The NSRVF - nothing to report

[wavydavy]

[Pics to be re-added later]

Back when I were a lad, I wanted an NS400 as soon as I saw the pictures.

In 1989 I bought my first one. It's reg number was B883POY and what I didn't know when I bought it was that it was one of the original Honda UK test fleet. This meant that it was a tad, er, better than most of the (still standard) NSs around at the time due to the manufacturers' deft skills in 'accidentally' blueprinting/sorting out demo bikes back in the 80s. Especially two strokes.

I sold the bike 18 months later when I bought my first house.

A few years later I wanted another NS, so I bought another one. OK, so it was a few years old now and I was a bit heavier, but I couldn't work out why my newer 'E' reg NS was such a dog compared to the original. It would, admittedly, still top out at around 135mph, but that just felt slow compared to the extra 5+ mph I used to have.

Anyway, that one got sold, too. Then a couple of years ago, whilst browsing eBay. Pissed. I ended up buying another NS400. It was in a bit of a state, but I was pissed so I didn't care.

When I got it home I realised that it was the same as the previous one - a bit underpowered.

So I got on the internet (again) and managed to part with a large amount of money to purchase some parts from a very kind gentleman in Sweden who'd bought some bits for his NS but never fitted them.

A few weeks later, I was the proud owner of a reconditioned crank, a one-off Ohlins shock, a set of hand-made Italian Jolly Moto exhausts and, best of all, a complete Terry Shepherd 500cc kit, made to order, with the order being "Make it like a race tune, then back it off a little to aid reliability"

The parts and bike were shipped off to those nice fellas at Pidcock Nottingham to be fitted:

Whilst the bodywork went off to Dream Machine to be resprayed. When the respray was finished they had manged to lose a load of fasteners and all of the source materials I left so they could get the Rothmans job done properly. They also managed to get the tail piece font size wrong and place the same graphics incorrectly... But it still looked good.

Once I had run the new pistons/bores in, I finally had my bike up the engine spec I had always wanted. The 500cc kit filled in all the holes at the bottom end, making it more like my CRM250Mk3 at low revs, but still gave a hefty kick when the power started to come in at around 7000rpm and a big boost at 9k through to 11000rpm where the power did the stroker thing and stopped dead.

Unfortunately what this now pointed out to me was that the original front suspension, the brakes and the woefully inadequate tyre sizes/selection available (100/90-16 front and 110/90-17 rear ) couldn't cope any more.

At high speed the bike felt dangerous.

So I decided to fit more modern suspension and wheels. I decided on a direct transplant of the front and rear ends from an RVF400 - firstly the tyre sizes were better suited to this type of bike (it wouldn't need a 180 section rear - that'd be silly!), secondly it was also a Honda and thirdly the head bearings were identical to those of the NS, taking one possible problem out of the equation.

Unfortunately trying to buy RVF front ends and wheels was tricky and expensive.

In fact, getting the parts was so expensive I opted for a cheaper route and sent a wodge of money to young Rompy McPoot and asked him to buy me a whole RVF, which he did, for hundreds of £s less than the parts alone were being offered for.

In the meantime, I had been conducting research on who I should employ to fit the parts I wanted swapping (I am an idle bastard and also lack patience when it comes to fiddly stuff - if I had decided to carry out the work myself, I feared I would set fire to the project within the first hour out of sheer frustration...)

I settled on asking NK Racing to do the work. NK Racing created one of the best GP reps I have ever seen, and some other rather tasty special parts. Mainly for 500 Gammas and Yamahas, admittedly, but a bike is still a bike.

I had many conversations with Nigel, the owner/mechanic/employee of NK Racing over how to progress the project and he came to the conclusion that it would be just as easy to transplant the NS engine into the complete RVF rolling chassis as it would be to swap the front and rear ends across to the NS chassis.

So we struck a deal. the bikes would be delivered to him in February 2007 and he would commence work immediately with a deadline to finish by September 2007. He assured me that this would not pose any problems.

