Hey everybody, I bought a '93 Honda VFR400 R (NC30) last may from a local JDM importer for my first bike. They're rare as hell in North America for obvious reasons. There is a huge following for these bikes in Europe and Japan. They were never sold here at all, only the bigger VFR750 R and RVF750 R were and those were rare too and expensive as hell. Still are, average ones are worth 20 grand and mint ones go for over 40 grand!!

I like my mini VFR though, it's a 400cc 90 degree V4 with gear driven cams. The sound this thing makes is incredible. Makes 65hp at the wheel with the race can/carb tune and weighs 360lbs. It's a potent little bike, especially for somebody my size (5'8) and handling is just unreal. So flickable and stable at any speed, that's with less than great tires too. It get's a LOT of attention wherever I go it seems.

SOOOOO...any other VFR owners on this site? Or other greybike owners in general?? Please post what you've got!


This would be my sexy bike.

 

Congrats, that is one of my dream bikes. There have been some for sale in here, but most are beaten to hell and just a money pit. The NC30 is really an incredible bike, good luck with her

I have a CB400SF NC31, any questions about grey imports just let me know, I've done a little research on them.

 

Big Pete has been through at least one.

 

Rustic, I like it

 

I'm never getting married, more money for these kind of toys.

How much if you don't mind

 

This is the kind of stuff we need to have posted on /26 to bring it back. It sucks lately

Nice bike mang.

 

I had a '89 NC30 and '94 NSR250 (MC28). The VFR400 was dyno tuned and only put out 53whp with a slip-on pipe. To get 65whp, you would need a full exhaust and some head work. I spoke to some guys that used to run G-Force Performance (they specialized in VRF400's) and that's what they told me. They made a 444cc big bore kit. With that kit and head work, they push 90-95whp ($5k). If you haven't checked out 400 Grey Bike, it's a very informative forum - http://www.400greybike.cc/newforum/

My VFR with NSR fairings


the NSR

 

true story.

the fact you have a vfr 400 and a fd in your garage is amazing. 2 things i hope to own someday!

 

Big pete, those guys from G-Force would have a website of some sort?

I'm also a member over at 400GB, great little forum.

+90 WHP on a NC30 must be insane!

 

as cool as these bikes are and were monster in their days. any 600cc will outperform them in both power and handling. they are cool vintage bike, but no "monsters" by any means

 

It is nuts. I think with 65whp, it would already rip. Unfortunately they don't have a website anymore. Let me try to find some more info on those guys. I do know one of the more 'known' guys is on 400GB - his name is Mike Lohmeyer.


Don't count them out with the 444cc big bore kit. I know they run 2-4 seconds slower than the top 600 guys in AFM (the few final seconds is all rider). You should see the corner speed on these things. My friend that raced had one and he smoked the crap out of me at Infineon in the turns.


*edit: found Mike's old website: http://akhara.com/nc30/index.html . Starscream, you can try emailing Mike via his site or PM him on BARF (SN lohmeyer). From what I've read/searched on BARF, G-Force seems to still be around.

 

well a newer 600cc bike can outperform older litersize bikes so your comparison isnt saying much.

my opinion, you can hand me whatever 600cc inline 4 to ride, but im gonna have way more fun on a v4, even if its a 400,750, or 800. once you own a vfr i truly believe you'll always have one in the garage,lol. its just a shame there so damn heavy,hah.

 

hey pete, whats the process to bring a jdm bike over and get it street legal? lots of paper work and money? sometimes i wish i was in canada...

 

Pete, thanks very much for the info. It shall come in handy if I ever found a clean NC30 in here lol.

And I have heard stories here in Venezuela of modded NC30's keeping up slipstreaming behind 99-02 R6's, and blowing them away in the corners.

How did you guys make to get replacement parts for the bikes? All directly imported from Japan or did you had some specialty shop that sold the parts there in the US?

 

Hate to sound like a noob, but what is the significance behind this hot bike?

 

its rare, light, not brought to the states, v4, sssa, a few things on the top of my head,lol.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_VFR400

It was basically a scaled down version of the RC30 road/endurance/SBK racer. That thing would give a SV650S a run for it's money.

 

Depends on the requirements in your state. Some states just check the VIN and you're good to go but in a **** state like CA, you're better off waiting and finding one that's plated. Keep your eye out on ebay since they pop up occasionally.


I've read that you can put bore the cylinders .02 over and use G-Force's 444cc pistons and rods and it'll give you 428cc's. There's one guy running that setup in AFM and he's pushing about 80hp.

As for parts, I use www.redline-ci.com to get me replacement parts from Japan. They specialize in grey market race bikes and are somewhat local to me. I've also used http://tyga-performance.com/site/index.php in Thailand for parts (good priced exhaust and cool bodywork).


and an early version of a slipper clutch. I'd buy another VFR400 or NSR250 if I get back into big bikes again. I found a plated NSR250 (MC21) thats local and the guy is asking $5500 for it....

