my nc30 is a 1989 Grey import so is it just a vfr 400 r or a vfr400 r3 as im doing insurance and those are the 2 options that come up

Try this link to see if it helps: http://www.vsource.org/VFR-RVF_files/Bvfr400r-mi.htm; not sure what difference it makes on insurance premiums, think they're supposed to be the same bike.

ive had a look on that, but it doesnt really help.
the 2 options come up as;

vfr 400 r (GREY) 1985 - 1990
vfr 400 R3 (nc30) 1989 - 1994

to think of it i would say mines the lower because i never paid any attention that the top one only said grey and not nc30

Ah! In that case they may be referring to the NC21/24, which is not an NC30!

If yours is a 1989 model it's a VFR400r-k