April
2004
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The April 2004 Bike of the Month belongs to Matsuken from Kita-Kyushu, Japan. |
| Matsuken has built himself a really nice looking NSR that stands out from stock looking ones. This is his second NSR and he picked it up last year. He was lucky enough to find a very clean and original 1990 Cabin Racing Colors SP model that had been stored indoors for over ten years. The previous owner did not have use for it anymore and Matsuken worked out a deal with him to purchase the bike and bring it home with it's new owner, Matsuken. |  |
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The original SP bodywork was removed and put away for a later date. Matsuken was planning on modernizing his NSR with updated looks based on the latest RS250 bodywork. |
| He picked up a full upper and lower cowl from a local Japanese company called CHK Racing Service. This upper cowl is designed for the 2002 RS250 and looks great and really gives the bike a true GP look. A stock RS250 screen finishes off the front. |  |
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The rear seat is also from a 2002 RS250 made by KDC of Japan and was custom fitted with special brackets made by Matsuken. The new seat looks great !! A simple and square brake light along with smaller turn signals keep the rear view sharp and clean with a custom bracket for the license plate. |
| Twin front projector lights fit into the opening where the ram air intake ducts normally fit. This really gives the bike a stealth look while barely remaining street legal. Matsuken took care of all the paint, finishing and decals. The bike was painted a white base coat. Then all the stripes and decals were painstakingly cut out and applied by the owner himself. It took three long days of hard work and the final result turned out rather nicely. |  |
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With the looks all sorted out, it was time to make some improvements in the power and handling departments. His bike is derestricted with a KISS black box and a set of JHA racing pipes fitted with shorter works type carbon kevlar silencers. Carbs were replaced with MC28 carbs and fitted to a HRC box with no filters and a wire screen to keep bugs, rocks and other unwanted things out. A complete JHA carb setting kit was added and the bike was tuned on a DYNO. HRC stuffers, spacers and M's Twin reed valves were added for a bit more pep. |
| Other improvements are with the suspension, stock SP front forks rebuilt with Ethos on-the-fly preload adjusters, Ohlins rear race shock and a HRC steering damper. JHA billet rear sets keep Matsukens feet away from the road during fast corners. Stock Mag-Tek wheels fitted with Dunlop GPR70SP tires provide loads of grip. Braking is improved with Earls steel braided lines front and rear plus PFC carbon brake pads. Other extras are the Yoshimura digital temperature gauge, RS type front fender, single carbon fiber mirror and AFAM sprockets sized 14T (front) and 42T (rear) |  |
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Matsuken has created a beautiful NSR that any owner would be very proud to own. He takes special care of his precious NSR and enjoys touring and hitting his favorite local twisties from time to time. |
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To find out more about Matsuken and his NSR (plus other bikes and cars) check out his very nice and Japanese language Website known as MATSUKENS LABORATORY. |
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| Every month I will try to feature a different NSR or NSR's in this section. Above you can check out this month's featured bike of the month. Do you think your NSR belongs here ? Then send a few pictures and some information and maybe we can feature it here. Mail to me here. Thanks |