Honda NC700 X

[toomanycooks]

Yep, echo both of those. Enjoy the new bike - would be keen to hear your thoughts once you've got settled in to it.

[tokyojrock]

FYI to those interested. There were 3 NC700S's and 1 NC700X in the auction this week. All brand new 0kms. Each would have had an in your hand price of 600,000-620,000 total (no tax and no added fees). 3 of the bikes had current and long shaken on them as under new registration and 3 years. 1 did not have shaken, it was a NC700S.

[Mike Cash]

My insurance guy just called and told me the dealer has faxed the shakensho. All is good to go on that front. The dealer is installing a combo cig/usb power rig for me, so that's something I don't have to hassle with.

All I have left to do is pull the Optimate umbilical and the iPhone holder off the Inazuma and take the Holt flat fixer from under the seat.

[Kamikuza]

take the Holt flat fixer from under the seat.

I used to carry a can of that under my seat too ... then I read an article about a guy who had one explode under there and blows its load over the back tyre - wipe out at speed! Checked mine ... the cap had deformed in the heat.

I've never carried one since. YMMV.

[Mike Cash]

On the new bike it will blow up in front of my nuts.

[Twinrider]

Holt foam is a temporary fix at best. On a bike with tubeless tires you're much better off buying a Motopump Basic Kit Plus for $45 and ask Rob (the vendor) to include some sticky strings and insert tool for $5 more. This will allow you to fix a flat in about 5 minutes and usually the repair is permanent.

http://www.motopumps.com/inventory/pumpkits.htm

[Mike Cash]

The early verdict:

I hate to imagine what the people who whine about this thing having a lack of power must have been riding before and how they must have been riding it.

Low revving, but very torquey and "punchy" with good throttle response. So quiet, smooth, and low revving that you quickly find yourself going faster than you thought you were.

Has about the same horsepower as my Inazuma 400cc did, but with the powerband dropped at least a couple thousand rpm so I actually access power levels in normal relaxed riding that I had to wind out the Inazuma to get , something I rarely had call to do. So it has the horsepower of a 400cc engine but puts it down where you use it most of the time....just as Honda said was their intention.

Speed? It won't win any drag races but it will easily, quickly, comfortably, and quietly get you to a speed sufficient to get your license suspended or revoked on any public roadway in Japan.

Anyone interested in a mid sized bike that gives good solid performance beyond what it looks like it ought to do on paper might want to consider one. At the very least, don't eliminate it from consideration without giving one a test ride first.

[chozzer]

Pics Mike!!!

[Dualta]

Has about the same horsepower as my Inazuma 400cc did, but with the powerband dropped at least a couple thousand rpm so I actually access power levels in normal relaxed riding that I had to wind out the Inazuma to get , something I rarely had call to do. So it has the horsepower of a 400cc engine but puts it down where you use it most of the time....just as Honda said was their intention.

Yep, it has a little less HP than the CB400SF/SB, but almost twice the torque. I bet that's fun!

[Mike Cash]

It is VERY fun. It may only have the horsepower of a 400, but you'd never know it by riding it. Unless you're a balls-to-the-wall wide open speed freak or something, which I am not.

The thing is so quiet I had to adjust the volume down on my helmet speakers from where I normally had them before. I used to have to keep them cranked all the way up just to hear anything over the engine. Now if I do that at cruising speed it's the engine I can't hear!

[Dualta]

It is VERY fun. It may only have the horsepower of a 400, but you'd never know it by riding it. Unless you're a balls-to-the-wall wide open speed freak or something, which I am not.

The thing is so quiet I had to adjust the volume down on my helmet speakers from where I normally had them before. I used to have to keep them cranked all the way up just to hear anything over the engine. Now if I do that at cruising speed it's the engine I can't hear!

It sounds like the perfect Japan bike. The CB400sf gets to 100 kmph in 6 secs. The N700X will shave at least a second off that. And no-one, ever, ever, needs to go faster than the tops of 190 kmph, or even close to it. This bike represents a paradigm shift in motorcycling, i.e. more sense, less macho bullshit. Hurry up with the pics!!