On 13th february 2007 I arrived at NK racing and handed over two complete bikes, both of which were taxed and MoT'd - I didn't mind not riding them all summer - when the project was finished it would be worth the sacrifice! Nigel asked for a payment of £850 up front as (a) a 'goodwill' gesture and ( to 'ensure that it receives my attention'. After all, if he'd been paid for some of the work in advance he *owed* those hours already so he'd get the work done and then bill me regularly for each tranche of 10-20 hours after.

I came home and left him to it.

I had a busy summer so didn't check in with Nigel as much as I should have. When I did contact him in August 2007, he said that he'd lost all his contacts and was glad that I'd got in touch - the project was progressing well and, barring any major problems, he would have it done by September. Knowing that the bike would be done, I booked a track session at Donington for the 19th September and the ferry crossings etc.

On the 7th of September I received an e-mail from NK Racing. The bike would *not* be done on time! I phoned Nigel and asked if it was just a case of a few more days being needed - after all I would be in the country for nearly a week so he could tidy up the loose ends in that extra time. Nigel explained what he had done in the intervening 7 months - both bikes had been stripped and measured. That was it.

I was, to say the least, a bit shocked. In 7 months he'd done, basically, fuck all. I agreed on the phone that, rather than pick up a load of boxes, I'd leave it with him and we set a new deadline of 13th February 2008 - 1 year on from the original drop off date and a date which gave Nigel 'plenty of time to get it all done'. I also stated that I'd stil be coming to the UK - after all, I'd paid for non-refundable ferry crossings and a track day in the UK, *plus* I refused any bookings for LVE for the time I was in the UK. In all, I was well over a grand out of pocket for the trip, so I'd definitely be going to see the bike.

I arrived at NK Racing's workshops less than a week later. Nigel seemed fine that I was there, which I thought a bit odd as I was going to see my bike(s)... Then I noticed something. Or, rather I didn't noice something. The NS and RVF were not there!

"Where are my bikes?" I asked. "Oh, well they're up at my house as I didn't want them in the way while I finish this" said Nigel as he pointed to an RG500 special he had on the bench. An RG500 special that he did not have scheduled to work on back in February.

I left. With hindsight, I realise that the bikes probably weren't even stripped. They were probably just stuffed away somewhere and I *could* have taken them there and then, both still whole and unmolested.

On 3rd December 2007 I received pictures from Nigel - they're on here somewhere - of the RVF frame with the NS motor up to it. i was chuffed that he was finally makijng progress. it took TKDMitch to bring me back down to earth by pointing out that all he'd done was lift the moto up on blocks to see if it'd fit.

But February was still the deadline and he was still promising it was on schedule for mid-February.

On the 12th of December Nigel sent me another e-mail - the fabrications etc would all be done by February, but the bodywork might not. I could live with that - the bodywork mods could wait as long as I had a whole bike sans fairing.

I waiting 4 weeks to reply to him as (a) it was the holidays and ( I didn't want to disturb him. The bodywork was still going to be an issue, but I didn't care about that. The important thing was that the engine and rolling chassis were done.

I suggested a pick up in early March but he told me that he was away in early March. So I booked the ferry for the last weekend in February. I then e-mailed Nigel telling him that I'd arrive on the 27th Feb to pick up the bike(s). He promptly replied that he was going to the US on the 25th. I explained that, as I didn't know if I could get to the UK before September after that date, I'd like to pick up the unused/unneeded parts.

Just before I headed to the UK, I phoned Nigel again and asked hpow the build was progressing. The response "Well given that you said you couldn't come til September, I'm not working on it - why would I want to finish it and then have it sitting in my workshop, not paid for?"

So I went to the UK. I didn't pick anything up and I came back here.

A few weeks back we took a booking for our gite here for people who didn't want to ride the bikes (are they mad???) This freed up a week when I would not be needed so I immediately booked a ferry crossing and contacted NK Racing to tell Nigel that I would be arriving on th 7th April and I would take the bikes as they were.

