October 2004

The October 2004 Bike of the Month belongs to Momo from Aichi Prefecture in Japan.

A few of you may remember Momo with his beautiful MC18 Rothmans replica that was also featured as a past Bike of the Month in March 2004 earlier this year.

Momo is a total NSR nut and has seven of them, all MC18 models!! His latest project is a 1988 model that he picked up for cheap on an Internet auction. The original plan was to use it as a parts bike, but plans changed and he decided to build the NSR up with some of his spares and a few other parts from auctions.

The first thing he did was to go over the entire bike and make a list of what would need to be rebuilt or replaced. After that he did some Internet shopping and bought some parts from friends. Then the bike was completely pulled apart right down to the frame.

With the bike all apart it was time to clean everything up. With this NSR being around 16 years old or so it meant a lot of work with sandblasting, rust removal, degreasing and more. All bearings were either replaced with new ones or repacked, all seals were replaced as well, various bolts replaced old rusted ones, worn out cables were tossed in the garbage and many other new parts or used parts in excellent condition replaced worn out parts.

Next step was the engine, Momo believes in doing everything himself. He rebuilt the engine with new pistons, rings, seals. The cylinders are 1989 RK racer ones. Heads are also from the 89RK and are center mounted. He cleaned up the ports himself and rebuilt the carbs with correct jetting to match the Ethos race pipes. Momo had this NSR dynoed and it made an honest 58 HP with the stock oil pump and airbox. He is still working on setting up this bike and hopes to hit around 60HP or more.

The front suspension was upgraded to MC21 SP forks that were fully rebuilt, the rear shock was replaced with a 1989 SP model type. Brakes were overhauled with new seals and pistons, sportier brake pads and new lines. The upper cowl is a Omega Suzuka 8 hour Endurance race type cowl. Momo is a big fan of these single round offset headlights and insists on these. Momo also took care of all the paint work and preparation himself. He came up with a unique yet classic look for his NSR that was based on a "Super Monkey" NSR racer that won second place in the 1987 All Japan 4 hour endurance race. His friend made custom decals for this bike and the name was changed to "Super Junky" cause Momo is a NSR junky.

The rear seat is an unknown one piece seat that he picked up on an auction with a custom LED brake light. Rear Mag-Tek wheel and Bridgestone tires were fitted. Momo is not finished with this bike yet. There will be a few more upgrades in the future as money allows with a front Mag-Tek wheel, new tires, improved brakes and much more.

Momo has a well known NSR website here in Japan known as IJETTERUKAI which means something like do it your self customizing in Japanese. Be sure to check his website out for more about him, his passion with NSR's and lots more.

Every month I try to feature a different NSR in this section. Above you can check out the featured Bike of the Month and past Bikes 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 me here. Cheers !!