NC29 vs NC30

[Itchy]

Please explain the differences other than

IL4 vs V4
Single swing arm
odd ball 18 inch tyre.
30=weak 1st gear
29=weak 2nd gear
30 down pipes need engine out to change
29 does not
30 is an overall cooler bike


the 29 has iffy styling compared to the 30

I'm interested in handling, reliability , and acceleration, top end doesn't matter seen one of each side by side the 29 is a helluva lot cheaper comes with 12 MT+T and low miles, while the 30 needs an MOT in 1 month and has no tax and is double the miles.

Something to play with for a few months then convert to a race bike perhaps,

Any thoughts?

Ta
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Mozzer]

I was looking at both, went for the 29 in the end. I think I made the best choice... acceleration is superb, looks great, sounds immense... no mechanical issues whatsoever other than my wheel bearings going, but god knows how old they were anyway... so.. eyah, 29.

Sounds like it's the better choice anyway from what you say there.
____________________
1st: June 6th 2006 - Nov 6th 2006: 2001 Aprilia RS125 |2nd: Nov 12th 2006 - Present: 1991 Honda CBR400RR
Jamie Stokes wrote: it now has a memory of 512mb and is super fast

[G]

The high first gear of the 30 makes sense for track works - it's a close ratio box, meaning that you may actually get to use first and will get more use from the other gears.
Less good for starts (or more likely to kill 'ya clutch).

[Itchy]

heart wants a '30 always have , since winging and almost not giving back some 30s down south.

my vengeful side (in a nice way) wants a 30 since I'm a much better rider than when I was down south , and have to 0wn this girlie on a 30 (I had a serious disadvantage since I was on a GT550 and she weighed about 7 stone and had 25 years riding experience). it just doesn't seem like cricket to use a 636 against her 30 or her 35.

my mind says 29

but I'm thinking if I buy the 29 I'll in someway be dissapointed with having a 29 and not a 30.
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Blau Zedong]

As stock the CBR is slightly quicker too.
____________________
18:54:48 Rob Fzs: jews don't give away stuff for free

18:54:59 Rob Fzs: unless its their clothes/ hair/ golden teeth

[Davo]

One minor plus of the NC29 is the 17" rear wheel, which opens up a little bit more of a rear tyre choice.

[Glen]

Sounds like in your heart of hearts you know what you really want. Get the 30, you know you want it

[RS1Banger]

the v4 sounds a lot nicer and more distinctive

and on a 400 you will be listening to it a lot

[G]

Personally, if you're serious about track work, I'd look at a tatty race bike and get a day time MOT for it.
That way you don't have to dosh out loads to get it race-ready, if you want to.

motoforum is usually worth a look:

https://www.motoforum.net/index.php?showtopic=19837

https://www.motoforum.net/index.php?showtopic=19942

[EuropeanNC30R...]

[Annabella]

[kawashima]

Just a joke...
https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b295/kawashima_/joke.jpg

[Dan 4RR]

Stop been such a pussy and get a NC23
____________________
Humans....the largest form of cancer the world has ever seen!
Speed Cameras - Putting goverment revenue before public safety!

[kawashima]

Wow. NC 23 has same power/torque specification with NC30.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Listen to your heart Itchy, if you want the 400 Honda built to a price with compromises to both styling and build quality, get the CBR. If you want the premium 400 you know it's the VFR

[craigs23]

My humble opinion, written a while ago (I'm not that bored at work Sorry that some comments also include the RVF).

First things first - the engines. On paper, and probably back to back, the performance of all the bikes are extremely similar - on the road, the differences between each model will be marginal. However, I don't ride with my eyes transfixed on the speedo, so I ride by feel. There is a big difference between the feeling of the V4 engined RVF and VFR and that of the inline CBR. The CBR is a bit of a screamer - a rev or nothing motor which really needs thrashing to get the best of (or anything that constitutes acceleration) - the trick is to stay above 10,000rpm for best progress, where the some reasonable 'power' can be felt. Great for back road scratching, not so good on the trip to work.

