Hi,
I'm considering purchasing an NSR250 MC18.
The bike I'm thinking of looking at is described as an MC18, 1988, low km's, recent extensive engine rebuild and I'm told original factory fairings, panels etc.
The bike is right at the top end of the price range, not cheap, but I'm after the best I can afford.
The information I'm looking for if anyone can help please is about the bodywork.
It seems to be the first generation of MC18 in fighting red.
On this site and most pix I can see on the net shows three vents on the right hand side panel just before the seat, yet this bike doesn't have them.
Does anyone know if the vents were on all gen1 MC18's or not and would this point to repro plastics?
I notice on the gen2 MC18's those vents aren't present.
Also on most pix I find on the gen1 MC18 it shows PGM decals on the side just below the pillion seat but this bike doesn't have them.
Again does anyone know if they should be there etc.?

I realise none of this detracts from the riding of the bike but I'm looking for a genuine factory standard one.

Apologies if some of my terms aren't that accurate.

Really appreciate any help given.

Thanks
Mark

Hello Mark, and welcome to NSR-WORLD.

The R2J was available in white/red and white/blue, and should have the PGM sticker, as you say.

Also, as far as I know, yes, the R2J and R4J (Rothmans SP) should have the 3 slats just below and forward of the seat pad. RobH is our resident MC18 R2J expert. I'm sure he'll be along to comment soon. Check out his posts in the Members Builds section for a lovely example.

If you're paying (prepared to pay) top market prices, you have every right to expect it to be correct. Good luck with a purchase, and please keep us informed.
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Andy.
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Thanks Andy for the welcome and for the information, really appreciated.
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Kawasaki-ZXR400 Ducati-748 Triumph Street Triple
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So I just looked at a photo of Rob's R2J in this post, and now you have me wondering! As far as I was aware, everything on Rob's MC18 is original. Weird!

Aside from the colour codes (ZA & ZB) there's only one part number for the RHS seat panel for the R2J (83800-KV3-700).

83800-KV3-720 is the part number for the R4J, but that too should have the three slats, so I really don't know what's going on?!

Just to really throw a spanner in the works, I've just found a photo of StephenRC45's R2J that doesn't have the slats either, and I am 100% positive that's the original panel. So it would indeed appear that there are "blank" versions.


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Andy.
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Thanks again Andy.
Yes it would seem did and some didn’t have vents.
This
https://youtu.be/z6qeLktgeY0
YouTube video showing what you would think is a factory standard bike also doesn’t have vents.

Makes you wonder what we’d do with our time if we didn’t obsess like this?!

I’ve also found the odd pic of an MC18 without the PGM decal on the tail side panel too.
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Kawasaki-ZXR400 Ducati-748 Triumph Street Triple
Triumph Tiger Cub Honda-TL125

All the official Honda literature shows the three slats, so I am inclined to believe that it was a late production run of bodywork that was blank.

As far as the PGM sticker goes, I will stick my neck out and say that it is supposed to be on all R2Js. All Honda literature...



...and the following photo of an MC18 in the Honda Collection Hall shows the logo...


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Andy.
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Thanks Andy.
Again really interesting, especially the pic of the bike in the hall of fame, which I noticed also doesn’t have the three slats.

Mark
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Kawasaki-ZXR400 Ducati-748 Triumph Street Triple
Triumph Tiger Cub Honda-TL125

MRLZXR wrote:
Again really interesting, especially the pic of the bike in the hall of fame, which I noticed also doesn’t have the three slats.

Yes, that's why I chose that photo! Honda's own preserved version, without slats, with sticker!
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Andy.
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Haha! Think I might have a re-think!🤯
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Kawasaki-ZXR400 Ducati-748 Triumph Street Triple
Triumph Tiger Cub Honda-TL125

Just to save starting another thread Andy as you seem to know your stuff.
This is the bike I’m considering having a look at, although it’s a couple of hours from where I am in N Yorks.
Just wondering what your immediate thoughts are?
Incidentally, i put very few miles on my bikes, a couple of ride outs each summer.
Would that be a bad thing with an NSR?

