Nsr250

NSR250

ONBOARD OKADA'S WONDERBIKE

IN A SENSE, GETTING A journalistic guest ride aboard an exclusive factory racer is an exercise in self-moderation. Having been a racer myself long before I ever stumbled upon word processing, my competitive side still wants to find out how I fare against the guys who ride these bikes on a continuous basis. There was a time I might've sold my sister for an opportunity such as this.

But then there’s my more practical side, that voice of experience reminding me of how quickly things can go wrong at-or even shy of-the limits. Such was my dilemma while lapping one of the world’s great racetracks aboard an equally brilliant machine, the works Honda NSR250 that Tadayuki Okada rode to second place in last year’s world championship.

With Mick Doohan’s NSR500 there was never a question about getting super-serious: Its blinding speed and acceleration strongly suggest prudence above all to any first-timer. By comparison, the NSR250 encouraged me to push harder with each lap.

Had it exhibited some nasty trait like twitchiness or headshake, characteristic of some factory racebikes I've ridden, it would’ve been easy enough to say, “Okay, fast enough.”

But there were no such anomalies, just a sweet, solid-handling, crisp-

running machine that did exactly as I asked.

Steering was light and neutral, with exceptional stability at all speeds. Keeping the revs above 10,000-rpm ensured a strong drive off corners, with usable power to 13,500 rpm. Letting the revs fall below 8000 may not be good practice in a race, but doing so didn’t give the NSR’s carbureted V-Twin any fits. It has tons more bottom end and midrange than I ever dreamed possible from a two-stroke 250cc roadracer. In fact, when pulling away from a stop in the pits, it could have been a CBR600 for all the clutch slippage required to get the NSR250 driving away smoothly.

The “IN” board signaled the end of my five-lap session long before I saw any sign of the bike’s limits. Upon dismounting, I was pleased to learn that I’d lapped within 2.5 seconds of the fastest NSR500 time of the day, turned in by a racer/journalist with two GP seasons aboard a Harris-framed YZR500 and plenty of Suzuka laps under his belt. Okada’s NSR is that good-it’s no surprise to me that in recent years the lap times between 250s and 500s have narrowed considerably.

If I were 10 years younger, my sister would already be on the trading block. -Don Canet