NC35 T13 kit

TYGA NC35 T13 Kit

September 2013

This is the latest TYGA project bike using the iconic RVF400 NC35. As you may have noticed, we have made several other projects using the NC35 and we love this bike so much we decided to make another project. The T13 Project is a primarily a styling exercise and evolution of our previous generation of RC211V bodywork kits. We wanted to make a bike which would appeal to people who loved the Honda V4 but didn’t want a classic 1980s look and didn’t necessarily want to look like they were riding Rossi’s bike, after all it is a bit hard to live up to unless you can ride like an alien!  So, starting with the TYGA RC211V kit for the NC35, we looked at the things we liked and the things we didn’t like, and set to work to style the bike with obvious RC211V cues but at the same time a few twists of our own.

The first thing we did was make the seat cowling  a lot slimmer and narrower and slightly shorter than our RC211V version. This gives it a more aggressive and taught stance with the rear wheel very prominent and protruding beyond the seat cowling. We kept the round LED taillight (love it or hate it but it was essential to the design!) and added a pair of built-in turn signals into the rear ‘horns’ of the seat cowling.

Underneath, the kit still uses the same sub frame and battery box as our earlier kit for ease of stock and allowing customer to upgrade from the RC211V kit if they choose. It retains the stock Honda seat pad so comfort is not compromised, though obviously, like our RC211V kit, it is quite a bit higher than stock and has space behind the seat pad so the seating is nowhere near as cramped as a stock NC35 which is welcome for many of our customers who are on the large size, (myself included!).

The fairing is derived from the RC211V style fairing but again it is all different and no panels are the same. We changed the front tip of the belly pan to make it have conventional point unlike the MotoGP bike which has an angled back tip. To continue with the more swoopy styling, we changed the blisters on the upper cowling to be more rounded, sweeping round from the upper sides of the fairing to the side consoles which meet the fuel tank in the same way that  our previous kit did.

The dual headlights are again less angular and have a slight undercut at the front to try to give it a more graceful look. The kit still uses a front air duct under the chin which has been redesigned for better aesthetics when viewing the front fairing radiator air duct. The concept was to try to achieve a look whereby this part of the fairing is like one large open mouth chasing the front wheel and scooping up air for the dual radiators. Windscreen was redesigned to be smaller and the ‘ears’ of the fairing are again less angular and slightly more petite than our previous RC211V kit. Mirrors were omitted in the interests of artistic purity. We supply conventional mirrors with the kit, or if you don’t want to clutter the look of the fairing, handlebar end mirrors could be installed. We didn’t install any front indicators, though again, we recommend them and have a range of inconspicuous LED type ones that can be attached the faring flanks.

 

Paintwork was inspired by the old Honda race bikes of the late 1970s and early 1980s such as the NS500 and the RCB1000.

 These race bikes in turn, inspired classics such as the VF1000R and the VF500F which used similar paint schemes.

It would have been easy to have simply copied one of these old schemes but we like to make things difficult for ourselves (and our painter) and decided to try something a bit different. After several hours with lots of colored gaffer tape and sticky back paper,

we chose to keep the carbon as much as possible and only put a thin airbrush of bright blue around the edges instead of a solid blue filling. This way, it gives an almost reptilian or fishlike appearance to the carbon without looking too much like a chopper colour scheme. We were able to source some excellent graphics for the top of the fuel tank and seat cowling and our painter, Pong, with his usual skill, hand painted the RVF graphics on the flanks. The wings on the tank are RC30 ones to give hints of the good old days. The red chosen is special. These days, most computers and particularly phones show photos with amazing hues even when the actual original is not that amazing or bright. However, in this case, the red, specially formulated with a hint of florescent, is really bright and does the scheme justice.

So now with the cosmetics out the way, let’s take a look at what is under the skin. The bike is on one our NC35s that we use for development and was stock prior to this project. We stole the BST wheels off the ‘carbon NC35’ and sourced an early model CBR600RR front end. The CBR600RR front end is an obvious choice being readily available, similar size and weight with same fork to fork leg dimensions as the NC35 and of course it is Honda. The radial brakes calipers are of course Brembo and it uses a Nissin radial master off a CBR1000RR.

Rear shock is stock as is the rear brake but we didn’t stop there. We then went through the TYGA catalog and went on a buying spree and checked out as many goodies as we could. These included, exhaust with Maggot, carbon air box lid, carbon CBR600RR front fender, carbon swing arm cover, carbon chain guard, step kit, triple clamps and a lot more which you can see at the bottom of the page.

Performance is as you would expect, lively and exciting. The riding position lets you know this is going to be a sporty bike and with the Tyga Moto Maggot roar, you better get used to the attention. The V4 engine is as smooth as silk with plenty of top end power to match the strong pull from low down. With the modern front end and awesome brakes, it can be ridden with confidence hard into the corners. If Honda had a proper sports 400, then we hope this is how it would behave. It is definitely nothing like the latest crop of 300 so called sports bikes. Of course it is not budget bike so it is a bit unfair to compare, but in the absence of anything else in this league nowadays, you do tend to forget how good the 400s are until you swing your leg over one. And like I say, this is not your average 400. So in conclusion, the end result is something that is very different to typical light weight sports bikes that you come across these days, and something that is really fun to ride and turns heads wherever it is ridden. 

 

This is how it sounds:

TYGA Performance NC35 with TYGA T13 body kit and TYGA full race exhaust at Bang Saen Bike Week 2014. Exhaust fitted with open Moto Maggot for full V4 exhaust sound. Crowd's reaction says it all. Best enjoyed with volume turned up on high quality sound system!