February 2006

The February 2006 Bike of the Month belongs to an anonymous Japanese rider from the eastern part of Japan not too far from Tokyo.

The owner of this bike wanted to update the looks of his 1995 SP with a whole new image and he got in touch with one of Japan's top bodywork shops known as Silhouette Japan.

The owner ordered an entire kit from Silhouette Japan. The upper and lower fairing are called the 500 Replica kit and come with cool looking dummy carbon ducts. The lower fairing is much longer than stock and gives the bike a racier look. The seat also from Silhouette Japan is the NSR replica Type I seat and uses the stock twin round brake lights for that classic NSR look.

Silhouette Japan took care of the paint and can custom paint their bodywork for an additional charge. The colors are based on the 1995 HRC SP colors but have been changed a little here and there. The stripes on the bike are from carbon fiber style cutting sheets which were carefully cut out and applied then the whole bike was clear coated. The headlight has a removable cover for daytime driving and improved looks. Silhouette Japan painted the gas tank as well to match the rest of the bodywork.

This NSR has been derestricted with the HRC030 card and beautiful ETHOS Tornado pipes with carbon fiber silencers. These pipes are very interesting looking and appear to have no body at all. They are made from stainless steel and the bodies curl up inside the fairing for that hidden look, plus both of the pipes exit on the right hand side just like an old NSR 500 GP bike. I believe that ETHOS has discontinued these pipes a few years ago and unfortunately are no longer available.

Next step for this NSR was a brake upgrade. The owner decided to keep the stock MC28 calipers as they were working fine. Pads were replaced with a high performance compound. The brake lines on the bike were replaced with steel braided lines all around and the front master cylinder was swapped out for a Brembo radial master cylinder for improved feel and performance.

The owner likes to ride his bike hard and participate in the occasional track event so the next step was to tune up the suspension. The rear shock was replaced with an Ohlins shock, the front forks were rebuilt with HRC springs and a Coerce fork brace was added. This made a big difference in the handling of the bike.

Still not finished with his bike, the owner made other improvements too such as a Toby Steering damper, WR billet rear sets, new screen, custom turn signals, Jha inner fender eliminator kit and more. The rear wheel is covered by a Jha Aero-dish. This was a dress up item Jha sold in the late 90's but was later on discontinued.

The owner of this bike has done a fantastic job of updating the looks of the bike while still keeping the original NSR theme and colors alive.

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 !!