I am sad to inform you that the NSR was Discontinued here in Japan for all road going models from the end of the year 1999. No more new NSR's anymore. I was shocked myself to hear that news and also disappointed with Honda for giving up on the NSR. But it seems Honda was having difficulty with new legislation here in Japan banning most two cycle vehicles. Pollution is growing at an alarming rate so the government came up with new laws. So Honda stopped making those beautiful NSR's. There are still plenty of used NSR's roaming the streets and more than enough in motorbike shops. Unfortunately ( for future NSR buyers ) the price has risen about 20 to 30 percent because no more new NSR's are being built. This is good news for people who have NSR's now like myself but not such good news for people looking to get a nice used NSR model. Don't despair though. There are still lot's of bargains around. You just need to be more patient. Some shops are selling used SP models for the same price as a new model, especially in the Rothmans and Repsol colors. I actually saw one shop in Tokyo selling a used but mint condition Repsol colored 250 SP for 980,000 Yen. The list price for this bike was 800,000 when it was new. I think this is a little over priced in my opinion but who knows what will happen in the future now that the last NSR's have been made. Honda will of course continue selling their race bikes. The RS 125, RS 250, NSR 500V and the all new NSR Mini which will keep mini bike racers happy.

Another reason I feel the NSR was discontinued is because there are almost no new buyers for the new models. When they were first released 13 years ago they were meant to be for younger riders who didn't have the license to ride a bigger bike. ( Over 400 c.c.'s in Japan ) Most of these riders have grown up now , gotten their licenses and moved on to bigger bikes. There are still a few hard core riders and also fans of the GP races. In reality now that era of motorcycles has almost died out in Japan now. Rarely do you see the Racer Replicas driving around compared to your American style, Cafe racers , TW's , Dual purpose and other odd motorbikes. Sad to say but kids aren't interested in putting down that kind of money for a replica racer like the NSR , TZR or the RGV. It would have killed the performance and image of the bike had Honda decide to come up with some sort of anti-pollution muffler like they did with the smaller 50 c.c. scooters. I will definitely miss the NSR but at least I have myself one of these interesting machines and a piece of motorcycle history. Good luck getting your hands on an NSR before they are all gone forever.