If you’re a fan of classic ‘80s and ‘90s JDM adjacent and JDM-only motorcycles, then you’ll want to peek at the latest crate of bikes that just showed up at Iconic Motorbikes. A total of 39 bikes were delivered in the latest shipment, including multiple Honda NSR250s and RVF400s, an extremely rare Yamaha FZR750RT homologation special. There’s also a beautiful Suzuki Hayabusa with a really cool sidecar, of all things, and more.
Now, to be fair, there’s something funky going on with the camera settings in this video. The light is kind of blown out as Abhi Eswarappa (of Iconic and Bike-Urious fame) goes over some of the fine points of a few of these bikes. Thankfully, though, the mic pack still works as he gives all kinds of useful information about some of his favorites out of the lot. While he obviously wasn’t going to tell us about all 39 bikes in a single 12-minute video, the information he does share is hard to not also get excited about.
There’s a Bimota YB9 SR, which—like many of the bikes in this crate—was never offered for sale in the US. If you’re familiar with Bimota’s naming conventions, you’ll know that the Y indicates that it uses a Yamaha engine, and the 9 indicates that it’s the ninth model that Bimota made utilizing a Yamaha engine.
Gallery: Iconic Motorbikes Japanese Bike Crate Unboxing May 2023
For Honda fans especially, there’s a lot to love in this crate. From a collection of four different RVF400s (that’s the NC35 if you’re keeping track) to three NSR250Rs, and a few more as well. One bike that Abhi particularly calls out is an extra-special NSR250R SE MC28, which doesn’t have a normal key. Instead, it has a very special key card device that slots into a Maxell reader on the headstock. A corner of the key card can be removed to reveal a physical key that you use to open the gas cap.
While the NSR250R SE MC28 could operate on the street or in a derestricted track form, you’d need a special Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) key card to derestrict it—which does not come with this bike. (Either way, you definitely don’t want to leave the key card in your pants and then put it through the wash, because it’s probably beyond impossible to replace.)
Another gem that stands out in this bunch is a 1987 Yamaha FZR750 RT homologation special, based on things that Yamaha learned from Eddie Lawson’s championship win the year prior. Only 200 of these bikes (that’s two-zero-zero, you read it correctly) were ever made and sold worldwide.
The frame is a lightweight aluminum, which represents an advancement over the previous steel frame that had been used. It also has a six-speed gearbox, which was then a pretty big deal. This example is a Japanese-market bike, with only 6,300 kilometers on the clock (about 3915 miles, give or take). Because it’s a Japanese-market bike, it comes with a speed warning light that illuminates in red if you go over Japan’s national speed limit (that’s 100 kmh, or about 62 mph on expressways).
While this crate is packed with bikes you don’t see every day, perhaps the crowning jewel in this collection is a black 2001 Suzuki Hayabusa with an EML sidecar. It’s also been fitted with car tires to maximize longevity, and has a cool sidecar with a front that hinges to more easily allow whoever you’re sharing the chair with to climb in.
Now, since the crate just arrived, none of these bikes has been gone through by the Iconic staff yet, but the plan is to check them over, make sure they run, and then get them listed on the auction site as time permits. However, Iconic also says that if you’re interested in any bike you see and you just can’t wait, you should contact Abhi via email at abhi@iconicmotorbikes.com to discuss. The team also has a dedicated page up on its website with brief descriptions (and more photos) of some of these bikes, which we’ll link in our Sources.
