The

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

NS500 is a 500cc

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

racing motorcycle of the early 1980s, powered by a

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

V3 engine The V3 engine is a V engine with two cylinders in one bank and one cylinder in the other bank. It is a rare configuration, which has been mostly used in two-stroke engines for motorcycles competing in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The first examp ...

. Created as a replacement for the innovative but unsuccessful

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

NR500 NR500 was a racing motorcycle developed by Honda HRC in 1979 to compete in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. "NR" stands for "New Racing". Model history The motivation behind the NR500 was company founder Soichiro Honda's desire to compete using ...

, the bike went against Honda's preference for four-stroke machines but proved very effective and quickly won the 1983 500cc World Championship with

Freddie Spencer Frederick Burdette Spencer (born December 20, 1961), sometimes known by the nickname Fast Freddie, is an American former world champion motorcycle racer. Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s. Motorcycle ...

on board. Spencer was able to use the lower weight and superior handling of the NS500 to achieve higher cornering speeds, and getting on the power earlier leaving corners. Ron Haslam also won the 1983

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

. After a relatively short lifespan the bike was replaced by the more successful two-stroke,

V4 engine A V4 engine is a four-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The V4 engine is less common compared to straight-four engines. However, V4 engines have been used in automobiles ...

powered

NSR500 Japanese Grand Prix 1993 ">1993 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix">Japanese Grand Prix 1993 The Honda NSR500 is a road racing motorcycle created by HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) and debuted in 1984 for the Grand Prix motorcycle racing's 500& ...

RS500 customer version

In 1983, Honda introduced a production version of the NS500 called the RS500 for

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

racers. These were very similar to the NS500 machines used by the factory racing team but, lacked the special exhaust system.

References

NS500 The Honda NS500 is a 500cc Grand Prix racing motorcycle of the early 1980s, powered by a two-stroke V3 engine. Created as a replacement for the innovative but unsuccessful four-stroke NR500, the bike went against Honda's preference for four-strok ...

Grand Prix motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in 1982 Two-stroke motorcycles V3 engines {{Motorcycle-racing-stub