About to trade - Is it what it appears to be?

[rexbaum]

About me - I am a life long rider (since the age of 15) who enjoys around town rides as well as travel.

About my recent bikes - I have ridden cruisers for most of my life, the latter being Harley Davidson motorcycles.

This is my last HD, which was a great bike for trips. Not so great for the twisties (although it handled pretty good for its size)

I became bored with the cruiser style riding and purchased my first sport-touring bike, a Honda VFR800 which sold me on the fact that I had been riding the wrong style bike. Sold the HD in two days and never regretted doing so.

The VFR was a blast to ride, and I found that with the right luggage it was great on a long trip. I travel out to Colorado a couple times a year; St Louis to Colby, KS on day one 660 miles, then to Avon, Colorado on day two. This trip having the longest leg on the first day of travel and the VFR was great.

A friend of mine let me ride his Yamaha FZ6 (we swapped bikes on a ride) and I found the FZ6 was even more fun to ride; the VFR felt heavy by comparison! In comes my new bike, a 2009 FZ6...

I have taken the FZ6 to Colorado twice and found it very comfortable on the long journey and between those two trips and the short rides around the St Louis area I have racked up 12000 miles on her. Very fun bike to ride and fits me well.

What draws me to the NC700X -

I love the concept of the storage where the gas tank is on a traditional bike. This has been on the the set-backs on a sport-touring bike, IMO. You simply must have a bag of some kind on the bike with you otherwise you are screwed when you pick something up while out, or if it gets too warm and you want to shed a layer or two. +1 NC700X

With the annoying cost of gas, I love the idea that I could instantly gain about 20 miles per gallon! +1 NC700X

The sexy style and lines of the NC700X are unlike the standard Sport-Touring bike, yet still looks the part. +1 NC700X

What concerns me -

Low rev limit. I drive a 2012 VW CC which is turbo charged. I noticed that it too red-lines at 6500 rpm, so I have used my car to get a feel for the short shifting that will be required with the NC700X. It will be something to get use to. When going for a lively ride, I am use to shifting around 11000 rpm with many more to spare.

Available speed. Every trip we go on, the average speed on the interstate is 80-85 mph when we get beyond the city area. I have read that the NC700X will do 80 mph all day long without a problem, and top end a tad over 100.... Now keep in mind I use to ride a HD and I think they will be comparable. I wonder if while we are out in the mountains, will my Aprilia buddy or my BMW buddy have to wait for me? Don't get me wrong, we are not knee draggers, but a fast paced run on the mountain roads is a norm....

The day is nice here in St Louis and I will be riding the FZ6 over to the dealer at around 11AM. We talked yesterday, hashed out some of the details and I think a deal can be had (it is going to be up to me). They are anxious to sell a bike in February.

Thanks for some info guys and gals!

Rex

 

[glenbo]

Several of us are ex-Harley owners, so we have a good understanding of the comparison. The NC is much like a Harley, with the torque coming on at low rpm and no need to rev it up high to get good acceleration. I normally shift around 3K and have no trouble staying ahead of most traffic, don't try to keep up with sportbikes because I'm just too old and cranky for that stuff, but I think the NC will hold its own. The handling is surprisingly good for such cheap suspension parts. The storage is a wonderful plus, especially if you go with the Honda bags and trunk. You will be able to stuff them with all the poundage they can hold and still be under the weight limit of the NC. Just one caveat: If you intend to do anything at all to it yourself, you would be well served in getting the service manual as soon as you can. Best of luck to you.

 

[Jimmy_Pop]

If you are willing to sacrifice sport bike power for gas milage, you'll be right at home.

 

[Rocker66]

It is true that it will cruise comfortably at 80-85 as I do this on daily basis but to be quite honest it doesn't feel comfortable (at least to my way of thinking ) at over 90. I also ride a VFR800X Crossrunner which has the same engine as your VFR 800 and I think that you may miss the aceleration. Having said that the NC in my opion especially the X model is a damm fine bike

 

[johnakay]

test ride one 1st.you will then know if it suit your needs.

 

[wozza]

Hi I'm surprised to see after years of riding low revving Harleys you're worried about a 6500 red line. And I'm really surprised to read you don't change up until around 11000 rpm on your new bikes. I suppose I've always hated high revving bikes doing millions of revs for 70mph. That's why the NC is great for me. You can't beat doing 3000rpm at 60 instead of 4.5-5000 as on most middle weight machines...

 

[Beemerphile]

I rode mine to a BMW Rally in New York last summer. Nobody was waiting on me. I couldn't machine gun the straightaways like they could, but the twistier it got the more their fat asses were in my way.

 

[HONDABIKEPRO]

I rode mine to a BMW Rally in New York last summer. Nobody was waiting on me. I couldn't machine gun the straightaways like they could, but the twistier it got the more their fat asses were in my way.

i am with you lee, anyone can go fast in a strait line, then they park it in the corners. dale

 

[searsboy]

+1 on the test ride. Everyone has their own opinion on what is fast, what handles good, etc. Do the test test drive and that will answer your questions. As far as roadtrips...there again with opinions, but my unanswered concerns are seat comfort and wind protection. There are more after market options added, almost daily it seems, to help with these kind of issues. Good luck and welcome from Texas!