I arrived as stated and took away the bikes, but not before Nigel tried to extract more money from me for the 'work' he had done.

I must say that the quality of the work carried out is *very* good. can't fault it. But the lack of progress, the stalling, the downright lies? It's pissed me off.

What has pissed me off even more is the state of some parts of my bike. Now I know that my bike(s) aren't the cleanest in the world. But I also know that my NS was in pretty good shape, corrosion wise. I'm guessing that, for a large proportion of last year, my NS and RVF were stored outside, not being worked on and slowly corroding whilst Nigel worked on other jobs for MCN et al(not PB though - I saw the Mito 500 and it's in a worse state than my NSRVF).

Anyway, I meant to keep this brief, but I appear to have waffled on for ages. Sorry about that, nbut without the background the story means very little. I have cut the last bit short as it still angers me when I think of what has (not) happened, so here's the pics - I shall let them do the talking.

The NS before it left France (I took the bodywork off when it was here):

The RVF chassis with NS motor hidden away:

A kick starter? On an RVF?:

The bits which *still* need attaching (plus it needs a radiator - Nigel couldn't/didn't try to get the NS or RVF rads to fit):

The Jolly Moto expansion chambers:

One of the end cans :

The new cradle looks well made (lhs top and lower parts shown):

The lower cylinders (what you can't see is how utterly filthy and partially corroded the lhs cylinder is - it wasn't when |I dropped it off...):

Plug/front wheel clearance is an issue - Nigel told me about this in December but he still hadn't got round to acquiring the two racing plugs and caps that I agreed he should get the day I was informed..:

If anyone wants to ask where all the coolant hoses are well I don't know - I haven't got them. And the airbox? Well that doesn't fit so God knows how I'll sort that.

If anyone wants to know how to fuck up two perfectly good bikes, just look at the picutres and words above. You'll get the drift.

Oh, and for those who, like me, thought that fake air intakes died with the original ZXRs, here's what's under the RVF's air intake tubes:

Yep - the fuel tank and a small gap that leads to the frameat the front of the fuel tank (and nowhere near the carbs)

Dave

[beek]

Tis a shame that it all went tits up, but kimbers rep sure took a beating when you posted all the details. hope that the bike eventually sees the light of day keep us posted as to many projects fall by the wayside

[Bilko!]

Read your story on t'other forum WD, still doesn't get any less flabbergasting on a second read. . It speaks volumes about you that you're still prepared to vouch for the quality of the work done even after being f*cked about so much. I'm sure some others wouldn't have been so charitble, understandably so. It's a pity your pics haven't been posted, Can't wait to see them. What's the current status of the project? will it be seen to the very end? it sounds like a fantastic hybrid. ( insert thumbs up smilie here...).

Yay!!

[gamma498]

Jeez Davy, there's some quality people in the bikin world aren't there? I was considering contacting NK before you let me know about your troubles, I couldn't take another BDK incident like I had with my original gamma motor. I've definitely found that if you can do it yourself, go for it, there's a few too many so-called 'experts' in this game. Good luck with gettin it finished mate,

Gamma

[SHimmer45]

Problems with BDK thought they had a VERY good reputation ??

[col]

I had exactly the same problem with NK a few years ago.

My stuff wasnt as big a project as\yours and could have been done

in a full day given that i had already prepped all the stuff i gave him.

Months went by and i got the same replies as you,

"I've got it all measured up"

"Its going well"

"should be ready in about 2 weeks"

"Its the next job on my list"

"its on the bench right now"

"bollocks"

"bullshit"

"lies"

"lies"

"more lies"

The guy built a couple of nice bikes once and flogs his

buisiness on those bikes"

the reality is he does fuck all all the time.

Its a good job he's not on production bonus's or he'd be fuckin skint.

[willbloke]

In a way , I can kind of see why this happened.

When NK started he was willing to have a crack at anything and probably took on too much.

Then as his rep grew , I guess rich punters saw his Biaggi 500 rep and wanted one , whatever the price.