 

Wow, thanks for all the responses everybody. Thanks for the links as well, any info is always helpful. Especially when it comes to spares!

To answer a few of your questions: I paid $5100 cdn. for it total from the importer with 20,200km on the clock. That included a set of new bridgestone tires. Also got him to switch the front wheel with another bike he had because the other grey one was dented a little. It had afam sprockets, braided lines, some upgraded fork springs, and other trick parts put on in Japan before the importer got it. Might have had some engine work done too. I dunno if it was a good deal or not. To be honest I didn't really care at the time, I had just got my bike license and wanted to ride. Haha stupid I know but it was in the best condition by far of the 3 he had brought in that spring and he said he wasn't likely to get anymore till late fall. Looking on ebay uk and figuring the cost of importing and factoring in not getting to see/start it in person, I think it was a good deal.

I'm also a member of 400greybike, that forum is a great help indeed.

I believe you're talking about this G-Force engine tuner:
http://mngforce.typepad.com/nc450vde...e-history.html
http://www.akhara.com/nc30/index.html

Sounds like some impressive stuff, if I had the money I'd love to upgrade the pistons and over bore the engine a bit. Maybe next year. This winter my wish list is saving for new fairings, powder coating the back wheel, and tyga carbon airbox. Maybe get some nice titanium fasteners too from the tastynuts website if I'm really lucky. I couldn't even imagine how wicked one of these bikes would be with 80 or 90hp.

BIG PETE: Those are some nice bikes, do you still have the NSR?? I would really like to ride one someday. About the dyno thing, first lets remember that all dynos are different and my bike doesn't just have a can and tune. This bike came with a hrc cdi, (found that out on the highway shortly after I bought it) the fuel map is different and rev limit is higher. Also, from what I've read most stock bikes dyno with about 57whp.

When I brought the bike home in may I had some problems the second week with the battery keeping charge. Kept dying on me in traffic...so I noticed the battery had leaked. Got a new one, still kept dying. So I got a good shop to check it out, they said the reg. rectifier was gone and it could use a carb balancing. Let them do that and asked him to change the oil and filter, put on a new gold chain, as well as adjust the jetting to fix the fueling higher in the revs while he was at it. The fueling is just perfect now and pulls like crazy after 6000rpm right to 15,600. Ran perfectly from May to November too. Have about 29,000km on it now, starts on the first try every time.

How old are you btw Big Pete and how did you get ahold of your bikes?? Typically it's slightly older people into these types of machines. I'm 23 and most of my friends are just into the newest bikes. I like new bikes too but am way more into retro superbikes (750's + 500cc two strokes) and would really like to get a smaller two-stroke one day, love the RGV's/NSR's/KR1-S/RS 250's. Way more character than a lot of the newer SS bikes, as fast as they might be...

 

Good job on the G-Force website. Mike Norman is the correct guy. I was going to send my VFR there to get the headwork done (since they're only 30min from me) but they closed up shop and opened up a year or two later. By then, the bike was already gone.

I'm 26. I got the bikes off friends. Both are long gone since I can't seem to be happy with any bike I have for long. However, out of the 12 or so bikes I've had, I miss the NSR the most. The dry clutch, the weight, and the way the thing handled. The first time I rode the NSR I thought I was going to lowside since the bike tipped in so fast.

Northern CA seems to have a good handfull of grey market bikes and I'm pretty sure I'll get another one in the future.

 

Sounds like a crazy bike, I've seen a couple older NSR's for sale locally and newer ones like yours for sale in British Columbia. Even the older ones looked pretty sweet.

What are you riding now Big Pete?

 

Mini bikes are taking up all my free money now. I currently have a Honda ZB50 and I'll probably add another mini to the stable sometime in '09. Here's my build thread (going to post some updates this week) - https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...highlight=zb50

 

Sorry I missed that bit. For the most part, I get my parts from ebay's UK site. Either that, or British spares sites like david silver spares and wemoto. There's a big parts market in the UK as they were sold there for a couple years and have more slackened grey import laws.

You can also manage to get a few spares from Canadian Honda dealerships. I got footpegs, some fasteners, and clutch/brake levers etc. They can source indicators and other pattern parts that were used on other bikes too obviously. But nothing like engine parts or bodywork unfortunately. Once and a while the jdm guy I bought it from will get some spares in one of his container shipments too.

 

You should try contacting redline-ci.com and check the prices of spares. I looked into David Silvers when I had the NC and they were more expensive due to the exchange rate and freight.

 

I will for sure, I haven't bought much from those spares sites yet. Just a windscreen and a couple spare cables. Ebay is really good for random stuff though. Have seen some really good deals on ebay uk. You just have to find people willing to ship overseas....


So nobody else owns a greybike here huhh? =\