they could fit a v8 motor into rules saying they could only have 4 combustion chambers. Basically each oval piston is considered two normal ones, with 8 valves per cylinder. That's nuts.

iSureWilll > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 12:35

This was my next guess! Damn!

Congrats to Snuzefest up there for winning.

Peter Monshizadeh > Patrick Nichols
07/28/2015 at 13:24

No shame in that! New bikes are great, but sometimes it's entertaining to pay homage to some of the older stuff.

Peter Monshizadeh > WiscoProud
07/28/2015 at 13:26

Such a neat factoid. Where on Earth did all of this innovation go?

WiscoProud > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 13:40

I think they were legislated out of existence by the various regulatory bodies in order to preserve homogeneity. There needs to be some play in the rules so we get awesome problem solving like this.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Peter Monshizadeh
07/28/2015 at 17:39

oh.

bob and john > Peter Monshizadeh
07/29/2015 at 16:45

what happened was this:

honda: yea, we have our V8 motorcycle readyf or racing!

motorcycle racing assosiation: nope, you can bring a V8

honda: but we just spent all season makin-

MRA: nope

(later)

honda: here, our new 4 piston engine.

MRA: I count 8 connecting rods.

honda: but only FOUR pistons! let us race

MRA: ugh, fine

Hawkkinja > Peter Monshizadeh
08/01/2015 at 10:26

Its been at Fay Meyers for about 4 years now. They have an RC30 right next to it. They aren’t interested in selling it but its fun to look at.

sledge > WiscoProud
08/01/2015 at 15:05

this is true, the idea was V8 power with 4 cylinder engine to stay within that rule. I seem to recall something about them looking to achieve that 2 stroke power/powerband with a 4 stroke engine also (?)

The hardest part of the project was not so much the pistons, bore or crank.. but the rings, particularly the transition from the flat sides to the curved ends. They trashed many engines but they worked it out, once they cracked it and the factory test/endurance bikes and the Nr500 two stroke showed potential,..the entire motor racing world outlawed oval piston tech by simply restricting piston/bore shape to round lol ... Auto racing/F1 outlawed it not far after the top class of motorcycle racing decided to...... definitely the Number One Dream bike for me as a honda bike fan due to such rare tech, ever since it was rumored and spied, and then released. It’s like the 288GTO or F40 Ferrari of motorcycles to me .. ;-)