The Honda Museum in Motegi offers some interesting features, including the space dedicated to the Honda NR 500.
In 1979 the company worked on one of the most difficult projects imaginable: competing with a 500 four stroke against the 500 two strokes of the time.
The NR 500 was created, with four cylinders, eight valves per cylinder, oval pistons and two piston rods per cylinder.
The chassis was also newly developed, making for an all new bike that debuted at Silverstone with riders Takazumi Katayana and Mick Grant.
The debut was a disaster though, with difficulty in starting and a crash that resulted in the bike catching alight.
The NR acronym, which stood for “New Racing” was changed to mean “Nearly Ready” or “Never Run”.
Afterwards it was also ridden by Freddie Spencer and is still the most complex project ever faced by Honda.
After the jump is a video of the NR 500.