Unfortunately money talks , so the smaller more fiddly jobs ,( Daves NS , PB project Mito) got dropped.

A mate started a business a couple of years back making custom exhausts , he was interested in doing some work for a project I had planned.

But as his business grew and he took on staff , he had to "chase the buck" , incidently he now seems to spend most of his time making seat bases for floating Gin palaces , and polishing kitchen handles !!

So anyway , I guess what I'm saying is that I can see what happened , but that's no excuse !

[(F5)]

I think the lesson here for all special builders is; some things you just have to do yourself. But of course there is stuff we can’t do.

I had an engine swap job I had my fabricator do & I left him too much latitude. He would put it off & put it off. I started driving there every lunch time. Eventually he would get short of money & know that I was good for it so he’d do some work for a progress payment (I wondered as these became more expensive if it was to meet a bill rather than a reflection of what he’d done).

Sadly by this time he’d have had another idea & the ‘Mk2’ version wasn’t what I’d originally asked for. Often with bad results. I collected the bike when I got a tip off that he was going to get repo’d so a bunch of us went in & extracted our projects. He’d gone into depression & just wasn’t working on stuff. Some people it has to be said should only work for other people.

I got so upset by the sight of the bike it went under the house & brought out every year when I thought I might try to get it sorted, but put back again shortly when I spotted another problem. Eventually the only way I coped was cutting all the mounts off & fitting another engine to get the motivation back. I made all the plates & got a mate to weld them while I was there in 3 trips.

Waiting is such painful agony. People like this are stealing your finite life & dream. If you find the engineer who will do quality work in a reasonable timeframe every so often slip him a bonus payment for meeting a deadline & not just ‘a few beers’, tradies get sick of people thinking that is money.

[willbloke]

Just to add , Beek has got it right , he does as much as he can at home , then takes the parts to be fabricated/welded to somewhere , so they do the welding (whatever) whilst he's there , that way it doesn't gather dust at the back of the workshop.

[beek]

Just to add , Beek has got it right , he does as much as he can at home , then takes the parts to be fabricated/welded to somewhere , so they do the welding (whatever) whilst he's there , that way it doesn't gather dust at the back of the workshop.

Correct Will

Some times its the only way to do things, often with loads of mods they dont always work out so by doing just a few bits at a time allows me the chance to size things up for future bits to be added some times it all goes well but other times needs a bracket ive just had welded removed and repositioned or remade still it does mean that it all goes together ok. almost everything you do when building a special has a knock on effect do one job wrong and it can turn into a mess. do it right and its unique

Another tip is if your not sure just tack the welds as much easier to remove should you need to.

[garage19]

I found the best way was to cut, shape everything until it is a perfect fit with no alterations or tweeks needed. Then write all over it with marker pen and take it to the fabricators. My fabricator said he always liked doing my jobs as all he had to do was weld. Always were at the top of the pile and got done quickly

I found an even easier way in the end. A year at night school and a wedge of cash for an AC/DC TIG welder.

Now i'm the only one to blame if a project drags.

[fredie]

updates dave

[willbloke]

Ahem ..... none ?

[wavydavy]

As I said the other day - more has happened in the last month than happened in the previous 12.....

But I'm not revealing *too* much as it's still a bit chin-strokingly awkward..... [1]

Dave

[1] Basically the motor is tripped and being checked and re-assembled after being stood for so long and we're still trying to work out how much cooling capacity we can fit in the RVF chassis and, more importantly, whether it is possible *at_all* to route the rear exhaust backwards, given the tolerances of the RVF frame/subframe and the fact I've got Jolly Motos, not std exhausts - even Terry Shepherd (or at least who ever answers their e-mails) said that it's somewhere between very difficult to impossible to get right... So if it's just not going to work then we're back to plan 1 - NS chassis, RVF running gear *and* I can register that over here as an NS (which was sold as a French model) and so no fannying about with MoTs every year etc etc etc....

