Nc700x?

Anyone test ridden one?

Opinions..?

[embee]

Not ridden one but very interested so I've trawled the reviews. This is one of the better "real" reviews I've found http://www.adventurebikerider.com/fo...ck-it-out.html

You definitely need to "get it", i.e. get what it's about. If it isn't what you think you might want then don't bother, it isn't going to win you over. If it ticks your boxes it's in a bit of a class of its own right now. Everyone says it really can return economy if you want it to, check out the Fuelly reports and it looks like around 20-25% better than a Deauville 700 (note most results are for US galls).

I think it's a bit like the Deauville as a proposition. I've had one for 10yrs for touring, which is what it does and does it well, but if that isn't what you want it's a non-starter. I've pondered replacing the Deau with an NC, but can't make the argument hold water just yet. I'm sure I'd like the NC because of what it can do, but the Deau still does its thing so well (for me), and I can't justify another bike in the stable.

Still fancy a test ride!

[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by Springbokki

Anyone test ridden one?

Yes and yes

Originally Posted by Springbokki

Opinions..?

I wouldn't. But then I wouldn't listen to me either. Go and test ride it for yourself, its the only real way to know if a bike is any good for you...

[yorkie_chris]

Still remain unconvinced. The engine technology, brilliant, we do need more stuff aimed at practicality, fair play to them for having the balls to make something different.

But look at the back end of it. What the hells the point of having a practical bike that at first glance seems impossible to use for anything. Maybe those pillion rails are more useful than they look.

Also what's with the chain? The NTV650 was ace and not too heavy without all the dullville tupperware and worked fine. Why would you want chain drive on a beast of burden?


T'other week I rode my XJ900 to Scotland and back, I had a 60l rucksack on the pillion seat, a drysuit bag on one side and a holdall full of dive kit on t'other, held on with bungies and straps, dead easy. It did around 45mpg on the way up there doing 90-100mph average (averaged just under 80 including fuel and lunch stop), and 61mpg on the way back doing 70ish.

While looking at fuelly, they seem to easily do 70+mpg, but is it worth the purchase price compared to something older which will do less mpg (55 easy from many many bikes <£1000). How many miles a week do you need to do versus what it costs to sink what £6k into it to make that worthwhile?
My XJ, over 3500 miles averaging 55.6. On a cheapo half bolloxsed bike on 70's technology carbs...


I'd consider one if I just wanted to do a long commute not lugging much but I still think they could have made it a lot better for the purpose.

I think they could have easily gotten a better bike with a different starting base.

I applaud the direction they're going in, but I completely agree with YC.. It's not that impressive. And to prove my point, I'm going to start with a bike at the completely different end of the spectrum: the 2012 Duke 690 (yes, I like this bike, so I'm starting off from it )

From fuelly.com, there's only 4 2012 690 dukes registered (I know, not enough to gain statistical significance). And they average 4.5L/100km (~63MPG Imperial). nc700 has ~50 entries and gets 3.7L/100km (~76MPG Imperial). I don't think that the duke is being used as heavily as the honda is. Nowhere near. If ridden in the same devout of fun way as the honda, it would probably get 70-75. So no, the economy of the honda doesn't impress me, when a single of the same capacity built exclusively with fun in mind can achieve similar consumption figures.

Maybe it's the price, then. Well, it is cheap for a new bike. It costs around 5k Euros, while the duke is 6.5k Euros. But the duke has wp suspension and brembo brakes and lots of nice tweaks here and there. If you were to use the same components as the honda and have them produced by honda, which have better scaled economy than ktm, than I'm pretty sure the duke would be something like 5.5k euros.

Storage space? I don't think so. To add a cheapo top box would add something like 50euros on the production side of things.

So yeah, I think the nc 700 is a great idea in general for biking and great for commuting right now and offers the best value. But the duke 690 would have made a much better platform. AND it's fun. Next year, the duke 350-400 will come out and wipe the floor with the nc700. It will have same power, same torque, same price, same consumption, half the weight, thrice the fun. So no, I wouldn't buy the honda new.

If you're willing to buy used, YC makes a great point: You can get a decent used bike for a lot less which will more than make up for the different fuel consumption. You can get a v-strom (just as ugly as the nc 700) for a lot less than the honda and it will do everything the honda does (commuting wise) and have a decent consumption, enough to make you wonder about the price difference.

Or even worse, you could get a BMW G650. It gets about the same consumption figures as the honda does and you can get a used one for about 2k Euros and it's probably more fun than the honda, as it has a lot less weight for about the same power.

Cheers guys, food for thought.