Honda NSR500: 20 Years of the Legend
We trace the outstanding history of one of the best racing machines of all times
‘Rossi’s all-conquering 2001 season would be the last blaze of glory for the NSR500 that had arrived in 1984 to dominate racing’s most prestigious class for the best part of two decades.’ Roland Brown traces the history of an outstanding racing machine of the two-stroke MotoGP era: the Honda NSR500
THE CURRENT MOTOGP SEASON BEGAN WITH A thunderous roar in Qatar as the grid full of four-stroke missiles charged towards the Losail circuit’s first turn. the sound was very different from the one of 20 years ago — the shriek emitted as twodozen 500-cc machines left the suzuka grid in what would prove to be the beginning of the end for racing’s two-stroke era and its most successful machine. that 2001 season would confirm the arrival of a superstar in Valentino rossi, who rode honda’s yellow nastro azzurro-sponsored nsr500 to victory in the Japanese opener and 10 of the other 15 races to claim his first premier-class championship. and while this was just the beginning of rossi’s remarkable period among racing’s elite, the year would prove a swansong for the nsr and its similarly ferocious two-stroke rivals.
the smoking strokers would not be banned when the MotoGP era began in 2002. the new format mixed two- and four-strokes, with the latter favoured by the works teams and allowed a 990-cc capacity that would prove too much of an advantage. rossi’s allconquering 2001 season would be the last blaze of glory for the nsr500 that had arrived in 1984 to dominate racing’s most prestigious class for the best part of two decades.
not that the V4 had been a hit from the start. in fact, its début was an embarrassment for honda, despite coming the season after Freddie spencer had ridden the ultra-light ns500 triple to the firm’s first-ever 500-cc title. his reward was a new and much more powerful V4 but the nsr was flawed. its unconventional format, with the fuel-tank below the engine and exhaust above, resulted in strange handling that even “Fast Freddie” could not overcome.
For 1985, honda swallowed their pride and designed a rightway-up nsr which was good enough to give spencer one half of his unique 500/250-cc double. the nsr500 layout was by now established: liquid-cooled, single-crankshaft V4 (in contrast to the twin-crank designs of Yamaha and suzuki) in an aluminium beam frame. the cylinders were spaced at 90 degrees, peak power was 144 hp at 11,500 revolutions per minute and the nsr weighed just 119 kilograms dry.
the nsr was a formidable weapon and the most powerful 500, but injury-troubled spencer lost the title in 1986. the V4’s peak output was quoted at 150 hp when wayne Gardner put honda back on top the following year, thanks partly to what would prove to be the nsr’s most significant ever change: a wider 112-degree cylinder angle that allowed bigger reed valves and better carburettor positioning in the Vee. but honda’s emphasis on increasing power rather than developing the chassis meant the nsr often handled poorly.
that was especially true in 1989 when eddie Lawson won the title on a bike whose output exceeded 160 hp but which was such a pig to ride that its frame had to be substantially reinforced during the season. the powerful and light 1990 nsr was rated by famed crew chief Jeremy burgess as one of the best ever, but Gardner had injury problems and rising star Mick Doohan could manage only third in the championship. wayne rainey’s skill kept Yamaha’s YZr on top for the next two seasons, although Doohan would almost certainly have won in 1992 but for his leg-mangling assen crash.
In 1993, an NSR ridden by Shinichi Itoh became the first GP bike to be timed at 200 mph (322 km/h) at Hockenheim, but Honda lost out again, this time to Kevin Schwantz and Suzuki. By 1994, Doohan was fit and ready and so was the NSR — by now producing over 185 hp from its big-bang engine, its cylinders timed to fire in quick succession for added traction. The combination of Doohan and the NSR soon became almost unbeatable, partly due to the Aussie’s ability to improve the bike while changing it only when absolutely necessary.
When Doohan’s run of five straight titles came to an end following his crash in 1999, Repsol teammate Alex Criville took over to keep the NSR, by now back with more even “screamer” firing order, on top. But Honda’s pre-season wrong turn contributed to the loss to Suzuki’s Kenny Roberts Jr in 2000, when the retuned motor produced almost 200 hp but made the V4 too hard to ride. Rossi and Burgess had the NSR on the pace by mid-season, but that was too late.
Rossi made amends in the era-ending season that followed, 20 years ago, when he rode the NSR to its 10th title in 18 years. When MotoGP began in 2002, he was equally dominant on Honda’s new RC211V, winning 11 of the 16 races on the 990-cc four-stroke V5. The NSR managed a handful of podiums, notably ridden by the Brazilian ace, Alex Barros. But even the lighter NSR could not win against bikes of almost twice the capacity and it disappeared at the end of that year, a victim of racing’s rule-makers rather than a direct rival.
Almost two decades later, MotoGP’s format remains a success, its fearsome four-strokes closely matched and their battles closer and more spectacular than ever, not least in this season’s Qatar openers. The NSR500 and its fellow twostrokes, with their totally different sound, smoke, and smell, seem like machines from a long-ago age. It is one that nobody who saw them in action is likely to forget.
The Honda NSR500 seemed other-worldly in a way that subsequent four-stroke MotoGP bikes, despite being even more rapid, just could not match