Welcome a new member - disaster zone incoming

[theenglishman]

Hello everyone. Now I'm single and have spare time I had this great idea to get a track day bike/fun weekend bike to act as the foil to my NC750 commuter.

I've seen some shonky shockers, some projects and nothing to shortlist yet.

The year's looking up!

[Geodude]

Howdoo and welcome :) Ride safe have fun.

[AJC]

Aloha, and welcome!

[carelesschucca]

Hello welcome to the forum, from chimpboy up north.

[Heorot]

Welcome. I am going for a test ride this week on a NC750, anything I should look out for?

[theenglishman]

Welcome. I am going for a test ride this week on a NC750, anything I should look out for?

I found the stock suspension so horrible I changed it on my NC750X. It's really crap.

If you're buying new get them to put tyres other than the Dunlops on it as they wear out ridiculously quickly. Or ride it until the tyres wear out (2-3000 miles) then moan at Honda and they'll replace them under warranty.

Don't get any Honda bits - the aftermarket stuff is all better and cheaper.

The owners forum has much useful info on it.

It's a great commuter.

[Heorot]

Thanks for that.

[Jayneflakes]

Hello.

Yeah, that is it. I cannot think of anything original or welcoming to say.

Oh, I know. Please don't pee on the stairs in car parks, it makes the tramps smell worse when they sleep in it. :D

[millemille]

Welcome. I am going for a test ride this week on a NC750, anything I should look out for?

Yes, a CB500.

The NC750 is a dire, dire bike. Heavy, too long in the wheelbase - due to the engine being laid nearly horizontal, a horrible engine - allegedly a Honda Jazz car engine cut in half - with too much low down torque and not enough top end power and a stupidly low rev limit and rev limiter that just kills the engine dead so you end up looking like the Churchill dog with your head nodding backwards and forwards when you ride it, not enough power to pull the **** off a chocolate mouse - an indicated 111mph flat out....that's flat out; which is ridiculous from a 700cc engine, stupidly small petrol tank and limited range if you ride it with any kind of vim or vigour, the weight is too low down so the handling is awful and it's cheap and nasty on build quality.

I had one as a courtesy bike for 4 weeks after an off recently and was exceptionally pleased to see the back of it.

I rode it into London every day and also did a couple of longer, 300 mile or more, trips on it so can't say I didn't give it a fair go. On a run down to south Wales from London I got on the M4 from the M25 and opened the throttle all the way....and didn't close it until the Severn bridge tolls. That was 102 miles flat out, and it didn't get over 100mph and dropped as low as 85mph up some hills. That is shocking, and dangerous, for a modern bike....

I genuinely thought it was restricted in some way, but no. MCN tested one and Neavesy got it to 115mph absolutely harry flatters, and he's about 9 stone wringing wet..

It was replaced with a CB500X which was a revelation after the NC - to the point where I was seriously considering buying a CB500X to replace my ER that got written off.....

[theenglishman]

He he he. Well my view isn't the same, but then I use it as a commuter. It's not a sports bike. If you want sports bike performance then guess what...

The Honda Jazz thing is an urban myth.

But it is locknut valves, it's easy to service, the build quality is as good as anything else on the market these days and the storage where the fuel tank should be is actually really useful.

But no, it's not a sports bike.


Jayne - in my first job the first thing the boss said was 'don't eat yellow snow' That top tip has always kept me from... taking things too seriously. :-) And now I'll think of you every time I see a tramp!

[millemille]

[QUOTE=theenglishman;2999537]He he he. Well my view isn't the same, but then I use it as a commuter. It's not a sports bike. If you want sports bike performance then guess what...
[QUOTE]

I was comparing it against my **** box 18 year old Kwak ER5 that I use as, wait for it, a commuter bike.... riding a minimum of 250 miles a week into and out of central London.

The NC is slower, heavier, doesn't handle as well as and is more juicy than my ER5.

And then I got given a CB500X which brilliant as, wait for it again, a commuter bike - light, agile, rapid, fuel efficient, well put together and just a much, much better bike in every respect.

I don't believe that the Honda Jazz basis for the NC's engine is an urban legend, given that the NC engine is so slow and ponderous and only revs to 6,250 and has a rev limiter that just cuts the power. It isn't like a bike engine that I've come across - except maybe the CX500 - in terms of lack of power and dynamics.

