Stunning Honda NSR500VF Could be Yours

Following on from the Norton P55 F1R from earlier this week, today we want to share with you a stunning GP-spec race bike from probably the most notorious times in Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

Ask a MotoGP fan which era of racing was the wildest and most extreme and the answer you’ll get from most is the time of the mythical two-stroke, 500cc bikes. The featherweight machines were notoriously hard to ride, thanks to near 200bhp engines and all-up weight figures of around 120kg. They were also horrendously expensive, to build, maintain and race.

That cost was a problem and was making it hard for privateer teams to get a foothold on the world stage. This led to Honda introducing a more cost-effective way to go GP racing, although when I say ‘cost-effective’, I’m speaking figuratively, as a brand new VF would still cost upwards of £100,000 at the time.

To achieve this lower price point, Honda moved the VF versions of the NSR500 over to a V-twin two-stroke, not the V4 which was more costly and by all accounts trickier to ride. It proved to be a highly effective move, and despite being less powerful than the screaming V4s (around 40bhp down), the V2 was, when ridden by the right rider on the right circuit, still competitive against the V4s. Honda even ran a V2 in its factory team, with Tadayuki Okada claiming top-five finishes on six occasions in 1996, and claiming a best finish of second place at the season-ending Australian GP.

The rest of the factory-built bikes were sold to privateer teams like the burgeoning Gresini squad, although some, like this example, found their way into the hands of club racers looking for the ultimate package to go racing with.

This machine was purchased directly from the Honda racing specialist Padgetts in Batley. It was bought by the vendor, brand new and raced by them between 1997 and 1999 in the UK. After retiring from racing at the end of the 1999 season, the bike was placed on display, with Iconic Auctioneers saying that it was used as a backdrop behind a bar at the owner’s home.

Given the time the bike has been stood, some recommissioning work will need to be carried out before it can be ridden or started, although there is an extensive collection of parts that will come with the bike. The haul of parts, which is a valuable asset in its own right, includes Marvic wheels on tyres, specialist HRC tools, sprockets, engine internals, and much more.

As you’d expect for such a stunning and rare example of a racing machine, the NSR500VF you see here is not going cheap. The auction estimate on this one is between £70,000 and £90,000, although given the rarity of it, the sky really could be the limit!

You can check out the full listing for this bike on the official website.

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