 

[dduelin]

Last October I rode my NCX to the mountains to ride with friends on their 125 hp sport touring bikes, many of whom I had hooned around with before on my 125 hp sport touring bike. Like you, I also had a little apprehension about keeping up on the NCX even though I had been up there by myself a few months earlier and knew the NCX was a hoot in the mountains, it handles and brakes so well and so great fun to flick around on. Well, that apprehension lasted about 5 minutes as I left the middle group behind to catch the fast pack ahead. In really twisty roads the NC is right in the middle of things, faster than it has a right to be, and being very forgiving of line selection it makes fast riding easier and probably safer. For example if you find yourself a little faster than you want to be in a decreasing radius turn when only pushing harder on the low grip will save a get-off you push harder and stick like glue. The oddest thing for me that day was getting used to bumping the rev limiter under downhill engine braking not under acceleration.

 

[frozenpoet]

The nice thing with our toque curve is we aren't forced into having to row it all the time. Unless you are trying to run as fast as you can, you can normally stay in one gear and still be able to power out of the curve.

 

[L.B.S.]

The nice thing with our toque curve is we...

Frozen Poet is awarded honourary Canuck status!


Heh heh heh

 

[frozenpoet]

It's aboot time.

 

[Cagedodger]

No, the NC700x isn't all it appears to be. It's very subtly more than it appears to be. You've just got to throw out the spec sheets and comparisons and test ride it.

When I was contemplating the NC, one of the things that resonated with me is that it's a bike that's designed for 90% of your riding, not the 10% that should be left to the track. Most every other bike seems designed for that 10% you hardly ever ride (which is sweet as hell when you do) but make you pretty miserable the remaining 90% of the time.

 

[bluecray]

Surprised you liked the FZ6 , I used to own one and found the seat too hard for long journeys also the engine although really sweet it was all high revs, if in the wrong gear and you wanted to accelerate past cars it felt like it was going backwards!!! You need to be above 8000 for real progress.

 

[rexbaum]

Hi I'm surprised to see after years of riding low revving Harleys you're worried about a 6500 red line. And I'm really surprised to read you don't change up until around 11000 rpm on your new bikes. I suppose I've always hated high revving bikes doing millions of revs for 70mph. That's why the NC is great for me. You can't beat doing 3000rpm at 60 instead of 4.5-5000 as on most middle weight machines...

The FZ6 rides right at about 5800-6000 rpm while cruizing at 70 mph, which is very tame in my opinion. That motor is happiest at high revs and becomes an uncaged beast when you hit the 10K + mark, all the while it is smooth as silk. Having said that, I am sure that I will fall right back into place with a 6500 red-line machine. I actually look forward to the learning curve. Lastly, I am not at all a knee dragger, however I have really enjoyed the FZ doing whatever I asked it to do. I am of firm belief that the NCX will bring just as much pleasure in a different form.

 

[rexbaum]

Last October I rode my NCX to the mountains to ride with friends on their 125 hp sport touring bikes, many of whom I had hooned around with before on my 125 hp sport touring bike. Like you, I also had a little apprehension about keeping up on the NCX even though I had been up there by myself a few months earlier and knew the NCX was a hoot in the mountains, it handles and brakes so well and so great fun to flick around on. Well, that apprehension lasted about 5 minutes as I left the middle group behind to catch the fast pack ahead. In really twisty roads the NC is right in the middle of things, faster than it has a right to be, and being very forgiving of line selection it makes fast riding easier and probably safer. For example if you find yourself a little faster than you want to be in a decreasing radius turn when only pushing harder on the low grip will save a get-off you push harder and stick like glue. The oddest thing for me that day was getting used to bumping the rev limiter under downhill engine braking not under acceleration.

Great picture, Dave! Looks like the exact initial set-up I am going for. Ordering the trunk at the time of sale. I suspect between the trunk, my tour bag that I strap to the back seat and the "use to be a tank" storage area, I will have plenty of storage for a long trip.

 

[rexbaum]

Surprised you liked the FZ6 , I used to own one and found the seat too hard for long journeys also the engine although really sweet it was all high revs, if in the wrong gear and you wanted to accelerate past cars it felt like it was going backwards!!! You need to be above 8000 for real progress.

Regardless what you are riding, if you are in the wrong gear, the bike isn't going to perform. As I hinted earlier, I am only looking to change because of the nature in which the NCX sips at the gas (which isn't going to get cheaper, or so it seems) and the brillient storage available. Honda seems to be flexing their design muscle with this bike.

 

[BDKrivit]

good info for me too; thinking of moving from Bonneville-thanks all.

 

[johnakay]

after test ridden in all honesty you will not find a more comfortable bike.
and I'm no light weight @ 5ft.11 or so inche's weighting nearly 240 lbs together with my wife 366 lbs the bike pulls cleanly ,
and it seems at no effort to get to the 80/85 mph mark. mind you this was on an DCT model.
apart from my wife not being to grip the rear handle bars the only criticism that I have is the left hand controls..to many switches.
trying to turn the indicator off I pressed the horn button.
also my left hand /foot seem to have a mind of its own where the fook is the clutch/gears

of course every body is different,what might be a man's medicine my be another man poison, so a test ride is a MUST.