Any here’s the ad, I’m guessing you’ve already seen it, it’s been for sale a while:

Appreciate any reply.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F164013004114

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F164013004114
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Kawasaki-ZXR400 Ducati-748 Triumph Street Triple
Triumph Tiger Cub Honda-TL125

Hi Mark, certainly looks a clean and tidy bike, I would try and get it a fair bit cheaper if you can, that's approaching 21 and 28 money, at that price I think he will have it on the showroom for a long time if other dealer ads are anything to go by, I have been nsr watching for a good few years now, and some dealers have had their nsr's up for well over a year now, the problem is dealers are looking at the prices for 21's and 28's, and pricing them all the same. So my advice would be take your readies in your pocket and try and kick him hard in the nuts. Good luck with it.
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Proud Father of , 05 ktm 400exc supermoto 2018 honda crf rx supermoto

Some very wise words there Les, thank you.
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Kawasaki-ZXR400 Ducati-748 Triumph Street Triple
Triumph Tiger Cub Honda-TL125

That is serious money for a 1988, but from the photos it does look to have been recommissioned rather well. But as Les says, it's very expensive.

I've personally never heard of West Midlands Motorcycle Centre being involved in NSRs in the 25 years I've been involved with the marque (23 years hosting nsr250.com and NSR-WORLD.COM), so I would say someone else has recommissioned this particular bike. There are a lot of nice touches, and it is a very nice example, but I doubt they can tell you much about the build, as I strongly suspect they didn't do it.

I would say the blue one they also have is a much more honest bike. It needs some cleaning up, if you desire a mint bike, but £1400 (the difference in list price) gets you a lot of zinc plating and vapour blasting. It depends if you have the facilities and/or inclination to do the work yourself, of if you'd rather buy one all done. Personally, I think sometimes seeing a few "life" marks here and there, and a little tarnishing, often makes them more desirable than those that have all new and shiny [and obviously unoriginal] components.

To be honest, I can't personally condone asking over £6k for a 1988 MC18 that, while its appearance is very nice indeed, isn't factory original. However, it is your money and your choice, and it's a far better option than any other 1988 250cc 2-stroke, in both terms of build quality and performance.

Going back to the beginning of this thread, I can now confirm there are indeed two R2J iterations. Early bikes are the models with the 3 slats in the seat unit, and the "plain" seat version is the revision. The revision has updated electronics. I cannot however find any dating information as to when the revision was released.
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Andy, thanks very much for the detailed reply.
You make some really good points.
I’ve refurbed a couple of the bikes I have myself but I’m getting older etc and my next addition to my little collection or is it an obsession, I’m hoping won’t need a huge amount of work, hence I was looking at the higher end of the price bracket.
Which is why I thought I’d ask on your forum where this bike stood.
I think the bit that concerns me most is a chap that’s as experienced with this marque as you isn’t aware of this bike.
I was sort of hoping you’d say, I know this bike, it’s Fred’s old one etc....
You may have guessed I’m a complete newbie to NSR’s, I was looking for something a bit different to enhance the other bikes I have, but needed to ask the experts.
Thanks again, I’ve plenty of food for thought now.
All the best
Mark
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Kawasaki-ZXR400 Ducati-748 Triumph Street Triple
Triumph Tiger Cub Honda-TL125

As I'm sure you are more than well aware, a lot of smaller companies [that often have zero prior experience in this particular field], and even a number of private individuals, have tried to cash in on the boom of the 250 2-strokes in recent years, particularly the NSR. This had a lead to a lot of newly imported bikes coming to market over the last 5-10 years. Where 10-20 years ago most bikes were "known", and NSR250 spares for sale would barely fill a single page of eBay, there are now just too many bikes and dealers to keep a track of. Compounding this issue, due to the efforts of some individuals who have done their best to fragment the community over the last few years, this too has lead to both a dilution of information and less ability to keep track of some of the more well-known bikes, and attempts to hold unscrupulous sellers to account (or at least share info & experiences in a common space).

Unfortunately I've been very busy for the last few years, first with helping build up Performance Engineering, and more recently with my new job at HEL Performance, which has limited my time working on the website and administering the forum. This is something I am working on rectifying again now though, in a hope to return things to as they were previously. Sadly a few of our long-term members have also moved on in recent years, with wives/children/jobs/other interests taking over, so I will be trying to build up a new "team" over the coming season to try and help get things back on track.
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