Gidday England.

I'm Gatch from NZ. I own a 89 nc30, 27K on the clock, gpra12H tires, nice SBS pads up front etc. Love it. Will probably end up racing it in a year or two in the local f3 meets.

Now what I'm here for. A good mate of mine is looking at buying a NC30 race bike, though he is pissing and moaning about the lack of slicks available here for 18" wheels. So is keen to do a 17" conversion, if he buys the bike of course. As nc35 wheels are as rare as rocking horse poo here, I was wondering if anyone knows of any viable swing arm conversions that have been successfully completed ? Or if there is any wheels that you buggers know of for sale..

Without having anything to measure off, I'm thinking along the lines of cbr250/400 or nsr 250 ?

I'm a fitter/turner by trade and will do what I can to make it work if possible. Just wanting to know if anyone has heard of such a thing been done, or is it just a ridiculous proposition and I should go back to reading tin tin comics in my shed.

Hi Gatch.
Yeah 17's are a little hard to get hold of im greedy an have 4 lol. but there's plenty around still.
When i first started racing i only ever had 18's for dry's an wets. you can get some really good tyres in an 18 which will be more than enough for your friend. I'd advise him to spend his money on quality suspension before worrying about slick's.
Cheers
Anthony

Maybe have a look into a VFR750 swing arm conversion. The NC35 wheel is certaily the easier though.
Welcome to the site mate.

If you were uber uber lazy...since you kiwis have some pretty relaxed import laws, I'd look at getting a bike from Oz...I've seen a lot for sale that have already had a 17" rear conversion and ready to race...but again thats me being uber uber lazy!

Getting wheels is easier than farting about with swingers and so on.

You can get a Bros400 to fit fairly easiliy enough.

You can also get a hub conversion and fit a VFR750 5 inch wheel...

It's easy to get hold of 17" rvf wheels in Oz (genuine or pattern copys), just order one and get it sent over the pond.

Easy, good slicks available and no pissing around making the bike look worse....

Buy a wheel is the consensus.

Fair call. I don't reeeeally want to make up adapters and crap, the idea is make the bike lighter, not heavier and generally more complicated.

It's funny actually, the more work I do fixing/modifying machinery, the more I find myself paying for services I would normally have undertaken myself. Just can't be bothered sometimes.

Anyway cheers for the replies. Some good stuff going on here. Stoked to see appreciation for what is really a gem of a motorcycle. Despite being 20 odd years old.

Mate you can get pattern 17" wheels from Oz ebay at a decent price.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HONDA-VFR400-NC3 ... 4151c9c2d9

You could also try contacting RB Imports (400cc racing gurus) and see if they have any used rvf wheels for sale (they usually sell for more than a new pattern one though).

http://www.rbimports.com.au/

Cammo thank you for that. I had no idea anyone was making pattern wheels. Looks like I could get brand new wheels in for $500-$600 a piece.. Painted..

Primo.

Still thinking about this 9 months on?

The cheapest place to source them nowadays for us southerners is probably Japan.