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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127757
top-end power the bike now produces,
thanks to the efforts of Kadomasu-san
and his team.
A vital P¥t of this process is tucking
yourself away within the bike and
behind the fairing, which Okada's distinctive 125-class riding position, with
steeply dropped bars and a very closecoupled seat-to-footpegs-to-steeringhead relationship, helps him do. The
fuel tank is also steeply indented to
allow you to tuck the chin of your helmet down low, between the two creases
for the twin airducts leading to the airbox. Lots of attention to aerodynamic
detail here, as you'd expect from
Honda: It's too bad I'm too, er, vertically
overdimensioned to have any hope of
ever fitting it properly.
The new chassis has apparently
resolved the problems of holding a chosen line better under power that
Capirossi especially highlighted in '94,
says Kadomasu. I had no such complaints when I rode Okada's NSR250 last
year: It steered and handled extremely
well by my standards (which of course
are a whole different story compared to
what it takes to race one of these
machines at GP-winning pace), and this
year's bike with the new frame was
equally good from my point of view.
Riding a modem works 250 is the closest
thing to race track heaven for a wannabe GP rider like yours truly. This is virtual reality made even more real. Nothing else on two wheels delivers so much
power, so controllably - you feel you're
in charge, not the bike. But still Okada
wasn't initially happy with the handling
of the new frame, juggling back and
forth wi th head angles and offsets,
before settling on the original 22.5degree castor angle from Beno onward,
and 86 / 87mm trail for faster tracks. For
Catalunya he opted for just 83mm of
trail, to help it turn better in some of the
tighter bends, and with just 1345= of
wheelbase, the result is a nimble, responsive steering package that changes direction quickly and easily without being
twitchy. A dream race bike, especially
with the prototype 43= Showa forks
fitted to it, which soaked up the ripples
on a couple of the tighter turns. These
will be standard fitrnent on all NSR250s
next season, whereas this year only
Okada had them - the other NSR riders
used the older 41= design. But in a
decisive change of policy, Honda will
allow NSR250 lease teams to use any
make of suspension in 1996 - including
Ohlins, which equips its Aprilia and
Yamaha rivals - rather than be forced to
use Showas and pay their apparently
very steep fees for race support. The
market economy at work in GP racing!
Really the only thing I found less
than ideal during my quick squirt on
Okada's Honda was, surprisingly
enough, the brakes - and I've never had
to complain about black stoppers before.
But in spite of the new Mitsubishi carbon material that Honda has sourced on
Br\!mbo's behalf, and which gives
notably more-sensitive brake response,
the twin 255= carbon discs fitted to
Okada's NSR250 didn't impress me that
(Far left) Shift action for the
speed-shifter equipped sixspeed extractable gearbox
was superb. A titanium
spring works with the
Showa shock to keep the
rear suspension under
control.
(Left) A pair of ducts supply
cool, dense air to the airbox.
Tucking in fully behind the
diminutive fairing Is critical
for maximum speed.
(Below) A 1ao-horsepower
25O? Seems likely in light of
the changes wrought to the
75-degree V-twin over last
year's powerplant. The reedvalve motor got new
cylinders, bigger
carburetors and altered
exhausts.
(Below) Okada used prototype 43mm
Showa forks, while the rest of the
NSRs made due with 41mm legs. The
twin 255mm carbon-fiber brakes aren't
quite as effective for our tester as the
prior year's 2551290mm pair.
HONDA NSR250
SpecilicIIions
EngIne ..........•.............. .water-cooled, singIe-cIanksha 75-degree V-twin, reed-va\ve
two-stroI