The V4s feel as if they're a bit slower revving - 7,000rpm (70mph in 6th) feels like the bike's idling - which is great for cruising down bypasses (even if you need to keep more of an eye on the speedo - speed is deceptive). The V configuration engine comes into play here, as they feel like a mini-twin of some sort. They also have a delivery which actually gives a relative midrange - nice and torquey when over 6,000rpm, so you don't need to dance on the gear lever as much than on the CBR. In my opinion, the V4s also sound better (the louder the exhaust the better) - they've got such a carasmatic flat drone to them (with a bit of a rasping bark when hacking on) - it's really like hooning around on a mini Isle of Man TT racer (albeit at legal(ish) speeds). Because the engine feels so under stressed in comparison to the CBR, I found I not only could settle for a brisk pace without trying, but when putting the effort in, actually covered ground quicker. They don't feel like they've got the top end of the CBR, but this is just the 'feel' from the engine - in fact, as the delivery is a lot linear, the top end is more or less the same (NC30s a little more in fact). This plays dividends, as when I rode the CBR, I had to put a lot of effort into making the thing go (constant gearchanges to keep it on song) whereas, I could ride the V4s at 80% and still cover ground as quickly.

Chassis wise - the V4s feel a little heavier than the CBR, but more planted when in a corner. They have a lower center of gravity, which requires a little more effort to turn (suspectly down to the NC30's 18 inch rear wheel as well), using more body/hip movement helped drop them into corners. The CBR feels sustantially lighter, many a time I was picking the bike up mid-corner as I was heading for the apex too early. Coupled with the engine's lack of bottom end torque, it felt as if you're hovering above the ground. Out of the two, I'd say that the CBRs got the handling edge as stock - I only had the bike for 2 months or so (missed the V4s, different story) in the middle of winter - but was still confident to push the bike off the edges of the rear tyre. The V4s have a slightly better brake setup, but a lot of this is down to condition - I uprated them anyway with Nissin Sintered Pads and Braided Lines.

Comfort - the V4s are slightly larger, coupled with their more weighty feel, I found them better covering larger distances. I'm 5'8 on a good day, but found the CBR cramped and tiring on the commute to work - especially with that buzzy engine.

Looks - no contest in my opinion. V4s all the way - single sided swingarms, RC30 and 45 clones will always look better than a Fireblade-wannabe. The CBR's okay, but the tail unit seems out of proportion with the rest of the bike - my CBR looked especially unbalanced with its double bubble screen (not my choice) Best finished bike is the NC30, followed by the CBR (those fold out pillion pegs are pretty cool). The RVF's very good, but there's a few areas where it looks a bit scruffy - rubber gasket for rear seat lock for instance, lack of rad. grill, welding on the exhaust, etc. Get inside a V4 and you'll find it's a very intricate and well put together motorcycle - everything looks so right (early mass centralisation) and seems to 'click' together - bitch to work on though.

Gearbox wise, I don't find a problem with the 30's tall ratios - as G says, once you've pulled away, they make sense. I also like the fact that I only need to use the first couple of gears around town on the 30. 18 inch wheels don't offer too much of a compromise with tyre choice - mostly because, for road use, 090s come in both 17 and 18 inch guises and are highly rated. I've never needed to drop a 30's engine despite having replaced 3 systems on the different bikes I've owned.

NC30 is the overall cooler bike - in my eyes, it's a cool bike period, irrespective of capacity.

[Dom_]

Personally i prefer the IL4 configuration over the V4, no matter what people tell you, the V configuration does not give you lots more torque. This is mainly dependant on the number of cylinders,,, im not going to get into that. Anyway, power is quite similar, i'm not 100% on this, but i've seen a few dyno graphs of a stock NC29 and stock NC30 back to back, the 30 was around 3-4bhp down on the top end but apart from that it was very similar.

The thing with V4's is you could have it boucning off the limiter and it still sounds like it's not doing anything, an IL4 really lets you know it's being revved. As standard they both sounds quite lame, although the 30 sounds a bit like a hoover aswel.

Handling, the ride i had on the NC30 was fairly brief, it seemed a lot more reluctant to turn and the weight difference was noticable. Although it did have BT092's on, which are pretty square tyres. Whilst accelerating on the 30 i found myself looking at the tacho quite often, as it was hard to judge when to change up, and the constant engine tone didn't help. The NC29 however i loved, a flick of the bars and it got straight down to business. The engine just screams and screams, which can be quite annoying as it just eggs you on to go faster and faster. The pop it makes as you smack the throttle back open after an upshift is almost sexual aswell.

Looks, obvisouly the IL4 for me, a baby blade will always look better than a Rc30/45 wannabe. The V4's tend to have much more dated paintjobs as well.