[SHimmer45]

good that you are making progress with the project mate, and without dealing with persons who dont share your passion for it

im looking forward to seeing it finished

[wavydavy]

im looking forward to seeing it finished

I reckon that it'll be a dead heat between the NSRVF getting "finished" and me getting my pension..... [1]

Dave

[1] I hope to qualify for the "wavydavy 'special' pension" at age 40.....

[levo]

I reckon that it'll be a dead heat between the NSRVF getting "finished" and me getting my pension..... [1]

Dave

[1] I hope to qualify for the "wavydavy 'special' pension" at age 40.....

I thought you had aready retired......................

[deviant]

I thought you are already retard?

[wavydavy]

I'm late for everything me.......

As for 'retired' - yes. Ish. But no pension yet, see.....

Dave

[wavydavy]

Was going to put this in the 'current favourite bike' thread in general, but it's probably better to put it here:

Not sure if I have a current favourite. But if I can nominate a least favourite it's the NSRVF - the rear exhaust just *will_not* go (and Nigel Kimber would have known it before he did the pointless cradle work he did... The cunting twat) so the RVF front and rears are going on the NS chassis (as was the original plan).

*BUT* the bores are scored. The motor's done about 1000 miles. And the bores are scored. Fucking arse biscuits. They look salvageable, but new pistons are going in, just to be 'safe'....

Dave

[willbloke]

I thought new NS pistons were as common as a honest banker ?

EDIT: ignore that .

yours is bigbore isn't it ?

What pistons do they use in the bigbore ?

[Liamo]

Was going to put this in the 'current favourite bike' thread in general, but it's probably better to put it here:

Not sure if I have a current favourite. But if I can nominate a least favourite it's the NSRVF - the rear exhaust just *will_not* go (and Nigel Kimber would have known it before he did the pointless cradle work he did... The cunting twat) so the RVF front and rears are going on the NS chassis (as was the original plan).

*BUT* the bores are scored. The motor's done about 1000 miles. And the bores are scored. Fucking arse biscuits. They look salvageable, but new pistons are going in, just to be 'safe'....

Dave

eek, thats not good davy.

So has the good NK left you with a butchered RVF400 frame thats no use?

[GREENGOATCHOKER]

dave found this on another forum want me to get a telephone number

the fire sale continues…

I've got an almost mint 400 NSr motor… barely 700km (~500 miles) off a minter (500km!) I sold… the guy crashed it after a 200 kays

Bought the wreck and now need space (and a touch of $ for future Rs500 project)

I've got a truck going to the UK soon and can send this to an addy in the Greater London for about 90£.

Offers by PM. Remember, you can't find new cranks for these engines…

[wavydavy]

Offers by PM. Remember, you can't find new cranks for these engines…

Cheers for the offer.

Luckily I have a spare, reconditioned, crank and a set of 400-spec barrels and pistons should I *have* to fit them.

But as is, the worst case scenario is a new TS rebore and a set of TS185 pistons.

Biggest problem I'll get is if we strip the engine down and find the crank seals are shot.... Having a new crank is one thing, but if you can't seal the thing.....

Dave

[wavydavy]

Prompted by a PM from levo, here are some of the pics that were on the old site.

For some reason, I cam't edit them into the original article as, no matter how many (or how few) I put in there are always "Too many pictures"...

Dave

[wavydavy]

[levo]

Looking at the pics I take it the 400 motor is in the 35 frame and *just* needs loom, hoses and cooling. spannies and all systems go

Shame to see the rust on those spannies ...................I would not have been able to contain myself if what has happened you ,happened to me.......................

[deviant]

surely there's some way of packaging the spannies?

[r7a5b0]

dave ,maybe its just my eyesight (its been going down the shitter for years now )but i cant read that yellow writing you post now and again,and i feel im missing out !

[levo]

dave ,maybe its just my eyesight (its been going down the shitter for years now )but i cant read that yellow writing you post now and again,and i feel im missing out !

Just right click and hold on the words, and scroll down.....................HTH