Property of a deceased's estate, 1990 Honda RS250R Racing Motorcycle

Frame no. RS250RF 9010026 Engine no. RS250RE-9010027

• HRC race-kitted RS250R originally intended for the HB team in Germany
• Diverted and delivered new to the UK
• Very little use in period
• Unused since its acquisition in 1995

Honda were latecomers in offering a 250cc production racer - the first RS250R not appearing until 1984 - and immediately found themselves at a disadvantage to Yamaha's long established TZ. Honda's problems stemmed from the fact that their new v-twin was based on the NS250 roadster, and thus even in race trim was both under powered and over weight. Its 1985 successor addressed these failings, boasting a new aluminium twin-spar frame and heavily revised engine. Reconfigured, the RS250R provided Joey Dunlop with his first Isle of Man Junior TT victory that year, while Massimo Matteoni won the European Championship's 250cc title. Freddie Spencer rode the works version to the 250cc World Championship in '85 and added the 500cc title for good measure, the first time this double had been done in the same year.

The RS250R was mildly revised for 1986 before undergoing a wholesale redesign for '87, re-emerging as a replica of Spencer's works bike complete with 54x54.5mm crankcase-reed engine and cassette-type gearbox. For the '88 model, Honda ditched the ATAC exhausts, adopting conventional variable-height power valves and cylinders with appropriately revised porting. Front fork diameter increased and the TRAC anti-dive was dropped, while the existing combination of 17" front/18" rear wheels continued. A maximum power output of 71bhp and dry weight of 226lbs was claimed, and the RS continued unchanged for 1989.
This 1990 RS250R was originally intended for the HB-sponsored race team. The team raced a pair of factory NSR250s for Helmut Bradl and a pair of race-kitted RS250Rs for Stefan Prein. However, this particular machine was shipped straight to the UK for a firm in the North West of England that had supplied industrial and scientific furnaces to Honda Racing Corporation in Japan. The RS was used for display and ridden once in a shakedown at a New Brighton meeting.

The Honda then passed to Cheshire-based builder P W Danby, during whose ownership the Honda was raced at Darley Moor in 1994, still in HB livery (see photographs on file). The late owner purchased the machine from P W Danby in June 1995 (receipt on file). In 1997 the RS was displayed at the Stafford Classic Bike Show, entered by De La Salle College, Malvern.

As presented today, the Honda appears complete but its mechanical condition is not known. Standing unused for some considerable time, the machine will require re-commissioning or possibly more extensive restoration before further use. Sold strictly as viewed, it comes with a history file; owner's manual/part list (x2); and a substantial quantity of technical literature.
Offered without key