My NC29:
https://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/Dom_w/107_0751LargeMedium.jpg

A good condition NC30:
https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g100/Rib-i/FOKMC/Vodkat.jpg

Engine reliability, not heard of any major issues with either other than reg/rec units on both.
Comfort, i'm around 5'8" and the NC29 i found i could ride quite ahrd for around 1.5 hours before haveing to jump off. Long motorway journeys would see me dangling my legs out every couple of hours to keep them from cramping up. No doubt it's the same with the similarly sized NC30.

The coolest bike, to who?
It's all a matter of opinion, and in mine the NC29 gets it.

[crm250]

Had both, and agree with what craig said.
29 was a good bike but for any serious riding it was just too buzzy to be enjoyed for me, the 30 cruises better at speed and just seems more willing.
i liked the handling of the 29 to be honest, i didnt like the brakes and the motor.
I love the motor and sound and looks of the V4, but the handling isnt the best.
the V4 is heavier on paper but carries its weight far better than the 29.
Be aware the 30 is more difficult to work on the engine - it has got a bomb proof motor though so no stress there. clutches take a hammering esp if owned by a ham fisted yoof with no mechanical sympathy let alone money to fix any issues.
Finding a good NC30 (and it does have to be the RWB colours as above) will be tough, you will struggle to find a low mileage undamaged / unbodged / uncrashed bike for less than 2k ( i know as i snap them up as i find them, and there are non left)
finding a nice 29 will be far easier.
why not buy a RVF ?? or save up for the real thing, and trust me the RC30 really is something special and worth the struggle to buy.

[Mozzer]

Ooh, pics...

Mine:
https://www.mozzers.com/dump/-NC29/4.jpg
____________________
1st: June 6th 2006 - Nov 6th 2006: 2001 Aprilia RS125 |2nd: Nov 12th 2006 - Present: 1991 Honda CBR400RR
Jamie Stokes wrote: it now has a memory of 512mb and is super fast

[Dom_]

Forgot to say which may help clear things up; just because i feel the NC29 has arguable advantages it doesn't mean the NC30 still isn't a great bike, i'd choose it over many of the modern sportsbikes out today, and i wouldn't mind owning one someday.

Just a matter of opinion really, i chose the cbr.

[DynaMight]

NC30 is the bike to have, pure classic. If I was to describe what it was like to ride a NC30 fast it would be 'effortless'

18" rear isnt a massive problem, you have enough choice imo. BT090 for the real sticky and BT092 for the longer lasting. plus some other Dunflop shit.

Engine doesnt need to be dropped to remove the system and as said, it is stainless steel, whereas the NC29 is mild cheese so could be rusted to shit by now.

Build quality on the NC30 is about the best your gonna find.
____________________
My bikes are at https://www.bikepics.com/members/dynamight/

[G]

Was thinking about the one's I've ridden - also to be considered, which for a bike this age I reckon is more important - is the condition.
Just because a good standard condition bike of one or the other is better in some aspects, doesn't mean the well 'used' second hand one will be.
Also to be, remembered, if he's hoping to racing/track work, the 17" rear is a decent advantage, as there will be a lot of cheap part worn 17" race tyres will be available, while very few 18" ones.

[Itchy]

Update ,

My tempramental NTV made me miss the NC30 as it was sold as I was trying to fix it,
(I set off at 8am it was sold at 2pm) , it was genuine milage will all MOTs to back it up
the guy was even good enough to MOT it for 12 months and stick tax on it,

the NC29 looked like too good a deal , too good to be true , <5000 km , but no MOTs to
prove it , imported in 2004 from SA, tons of spare bits a complete spare fairing and two
spare wheels with enough change from 1K to have a couple of nights on the town,

Alarm bells rang when most nearby dealers are selling NC29s for at min 1.3K , most 2K.

Added to the fact he wanted me to come see it 645pm in the middle of Bootle, with
a fist full of cash considering TobyR has bad things to say about Bootle and thinks Salford/Moss
side is an ok place.
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[JonB]

I've been looking at NC29's and NC30's today, seriously considering going down the NC29 route, looks much better.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Graham88]

I love the 18" rear wheel on an NC30, so what if the tyres you can buy are limited, it's just so sexy

And whoever told you that you needed the engine out to change the downpipes should be shot.