10) Honda RC30
The Honda RC30 hit American soil in 1990 after much anticipation (it debuted in 1987 overseas). It was a race homologation special, and only 750 were made for the international market making it extremely rare to ever spot one in the general public.
OK, so the meager 110 HP produced from its V-4 motor wasn't yanking any arms from their sockets, but it's was how it made that power that made it so special. An early form of the "big bang" style crank was incorporated, making power smooth and controllable throughout the rev range. The RC30 also utilized a slipper clutch-another groundbreaking feature for the time.
At just over 400 pounds the RC30 was considered one of the best handling bikes of the era. It came race-ready with quick release wheels and fully adjustable suspension, and it was all bundled inside gorgeous bodywork. It didn't come cheap though, and you paid for the exclusivity to the tune of $15,000 (that was a lot of green in 1990). If you're lucky enough to find one today still in one piece plan to shell out about $20K.
9) Honda NR
The Honda NR is proof that the most exotic bikes aren't always the most powerful or fastest. Honda built the 750cc NR about the same time as it produced the first CBR900RR (1992). And while the $100,000 NR had stacks more technology and exotic materials than the CBR, it was a damn sight heavier and made equivalent power.
To find the point of the NR, you have to look back in history. Yamaha and Suzuki won eight championships between 1975 and 1983 with two-strokers, but there was a problem for Honda. Its boss, Soichiro Honda, hated two-strokes. He was a four-stroke man, and searched high and low for a way to beat the smoky stinkwheels with a "proper" engine.
Honda tried to compete by making the most extreme four-stroke engine ever made. Ideally, the firm would have made a V-8 500. But racing rules said no V-8; four cylinders were the limit. So Honda did the next best thing and made its V-8 into a V-4 by simply joining the neighbouring pistons together into an oval shape. These running-track-shaped 'cylinders' held spam-tin pistons, which then ran on twin con-rods. There was enough room in the combustion chambers for eight valves (four inlet, four exhaust) and two spark plugs.
The resulting bike, the NR500 (NR stood for New Racing) was a disaster, barely completing any races at all. Honda quietly shelved the racebike, gave in, and made a three-cylinder two-stroke that gave Freddie Spencer the GP crown in 1983.
In 1992, the NR roadbike was released. 300 were made and it was an engineering tour de force. The most interesting part was the engine: a 750cc oval-piston V-4 with 32 valves, quad-cams, eight con-rods and eight tiny spark plugs. Honda also fitted fuel injection-a real novelty in 1992-and made an incredible eight-into-four-into-two-into-one-into-two titanium exhaust system. The rest of the bike was similarly extreme: carbon fiber bodywork, magnesium wheels, USD forks (rare in 1992), titanium-coated windscreen and even a carbon fiber and silver-nickel ignition key.
The big H had shown everyone who was the tech boss, but that was the NR750's only claim to fame.