Comments by "Uhtred" (@uhtred7860) on "driving 4 answers" channel.

  1. The MVX was a terrible bike, I started my first job on the parts counter at the local Honda dealer in 84, and we sold them, they were forever blowing up the rear cylinder. Between the issues of MVX, the VF750, the FT500 and the CBX550, we were kept busy in the parts dept, tough times for Honda.
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  2.  @snellen46  They weren’t, the RZ500 was faster and and more powerful than the NS400, the NS went more like a RZ350, I used to race against them in junior production races on my RZ350, they were in the same class.
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  3. Honda built the RC149 in 1965, an inline 5, 125cc engine with 33mm X 29mm bore and stroke, and four tiny valves per cylinder, it revved to 18,000 rpm, they won the 125 title with it in 1966, fantastic bit of engineering.
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  4.  @nbain66  The RC149 of 1966 is my favourite, 125cc Inline 5.....33mm x 29mm Bore & stroke, with four tiny valves per cylinder, revving to 18,000 RPM putting 30hp thru an 8 speed box. You would almost need tweezers to assemble the valve train.😄
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  5.  @peekaboo1575  Theres some truth to that. They had a LOT of issues with their cam chains & tensioners in the early/mid 80s, even the VTR1000 Firestorm still had cam chain issues in the late 90s. The VF750 and its cam shaft woes, and the way they handled the fallout, cost Honda a LOT of goodwill, and put a massive dent in their reputation. But the VFR750 with its gear driven cams is probably one of the most reliable bikes out there.
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  6. We got both the MVX250 and the NS400 as new models here in New Zealand, the MVX250 was plagued with reliability issues, and they would regularly blow up, Hondas fix was to fit an oversized gudgeon pin (wrist pin) and beefed up rear conrod, but even with that the MVX was short lived. They just weren't as good as the competition, the other manufactures all had better 250 two strokes. Their follow up 250 two stroke, the NS250, was a brilliant bike that could run with the best or the competition.
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  7. Yeah they still are great bikes, the YPVS engine is legendary and ranks as one of the best 2T engines ever! Here in NZ they were called RZ350s same as in Japan, we also got the 500cc V4, and a 250 cc version that was legal for learners, (you could get your licence at 15 here back then😄) when i was in high school my 2 best friends both had 2 stroke road bikes, one had a 83 RZ250 the other had a mk1 RG250, i had a Kawasaki KR250, we thought we were hot shit😆 Every other kid that rode a bike to school had an XR Honda or a TT Yamaha dirt bike, both were road legal here, despite having no indicators or proper horn😄 . My current 2 stoke fix is a 96 TZR 250 SPR and my old IT 490 which ive owned since 94 and is now fully restored.
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  8. By the time the Japanese ended 2T development for road bikes due to ever increasing emissions legislation, they had become very high tech with lots of R&D from GP bikes plowed back into road models, I have a 96 Yamaha TZR250 SPR (3XV) and its a very trick little motor.
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  9.  PotatoPlayer Made in China.  Really? The 94-99 ST205 are so common here in NZ, even the rarer GT-Four version are quite common, probably because of all the ex Japan cars that were imported here. My Dad and Uncle used to import Japanese 2nd hand cars to NZ for the used car dealers in the late 80s/90s , mainly Corollas and Accords and other middle of the road stuff at first, until i left school and got involved and encouraged them to bring in sporty and performance models. They said there was no money in it but performance models ended being at least half our shipments. WRX's, RX-7s, Mitsi EVO's, Pulsar GTi-Rs, GT-Fours, Gallant VR-4s and the odd Nissan GTR Skylines were the favourites. :-)
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  10.  @danieldimitri6133  I doubt it. The reason Yamaha, who developed and perfected the 5 valve per cylinder, no longer uses it is because technology has caught up. Modern fuel injection, ecu's titanium valves and combustion chamber shape have made the 5 valve layout obsolete. I love Yamaha 5 valve engines, two of my bikes uses the layout, but i can't see Yamaha using it again before 2030 when everything is electric.
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  11.  @theyweredeadwhenigotthere1391  My 87 FZR 1000 uses the same layout, still running like a champ.
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  12.  @theyweredeadwhenigotthere1391  The factory says valve adjustment every 42,000km , i do them at 30,000km to be on the safe side. I run all my bikes on 98 octane which has 10% ethanol, i think all fuel here in NZ has ethanol in it, i'll have to check. I also have an 01 YZF R1 that i bought brand new in 2002, its mint with only 13,000 kms on it and a few choice mods, Ohlins shock, fork internals, steering damper, full Arrow system and dyno time to set the carbs up to the system. Plus a couple of old school Suzukis. :-)
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  13.  @jsfrederiks  Honda tried it on their V4 2T grand prix engines but ultimately stuck with carbs.
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  14. They won the 1983 GP, with Freddie Spencer on it.
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  15. The oval pistons weren't a "novelty" it was Honda trying to build an 4 stroke engine, within the rulebook (a max of 4 cylinders and 500cc) that would beat the dominate 2 strokes in GPs, all because Soichiro Honda HATED two strokes. After they gave up in GPs with the oval piston NR500 four stroke, they built the NS500 V3 two stroke and went on the win the 83 GP championship with it with Freddie Spencer.
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  16.  @nickyborrisino  And it was never meant to, the road going NR750 was more of a "Look how clever we are" technology demonstrator than an attempt to introduce the oval piston to the mainstream, the only reason it was ever built was to get a V8 engine into a race series that only permitted 4 cylinders, outside of that, there was no need for it, except to show off their engineering prowess.
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  17. I wonder if Audi had to pay Yamaha for the 5 valve head? More likely, Audi waited till the patent had expired. It was Yamaha that developed the first 5 valve production engine, the 1985 FZ-750, they used the "5 valve head" in single, twin and four cylinder format and finally stopped using it in 07 because of euro 3 emissions were getting too hard to pass. When Yamaha was developing the 5 valve head in the 70s they tried 6 and 7 valve (with twin plugs) heads as well, settling on 5 as the best compromise.
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  18.  @j.d.saccociates3313  They had single, twin and four cylinder road bikes using the five valve layout, they also used them in water craft as well.
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  19. 🤣 Their first V3 road bike, the MVX was a dismal failure due to it blowing up all the time. They have had more lemons that the other big 3.
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  20. Then it wouldn't be a VFR. 😄
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  21.  @nocapoca5313  The VF in VFR, stands for V Four...its not a V four.
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  22. The 5 cylinder? I had one of those in a Focus ST, also known as the XR5 here in NZ. Good little engine.
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