The storage space in the "tank" is useful, but shouldn't come at the expense of fuel capacity. For a tank to go from brimmed to 20 miles into the reserve in 11.5 litres riding at motorway speeds - and not being the fastest thing on the road at the time - is shocking...

[theenglishman]

Fair do's - it's a marmite bike then. :-)

[TimTucker]

I believe the engine started as half a Jazz motor. Part of the reason behind doing this is fuel consumption in cars is so much better than it is for bikes.

I think the NCs have been designed to be a commuter tool, particularly for city work, and (I think) aimed at the kind of rider who might go for a big scooter. They're not designed to be revved at all: change up and get into the highest gear you can as quickly as possible seems to be the way to ride 'em. Some people have adapted to this, others haven't. I commute into central London and see a few of them parked in London Wall underground car park, so they're becoming more popular.

English: what's your commute like and what are you seeing as typical fuel consumption? I've heard that you can get 70mpg out of the things. I do a nine mile commute from south-east London which is very stop-start and getting into third gear is a rarity: I'm seeing 35-40mpg out of my eleven year old SV.

[millemille]

I believe the engine started as half a Jazz motor. Part of the reason behind doing this is fuel consumption in cars is so much better than it is for bikes.

I think the NCs have been designed to be a commuter tool, particularly for city work, and (I think) aimed at the kind of rider who might go for a big scooter. They're not designed to be revved at all: change up and get into the highest gear you can as quickly as possible seems to be the way to ride 'em. Some people have adapted to this, others haven't. I commute into central London and see a few of them parked in London Wall underground car park, so they're becoming more popular.
.

A friend, who knows how to string words together to describe bikes said the following when I rode to his on the NC..

...." and I can tell you first hand that it is a deeply uninteresting motorcycle, and very obviously built to a (low) price. The standard of finish is poor, and doesn't look like it will last more than a couple of winters. I didn't ride it, partly because I've got one hand in a splint at the moment, and partly because I had absolutely no desire to. The only other bike to have aroused, if that's the correct word, such massive levels of unenthusiasm is the Honda Varadero...."

"...I can see the point of a bike like this -- there are people who aren't interested in bikes per se, but only as a form of transport, and such a thing may appeal. But what I have less sympathy for is Honda's --apparently-- total lack of desire to look one millimetre beyond the design brief, and include -- well anything really -- that would have suggested the job wasn't a case of putting in your 37 hours, turning the handle, and going home. It is the Binatone, the Beko, the Amstrad of motorcycles."

[theenglishman]

I commute Woking to Camden - A320, M25 then either M3/A316, M4 or M40 or a bit of all of them, depending on traffic, to Shepherds Bush, then A40 into Lahrnden, innit?

I get 70-75mpg(rush hour travel is 70, late nights in the office 75) - there's others who get over 80, according to fulley.

I got the 750X DCT, as my left hand is knackered and I worried I'd get issues commuting in every day (I don't have a car and the train/tube is *so* expensive) with tendonitis and such, constantly pulling in a clutch lever. As mentioned, the MPG drops off quite a bit if you ride it like you stole it. But it's not designed for that is what I was trying to say. And yes - the Integra is a scooter with the same frame, just different bodywork. Quite clever from Honda really.

But it is boring as hell. It doesn't rev past 6k. It's really detuned so if you're in the wrong gear overtakes are at car pace. But I love the storage, the fact it's not a rocket ship, that it looks half decent, and with aftermarket suspension, handles quite nicely.

Several big dispatch companies in London use NC700's, so there must be something in them?

But I'm after an SV for the weekend and some trackdays now there's just me and I have a ton of spare time I need to fill.


[edit] - oh and mille - sometimes I have one hand in a splint and I can still ride. That's not a bad thing is it? ;-)

[Jayneflakes]

Jayne - in my first job the first thing the boss said was 'don't eat yellow snow' That top tip has always kept me from... taking things too seriously. :-) And now I'll think of you every time I see a tramp!

Awwww, that is the nicest thing that has been said to me all week! :smt040

[Luckypants]

Croeso! :cool:

[theenglishman]

Croeso! :cool:


An American colleague just ran a training course in Wales. He loved the place, the women and had absolutely no idea they spoke a language other than english. And speak a lot they did, what with him being a 6'4" ex-american football player.