Fun bedtime reading for you...

[cyrano138]

Read through seven pages of a funny thread on a vstrom forum here. Some of them had really reasonable opinions about the NC, and some of them seemed downright butthurt that it was picked for some award. Of course no one in the latter group had ridden one. Nothing better than hearing about how the NC is 'basically a scooter'. What does that even mean? I've never had to so much as down shift to zip around a car even on the interstate when everyone's routinely doing between 75 and 85 mph.


Anyway that took me to what I think is a mostly decent review of the bike here if you haven't read it already. I will say that I feel for all these long-time motorbike riders who are apparently unable to shift before 15k rpm's and keep haplessly bouncing off the rev limiter which, as a lowly cage-trained driver (I will never refer to a car as a cage without irony by the way), I have yet to hit in 1200 miles of riding on the nc700x. That part of the review kind of irritated me--it was like listening to high school kids talk about how hard math is. No offense. It made me appreciate how reasonable everybody on this forum seems compared to a few of the others.

Also, at one point in the review the first author remarks that he doesn't think it will cruise for very long at much more than 93 mph. 93 mph! Who would consider that a deal-breaker on a motorcycle? Is that how fast I'm supposed to be going? Because I'm pretty sure I'd be dead already if I tried it.

 

[Rocker66]

This sort of thing is sadly common on forums for instance on the W650 forum there is a guy who has a dig at HDs every chance he gets. When I asked him which models he had ridden I was hardly surprised to hear the reply " none actually" I had much the same thing in my BMW & Wing riding days with people commenting on them without actually riding them. I have no objection to people saying that they wouldn't want a certain bike because it doesn't appeal to them personally but I do object when they say that it is a bad bike when they havn't ridden one

 

[Heavy-H]

I still belong to that group....................For now.

 

[cyrano138]

I still belong to that group....................For now.

Well no offense, really. It's definitely something that takes some mental re-training, I'm sure, but the way reviewers talk about the low revs you'd think it was some catastrophic flaw that will render the bike all but unrideable.

 

[Naked_Duc]

nothing against the VStroms. They are obviously good bikes or they wouldn't be made year after year without much of a update. It just works. On the other hand, they are nothing special. Publications don't even write about them and nobody gets excited about them. the Vstrom is like the rest of the Suzuki lineup - GS500, Gxxer, C/M cruisers. You can't just put new stickers on a bike with a 10 year old design and call it a new model while expect customers to be excited about.

Sounds like the V-strom owners got a case of the envy and butthurtitis

 

[Naked_Duc]

Anyway that took me to what I think is a mostly decent review of the bike here if you haven't read it already. I will say that I feel for all these long-time motorbike riders who are apparently unable to shift before 15k rpm's and keep haplessly bouncing off the rev limiter which, as a lowly cage-trained driver (I will never refer to a car as a cage without irony by the way), I have yet to hit in 1200 miles of riding on the nc700x. That part of the review kind of irritated me

The low rev-limit might seem really unreasonably low to someone coming from an inline 4 sports bike where high revving is the norm. I've never ridden a inline-4. Most of my riding had been on single cylinder thumpers and L-twins (Ducati) where torque is plenty full at the mid-range. It actually hurts acceleration if you rev up to the limit because you would miss the peak torque even after you shift to the next gear. I short shift anyway under normal circumstances when I don't need that much acceleration. So I think the NC700x will do just fine with my riding style.

 

[dduelin]

One of the things I do with my toys is build notebooks of reviews, tests, technical stuff, maintenance tips, etc. With the advent of the internet it has become much easier to find these things even for 45 year old sailboats or 30 year old motorcycles much less brand new motorcycles. My NC700X binder already has about 50 pages of Honda technical papers and press releases, several on-line reviews (thanks for this one!) and magazine reviews and editorials from Bike, Motorcycle Sport & Leisure, Cycle World, Motorcyclist, and Rider, and I have surely missed others. The NC is so different yet mainstream enough (no Rune or DN-01 thank you!) that it has created a buzz globally that continues to amaze me. Virtually every mass circulation review has been generally positive and the bike already has or will garner Bike of the Year in more than one publication. I can see why riders of what they see as competitor bikes get chapped or experience a pang of envy because their bike of choice hardly gets a meh in the press or on-line anymore and practically every forum or magazine you pick up in the barber shop has long running threads on this inexpensive motorcycle that is slower than their bike, heavier than their bike, has less horsepower than their bike, and has a rev limit of only 6500 rpm. Magazine reviews are something you have to critically review as they often are less than objective but in this case the tone overall is overwhelmingly positive across the board there must be something to it. All I know is that I could have had a VeeStrom for years and the bike did not interest me in the least but when I first saw the NC700 in pictures I was immediately interested and had to wait months to put a deposit on one before they were released for sale in the USA.

Edit: I picked up the November issue of Bike today and read the NC700X in the first half of 2012 has outsold all of its class rivals and was the 9th best selling bike in the UK.