[Twinrider]

Sounds like with an unstrangled aftermarket muffler it may make more power!

[Mike Cash]

If I should ever find myself in a situation where it doesn't make enough power, I might consider that.

I've already tried it out in just about every situation I find myself in for 95% of my riding: in town, lane splitting, country roads, rindo, expressway....and it did everything not merely adequately but well and with plenty of power in reserve. The only situation I haven't tried it in yet is with loaded saddlebags taking a trip up into the mountains of Nagano to see a friend, which I do maybe two or three times a year. And for a trip of not over a couple of nights, I would bet the faux tank storage bin will hold a couple days change of clothes, making the saddlebags not even necessary. I'm taking an overnight trip to Nagano next week and I'm thinking about mounting and loading the saddlebags with a bunch of crap just to see what sort of effect it has. The Inazuma sometimes struggled up the worst bits when loaded. It was so underpowered (and overloaded) going up the Usui Bypass that I was just a rolling traffic hazard. I want to see what difference fuel injection and plenty-o-torque make, if any.

[Kamikuza]

Another one fallen to the Torque Side :D Repeat after me ... "There is no replacement for displacement" :lol HP is dependent on rpm (basically) so having double the torque and less rpm than the 400 will make it a kick-ass ride! And that's why I don't like the CB400 :lol and loved my TL and now love the Duke.

Glad you're loving it! Looking forward to the pics ...

PS. I'm not planning on going for an aftermarket exhaust either - I prefer not being mistaken for a bosozoku and enjoy the lack of attention from idiot drivers.

[Twinrider]

I feel safer with a muffler that makes a bit of noise, but not too loud. Cars definitely notice me and pull over a bit to make way when lane-splitting.

[haildamage]

I feel safer with a muffler that makes a bit of noise, but not too loud. Cars definitely notice me and pull over a bit to make way when lane-splitting.

i agree. while i hate obnoxiously loud mufflers, too quiet is not good either, IMO. it seems that honda has recently been going in the too quiet direction. my PCX scoot is too quiet and i wish i had been fast enough to get a bargain on a yosh system for it. i've actually put a bicycle bell on the scoot for those situation when a horn is a bit much such as with pedestrians and bicycles.

[Kamikuza]

I think that "Loud pipes save lives" is a myth. Nobody here notices shit, even when you're bearing down on them from the opposite direction with HID lights on full. I get more cars pulling over and letting me pass with the OEM-muffled Duke ... probably cos they don't think I'm an asshole with loud pipes
The only good use I found for the race system on the TL was when I got stuck behind those electioneering assholes, was to rev it up till they shut up and moved over.

[Twinrider]

Having bikes with both quiet stock exhausts and louder aftermarket exhausts, I definitely see a difference when lane-splitting. But that's Kanto, I have noticed that there are a lot more center-line hugging asshat drivers in Kansai.

[Twinrider]

i agree. while i hate obnoxiously loud mufflers, too quiet is not good either, IMO. it seems that honda has recently been going in the too quiet direction. my PCX scoot is too quiet and i wish i had been fast enough to get a bargain on a yosh system for it. i've actually put a bicycle bell on the scoot for those situation when a horn is a bit much such as with pedestrians and bicycles.

You're kinder than me. I sometimes drive on a road that has lots of college student pedestrians. So many are walking in the middle of the road with headphones and can't hear anything but their music. The horn comes in very handy...

[Jav]

I get more cars pulling over and letting me pass with the OEM-muffled Duke ... probably cos they don't think I'm an asshole with loud pipes

You contradict yourself. Nobody notices shit and then they do when you are on a bike with OEM exhaust

My opinion is that even with a reasonably noisy exhausts, when passing on the highway at 60km or more, the cars won`t
hear you anyway, until you are passing. However at low speeds on suburban streets, I have found that enough noise to be
notice does help. I live in an area with 3 university's very close by and thus lots of students. They move when they
hear my bike or car. Not so much when driving my wife's car which is stock and quiet. However i don`t like obnoxiously
loud pipes. Just enough so the rider or drive can enjoy the sound is prefect.