Anything you wish was different/better about your NC700?

[AP1]

You guys are awesome. This is such a rich source of ideas for how the NC could be an even better motorcycle. I also appreciate that nearly all the replies are from a perspective that the NC is already a great bike. Nice work everyone!

 

[Tigershark]

V configuration engines

I've only ridden v-twins in Harleys and a Multistrada, so lack a lot of experience. However, the HD had terrible vibes and the Duc was somewhere in between the HD and the NCX. The Ducati engine was very unhappy under 3000 rpm and I felt a lot of vibration throughout the entire rpm range. After I test rode the Multistrada, I ended up with a new Triumph Tiger 1050 inline triple and became very spoiled. I never had to give it throttle when starting off "smoothly" in first gear from a stop and could accelerate from 20mph in 6th gear with total smoothness. The NC is not on that level by any means, but is much smoother than the Ducati. So, comparing the NC to the Mana would still give the Honda the cudos from that perspective in my opinion. For a vertical twin, the Honda is pretty damn smooth. My previous Norton, Enfield and Bonneville certainly reinforced that. Even my BMW R1100S boxer engine had a unique shake to it, although it was a lot more pronounced at lower rpm than at higher speeds.

Bikers seem to either love the v-twin sensation or they don't like it at all.

 

[Rocker66]

Put me down as one of the former

 

[Relayer]

You guys are awesome. This is such a rich source of ideas for how the NC could be an even better motorcycle. I also appreciate that nearly all the replies are from a perspective that the NC is already a great bike. Nice work everyone!

I certainly echo these sentiments. Not having had a bike for some 30-odd years and hence no experience of what can be done(or not) to my NC, this thread and forum has certainly given me a lot to think(dream) about. I'm not sure what affect any mods may have on the Honda warranty.

I'm thinking about a Puig screen and a hugger at the moment, followed by a power source for a satnav/phone. Thanks to everyone for their advice and technical input........

Stay safe.

Al@n

 

[Seabee Bob]

I've only ridden v-twins in Harleys and a Multistrada, so lack a lot of experience. However, the HD had terrible vibes and the Duc was somewhere in between the HD and the NCX. The Ducati engine was very unhappy under 3000 rpm and I felt a lot of vibration throughout the entire rpm range. After I test rode the Multistrada, I ended up with a new Triumph Tiger 1050 inline triple and became very spoiled. I never had to give it throttle when starting off "smoothly" in first gear from a stop and could accelerate from 20mph in 6th gear with total smoothness. The NC is not on that level by any means, but is much smoother than the Ducati. So, comparing the NC to the Mana would still give the Honda the cudos from that perspective in my opinion. For a vertical twin, the Honda is pretty damn smooth. My previous Norton, Enfield and Bonneville certainly reinforced that. Even my BMW R1100S boxer engine had a unique shake to it, although it was a lot more pronounced at lower rpm than at higher speeds.

Bikers seem to either love the v-twin sensation or they don't like it at all.

If you have never owned a twin cam v twin Harley Davidson Softail don't knock them until you tried one. The motors are counterbalanced and my 06 Springer Softail roared down the interstate at 80 mph / 128 km/h vibration free.

 

[Tigershark]

My experience was a 60's model XLCH Sportster. I would hope they improved them a great deal, so I have no doubt as to what you describe. The Multistrada I drove was a 2007 kilo displacement model and it just didn't do it for me, as much as I wanted it to at the time.

 

[Cutter J. Duke]

If you have never owned a twin cam v twin Harley Davidson Softail don't knock them until you tried one. The motors are counterbalanced and my 06 Springer Softail roared down the interstate at 80 mph / 128 km/h vibration free.

Yea right, been riding way too long to fall for that old one, all H.D.s vibrate and yet there is always some Harley knucklehead trying to tell everyone they don't. Why not just go ahead and admit that they rattle like a paint shaker and tell people that it's what happens if you want to play "Easy rider". I've got a dealer just down the road that I went to looking at a used Buell, he's telling me about how the new harley's don't vibrate and are so smooth that you can't hardly tell it's running (of course they had straight pipes because if you buy a Harley you have to be as loud as you can so people will stare at you "see they looked at me, that must mean I'm cool"). I told him I would make a bet with him, if he could start anything on his showroom floor and the mirrors didn't bounce around more than my NC's at idle I would wear a Harley hat and stand in front of the Honda dealer for 8 hours, If they did he would wear a Honda hat at his dealership for a day. He never got the keys to a single bike out.

 

[happy]

Many of these HD riders have "lost" their feelings...so therefore they feel nothing.
They are not wrong, just a wee bit impaired?
Sorry to be so frank.

(Just a joke, in case this becomes flame bait)

I wish I had a Harley.

 

[Rocker66]

My experience was a 60's model XLCH Sportster. I would hope they improved them a great deal, so I have no doubt as to what you describe. The Multistrada I drove was a 2007 kilo displacement model and it just didn't do it for me, as much as I wanted it to at the time.

