August
2004
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The August 2004 Bike of the Month belongs to Eiji from Aichi Prefecture in Japan. |
| Eiji's NSR started off as a fully stock 1988 MC18 model that had been sitting for over 10 years outside. In those 10 years of this NSR not being rode and stored outdoors caused it to look like a parts bike from a junk yard. |  |
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One day Eiji saw a customized NSR with it's fairings removed and custom lights and bars fitted to it which is known as the "Street Fighter" look here in Japan. That is when Eiji decided he too would build a custom Street Fighter NSR like the one that had inspired him. |
| First thing was to completely take apart and restore his old MC18 that had been sitting for more than 10 years. The old damaged bodywork was thrown out, the engine pulled, all kinds of new parts were ordered from the Honda dealer and the process began to bring this NSR back to life. |  |
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When Eiji had the engine out he beautifully polished the frame, rear swingarm and front forks himself. Working on the bike a little each evening after work and on weekends the project was coming along slowly but surely. Next step was to rebuild the engine. It was completely overhauled with no real major modifications to the engine, just a nice stock rebuild. All other parts on the bike that needed replacing or rebuilding were taken care off. All the wiring was checked over and a new PGM unit was added The NSR was finally starting to come back to life. |
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Eiji planned on building a street fighter type NSR and had been picking up all kinds of chrome parts from Internet Auctions, wreckers and cruiser style custom parts shops. The stock headlight was replaced with twin round chrome lights for a very unique look. Not big enough?? Click for super sized image - 243K |
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Eiji works as a CAD programmer which proved to be very helpful as he designed and made many of the small parts himself. The clip ons have been replaced with a straight one piece up-type handle bar, billet mirrors, grips, brake fluid reservoir cap and more were added for a custom cruiser look. A one-off stay for the tachometer was made, the speedometer was replaced with a digital one from a bicycle with the speed sensor fitted to the rear sprocket. |
| The rear seat cowl is from a 1995 Yamaha TZ250 racer and was fit with some minor modifications to the seat and subframe. A hole was cut out for the brake light, tiny clear colored turn signals mounted and a custom license plate holder finish it off. The 18 inch MC18 wheel was swapped for a 17 inch wheel from a MC21 and tires are the latest GPR70SP sport tires from Dunlop. Next step was to paint the bike. Colors are based on the old 76 UNION colors, Eiji did all the finishing and paint work himself. Custom decals were made up, the wheels were stripped and powder coated in black with matching orange pin stripes for a distinct look. A few other chrome parts were added and the bike was almost finished and ready to go. |  |
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This NSR is not only about looks, it has been upgraded too with MC18 Jha race pipes, modified carb box and re-jetted carbs matched to a custom billet quarter turn throttle kit. Brakes were overhauled all around, new sport pads fitted and brake lines replaced with Goodrich steel lines. Rebuilt suspension and a steering damper from NHK help out along with the Coerce rear sets. A new chain and AFAM sprockets spin the rear wheel. |
| Eiji is still not finished with his custom NSR. There are plans for more chrome and custom parts. A few hard core NSR replica fans out there might not approve of what Eiji has done to his NSR, but I think he has built himself one great looking bike that stands out, attracts loads of attention and was brought back from the dead to this unique bike that any owner would be proud to have. |  |
| 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 |