 

[Naked_Duc]

Edit: I picked up the November issue of Bike today and read the NC700X in the first half of 2012 has outsold all of its class rivals and was the 9th best selling bike in the UK.

Not that I need it as vindication for my purchase. I bought the NC700X for what it is, not because it's popular. BUT, it does make me smile a little bit, knowing that there are plenty of people agreeing with me.

 

[Thomasec]

I picked up the November issue of Bike today and read the NC700X in the first half of 2012 has outsold all of its class rivals and was the 9th best selling bike in the UK.

This is a very interesting positive verification of the NC concept. This must have been a worldwide number (as it wasn't even available yet in the USA). Was it indeed just for the NCx or did it include the NCs and Integra?

 

[Heavy-H]

nothing against the VStroms. They are obviously good bikes or they wouldn't be made year after year without much of a update. It just works. On the other hand, they are nothing special. Publications don't even write about them and nobody gets excited about them. the Vstrom is like the rest of the Suzuki lineup - GS500, Gxxer, C/M cruisers. You can't just put new stickers on a bike with a 10 year old design and call it a new model while expect customers to be excited about.

Sounds like the V-strom owners got a case of the envy and butthurtitis

My take on this is..... I think we all have to be carefull and not fall into the Harley Davidson mentality. You know, this bike is the best, all others are below me.. Strommers are kinda like that.... I saw the NCX and knew I had to have it..... thank God it's not Strom like at all. except for ADV styling.........

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

If this bike hadn't came along when it did I would have bought the DL650.
The low COG, fuel mileage, Easy valve adjust and being a Honda is what tipped the scales toward the NC.
I just couldn't forget the COG on my GS1100E. But the performance was intoxicating.
My average fuel mileage beats the 2012 DL650 on fuelly by 10 mpg. I'm happy with my choice, and that's all that matters to me.
I still get a smile and wave when I see a DL on the road.
I personally think the DL650 is the reason Honda brought out the NCX. Thank you Suzuki for making the NCX possible.

 

[treybrad]

If this bike hadn't came along when it did I would have bought the DL650.
The low COG, fuel mileage, Easy valve adjust and being a Honda is what tipped the scales toward the NC.
I just couldn't forget the COG on my GS1100E. But the performance was intoxicating.
My average fuel mileage beats the 2012 DL650 on fuelly by 10 mpg. I'm happy with my choice, and that's all that matters to me.
I still get a smile and wave when I see a DL on the road.
I personally think the DL650 is the reason Honda brought out the NCX. Thank you Suzuki for making the NCX possible.

+1. The DL650 was what I had planned to replace my Bandit 1250S with for a long time. Smaller, lighter, and better gas mileage than my Bandit, plus I love Suzuki's 650 twin (had an SV that I loved). But... I never could be convinced to pull the trigger, not even with the 'refreshed' styling and the 'Adventure' factory option.

Then the NC came along. Even lighter (but especially the COG was much lower), easier valves to adjust (the rear cylinder on my SV was a pain), even better MPG than the Wee... it was like a DL but even better for what I wanted -- enough so that I did pull the trigger and sold the Bandit.

The lower power and less off-road capability was a non-factor for me, but if I liked to go off road or ride two-up, I probably would've gone with the DL.

Two different bikes for two different audiences. They're somewhat similar, especially on the surface, but they have two different missions IMO.

trey

 

[watrboyjon]

+2, I was negotiating on a 650 V-Strom and when the NC came to my Honda dealer. One look and a couple rides, I was sold. I have an XR650L for off road.
Jon

 

[happy]

Not that I need it as vindication for my purchase. I bought the NC700X for what it is, not because it's popular. BUT, it does make me smile a little bit, knowing that there are plenty of people agreeing with me.

Over here, I look like the only ONE who bought this bike as a "recreational" weekend warrior while some owners buy it because of the good fuel economy, etc.

I am actually HAPPY I am the rare few who ride this bike for pleasure and it is such a fun and torquey bike.
If it WAS popular, I'd not touch it. Same reason why I do NOT buy a GS or Triumph, etc. They are too many on the roads to make me "feel special".
I do stuff to please myself, not to pacify others.

 

[L.B.S.]

Another one here, who was going to get a 650 Strom, but then the NCX arrived!

For me, I am naturally pleased if I don't bump into 5 of the same bike as mine every block, but the down side of being too unique (and we have had a lot of "unique" bikes in Canada over the years) is that it can be a real bugger to get spare parts, farkles, gizmos, tires, or many other easy for everybody else in the world accesories, to make our bikes personal.

If the USA doesn't carry a model we get in Canada, then it really sucks to have to order overseas to get things. The prices and S/H can be absolutely eyewatering! It's bad enough we get brutally overcharged for small market Canadian Dealer priced things, and even the "cheap" things coming in from the 'States if they have that bike, can be a nasty shock.
But when we can't even get stuff from them, well say goodbye to a whole bunch of awesome things we would love to put on our machines.

 

[happy]

Well I like to have a special thing....money is no object, you cannot take it with you.

 

[Rocker66]

You guys had better not come to the UK then because all 3 models of the NC are selling well