2000 Ducati 748 2004 Yamaha R6 Racer 2006 Honda CBR 1000 2008 Honda Cbr 1000 Racer 2010 Yamaha R6 2010 Aprilia RSV4 Racer 2008 Suzuki 750 Racer
What the R7 does to you emotionally is like what the RC30 did to people who knew what a sport bike was around 1990. Divided by two.
By the way, I like pigs. I've had an RC51, and three firt-gen ZX-9Rs. I'm just saying I don't need more than I can eat at any one time. Now pandas...
the r7 was the best 750 that yamaha ever built. the rc30 wasnt. I love me some rc45 though. but then again...thats very very subjective.
needs and wants are different things. I am sure i dont need 1/3 of the stuff I have. I dont need 4 digit whp cars either. but they are still nice to have. lambos dont need twin turbos either. but they are sill nice to have. I would sell some of the busas if the buyer gave me enough where i didnt take a loss. but, since that will never happen, and i have the space let them sit.
Saying that the RC45 was better than the RC30 is about as fair as saying that a 96 GSX-R750 was better than an 87. Yeah, everybody knows that. But which one made the biggest impact in its context? That part is very debatable. R7 is the better bike, but I would probably take a OW01 over it.
see, historical impact are really favored by brand faithfulls. to a honda guy, the rc30 might be more impactfull, but to a non honda guy (such as myself) the 45 is a better bike as it is more advanced. for example: a 63 corvette wasnt the most powerfull or the most tech advanced of the second gens but it was historically significant, but only to vette nuts. to someone who is not a vette dude, a new c6 or a c7 might be more desirable as it is better in every tangible way. I would give a kidney (not mine) for an r7. especially a graves r7/1 you are right though...its very debatable...as most of these purchases are emotional over being practical.
I have zero brand loyalty. I owned multiple bikes from all four Japanese manufacturers. As a matter of fact, Honda is my least favorite.
so if you could pick just one 750 cc bike if price is no option, which one would you pick? I would pick the nr750 mainly because it would look awesome next to my nsx.
NR750 wouldn't be on the podium. But honestly, I couldn't decide between the two Hondas (30 & 45) and the two Yamahas. That might depend on what state of tune I could get them in.
Minus performance too. It's a bloated pig. I want one, but not if it's going to cost me one of the others I mentioned. A GSX-R750 of the same vintage would kick its ass without breaking a sweat for 10% of the money.
I doubt anybody buying a nr750 will be concerned with the performance over the uniqueness that it offers. chances are they have already gone through all the "me too" bikes out there.
But see, there is something fundamentally wrong with offering a $60K oval-piston V4 and not finishing the job. If the double Ferrari offered California performance (by limiting revs to 6000 RPM) and weighed an additional 500 pounds for its million-dollar price tag, would you still say "it's so nice, you say it twice"? Or would you feel they just did not finish the job?
The nr750 wasnt what the laferrari is....laferrari is the performance pinnacle of ferrari to this point. nr750 was a technological marvel when it was created. sometimes ultra tech does not lead to high performance. who knows how many oval piston, 2 con rod, 8v per cyl engine would be out now if the nr was successfull. it was more a study in engine design! kinda like a wankel corvette (i know there are only a few prototypes running around) great idea, horrible execution..but still an awesome collectable. and from what i heard the 60 grand was a break even price for honda. they made no money of that bike.