Ireally enjoyed my Multistrada and only sold it because our local closed

 

[Rocker66]

My experience was a 60's model XLCH Sportster. I would hope they improved them a great deal, so I have no doubt as to what you describe. The Multistrada I drove was a 2007 kilo displacement model and it just didn't do it for me, as much as I wanted it to at the time.

I really enjoyed my Multistrada and only sold it because our local closed

 

[johnakay]

If I wanted to make a life-long career out of
working with the mentally retarded I would
have opened a Harley Davidson Dealership


OK I'll get me coat

 

[Rocker66]

If I wanted to make a life-long career out of
working with the mentally retarded I would
have opened a Harley Davidson Dealership


OK I'll get me coat

And this from a man who owned a sc***er

 

[johnakay]

getcha fact right Dicky lad USED to

take ya pick lol

 

[Rocker66]

getcha fact right Dicky lad USED to View attachment 1542

take ya pick lol

ERR! Thats why I said "owned" which is the past tense is it not?

 

[johnakay]

OK lets put it this way,
I had no choice in them days you couldn't get a loan without a guarantor till you were 21.
my brother would for a scooter so to have a scooter was better than none.

 

[Rocker66]

OK lets put it this way,
I had no choice in them days you couldn't get a loan without a guarantor till you were 21.
my brother would for a scooter so to have a scooter was better than none.

For you maybe I would give up riding if a scooter was the only answer. I'm even starting to look at cruisers in case my knee gets any worse

 

[Seabee Bob]

Yea right, been riding way too long to fall for that old one, all H.D.s vibrate and yet there is always some Harley knucklehead trying to tell everyone they don't. Why not just go ahead and admit that they rattle like a paint shaker and tell people that it's what happens if you want to play "Easy rider". I've got a dealer just down the road that I went to looking at a used Buell, he's telling me about how the new harley's don't vibrate and are so smooth that you can't hardly tell it's running (of course they had straight pipes because if you buy a Harley you have to be as loud as you can so people will stare at you "see they looked at me, that must mean I'm cool"). I told him I would make a bet with him, if he could start anything on his showroom floor and the mirrors didn't bounce around more than my NC's at idle I would wear a Harley hat and stand in front of the Honda dealer for 8 hours, If they did he would wear a Honda hat at his dealership for a day. He never got the keys to a single bike out.

The Twin Cam B-motor differs from an A-motor in that it has two counter-rotating balancers, one fore and aft of the flywheel assembly, that, together with the flywheels, negate nearly 100 percent of the engine's primary vibration. The two balancers are connected to each other and the crankshaft by a roller chain. The flywheel's pinion shaft and each rotating balance shaft have a chain sprocket with a timing mark that must be aligned to correctly position the balance shafts and flywheels for proper engine balance.

Harley-Davidson motorcycles are generally designed as open road cruisers with massive two-cylinder V-twin engines. Harley-Davidson uses old-school engineering. The company equips its bikes with engines featuring a crankshaft with a single pin, and then has the two pistons connected to the pin via each piston's connecting rods. This gives the bike its signature uneven throaty sound at idle that develops into a roar when the throttle is opened.

 

[L.B.S.]

For me, "vibration" is a relative term anyway.

My BMW P-twin had a fancy high tech mass damper 3rd connecting rod design for supposedly eliminating it's 360* firing vibration, and it was the worst motorcycle I've ever owned in my life for berzerk paint mixer hideous vibes.

My old Honda CB400T and 450T Hawk P-twins in the 80's had 180* firing and dual chain driven counter rotating balancers, and I never really noticed any bad vibes or had fasteners and parts fall off like my F800 did.

The best, smoothest, non-vibing Parallel twins I've ever owned?

...were completely unbalanced and had zero considerations at all, put into designing the engine to make less vibes. Yamaha RD350LC two strokes, that simply had isolating rubber bushings between the engine and the frame!

The engines in those things would give any Harley a run for it's money on wide eyed bystanders: "Dude, your engine looks like it's about to bounce it's way completely out of your bike!"

Idling and riding, they were like down filled pillows of sweet comfort.

My CBR125R "thumper" has a gear driven counterbalancer, and while there is a "feel" to the bike's engine running, I can spend all day at 11,000+ rpm, and never for a second think about vibrations, let alone bothersome ones.

My CX500Turbo V-Twin was very smooth overall, but it did have a slightly higher frequency buzz through the bars at more elevated cruising speeds.

So far, the NCX feels like a cross between my CXTurbo and CBR125. I was really hoping the 270* firing would make it feel and sound close to my CX500, (minus the slight higher freq. buzz) and in that regard I am very happy with Honda's experiment!

The few Harleys I have ridden "shook" but I can't say they produced a feeling that I thought of as "bad" in the limited amount of time I spent on them.

 

[Seabee Bob]

The only three things that I would wish to be different or better on the NC700 is a shaft / belt drive, bigger windshield and a more comfortable seat.

 

[kunju]

+10, I beep about every time I get back on my Goldwing when changing lanes. Thank GOD there are aftermarket seat companies out there.
It would be nice if they put a butt friendly seat on it.

+100
I have already complained to the Honda Rep at motorcycle show. Couple of days back this truck changed to lane to me and I was trying to Honk, and it won't as I was pressing the turn signal cancel button