September 2006

The September 2006 Bike of the Month belongs to Art Antonio from the United States.

Art has owned this bike for several years now and has been slowing building it up with performance parts from Tyga Performance and others goodies from Japan.

This particular NSR started off as a completely stock 1995 MC28 SE model. Art drove and enjoyed the bike for a while and like many owners he wanted a little extra performance and to upgrade the looks a bit while giving his NSR a new and fresher look.

Tyga Performance came to the rescue with a set of their famous race designed pipes and some other bolt on parts from HRC and Art was pretty happy. He drove the bike for a while and later on felt the need for even more power.

Tyga's chief mechanic and engineer as well as former champion racer and expert engine builder Matt Patterson was in charge of building Art's new engine. Matt came up with a cool idea to match some 1993 Honda RS250 barrels to the NSR engine case using a HRC head conversion and a RS250 servo motor. This was a lot of work and also required a custom fabricated one-off exhaust system that Tyga-Performance made from stainless steel using aluminum silencers.

Matt took care of the motor and did a whole bunch of upgrades while completely rebuilding everything. The case was cleaned up, RC valves modified, flywheel lightened and even the carbs were bored out from 32mm flaps to 33.5mm for more fuel which means more power. The bike is derestricted with Art's choice of HRC 010 and 030 cards. Pod filters replace the airbox and the jetting was set up professionally on a dyno with an HRC kit. Tyga carbon fiber reeds fitted to the TYGA Hi-Flo basket kit help out even more. This monster motor is kept cool by an HRC triple core radiator and on the dyno put out 74 horsepower at 7,500 RPM and just screams all the way to redline for one fast and thrilling ride.

The paint and bodywork is very striking on this NSR and Tyga Performance again came to the rescue with that. The bodywork is the latest TYGA RSW kit with the built in turn signal/headlight assemblies and the ever popular GP type seat and alloy seat/sub frame. Tyga had the paint and decals custom done by a very talented paint shop in Thailand based on the Rossi Mugello design and carefully shipped to Art so he could build the bike up right away.

The suspension was upgraded with SP forks that were rebuilt and resprung. The rear shock was replaced with an after market race shock from K-Tech. A steering damper from Ohlins helps out as well and Tyga billet rear sets keep Art's feet away from the pavement while he is riding on his favorite roads. Lighter Mag-Tek wheels were powder coated black and replaced the stock heavier aluminum wheels.

Brakes are improved with Goodrich steel braided lines, Gold Nissin calipers and sport pads. Other extras are the Carbon fiber rear hugger from Magical Racing, JHA carbon type Aero dish wheel cover and Tyga carbon fiber clock surround kit. Art has built one amazing NSR and is now working on a all new MC21 Street Fighter project as well. WOW!!!

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 !!