Impulse Buy?

[Lsdpoet]

Morning...just put deposit on 2016 NC700X dct...traded my vstrom650...dealer is in another state and so I haven't seen the bike in person...reputable dealer so I'm not concerned about bike, but worried because I've been riding for over 50 years but neveran Automatic. Did I act impulsively? Is there a long learning curve in the dct? Will I fall on my face the first timeI hunt for the clutch or shifter peg?
Comments and/or suggestions please.

 

[HarveyM]

You won't have a problem. Click it into Drive and let your left hand & foot 'phantom shift' to their heart's content. Just don't blip the throttle at stop lights!

 

[Possummanj]

Yeah you will grab for that clutch lever all the time--I still do it

 

[Deleted member 1183]

I also was anxious the first time I rode a demo 750DCT. I had never owned any vehicle with a DCT box let alone a motorcycle. I took off into the mountains initially on my favoured backroads, and after an initial few episodes of my left hand seeking a clutch, I soon got used to it. Within an hour or so I was very comfortable with the system. I knew then that I would own one at some point. When I did eventually purchase, it was an X-Adv which also had its back brake on the left handlebar.

It does take some time though to get the very best out of the system, and act instinctively as one would do with a standard gearbox. I use a combination of manual changes and Auto, but mostly use the manual change buttons when riding briskly on twisty backroads. At other times on big roads and Motorways and the like I am happy to relax and let it do its own thing. It is now so instinctive to me that when I swap to another bike I occasionally seek the change buttons early in the ride.

 

[camfour]

The first couple of days I was still reaching for that invisible clutch, also continuously pressing the throttle felt a bit alien I should be pausing to pull the clutch, the only real problem I had was when I was using heavy winter gloves I would inadvertently press the throttle at a stop, didn't have that problem when using light or medium gloves

 

[trjerm]

It took a few rides for mine to learn what Rpm I like to run to before shifting and since my left hand can't operate the paddle shifter , I ordered the Accessory honda foot shift kit from Denmark and it feels way more fun in tight twisties in manual mode

 

[Itdoesn'taddup]

My 2021 was an impulse buy. Rode a 2020 NC750X Manual and a 2021 Gold Wing with DCT on a Sunday and then bought the NC750XD on the following Wednesday. I wouldn't have purchased it if I had done more research. However, I like this bike better than any other I've owned. It still want to downshift every once in while, not often though.

 

[GLC]

Morning...just put deposit on 2016 NC700X dct...traded my vstrom650...dealer is in another state and so I haven't seen the bike in person...reputable dealer so I'm not concerned about bike, but worried because I've been riding for over 50 years but neveran Automatic. Did I act impulsively? Is there a long learning curve in the dct? Will I fall on my face the first timeI hunt for the clutch or shifter peg?
Comments and/or suggestions please.

I think we are probably in the same age bracket, so perhaps my experience will help. Step by step is my overriding advice.
Step 1. Standard Automatic mode
When you get the bike just use the standard, automatic mode for a while. Yes, you will at first automatically try to squeeze a non-existent clutch and reach for a gear lever, but you'll be surprised how quickly you forget about them and wonder why you ever bothered with them for so long. Don't try to play around with the different riding modes or shift levers until you are fully used to the standard automatic shift patterns and how the bike reacts to throttle inputs.
Step 2. Downshift lever
Using the downshifter lever. In Standard mode you'll never need to bother with the up-shift lever as the bike upshifts so early it will likely do it well before you want it to. Conversely you may feel you want to downshift earlier when approaching corners or junctions. When you are comfortable with the downshifter it is time for step 3
Step 3. Manual mode
Once you have mastered the downshift lever, it is time to put the bike in manual standard mode. This will require you to use both upshift and downshift levers. The latter you will be familiar with from step 2. You will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly the bike changes gear using the levers. It's instantaneous. I never red line a bike but I suspect it won't let you anyway. If you forget to downshift, the bike will do it automatically to avoid stalling, so there is little to fear. Once you have mastered the manual shifting, it's time to try out the riding modes
Step 4. Automatic Sports mode.
Now that you are comfortable with automatic and manual modes and the use of the shift levers, it's time to try out the sports mode in automatic. Here you will find some unexpected bite and bark from the engine as power and engine breaking is boosted and the upshift is delayed considerably. Indeed, I think you have to get close to 60mph before it will shift into top gear. This 'fun' mode will result in poorer fuel consumption and the fuel economy lights of green, blue and red will disappear, since it knows you are not bothered about this when in sport mode.
Step 5. Manual sports mode
When you are fully familiar with sports automatic mode, you can try it in manual mode. This mode is really only for those times you really want to thrash the bike, which best done at a track in my opinion. I doubt this mode is much used by NC riders, since if you are a track style rider, you probably wouldn't be buying an NC in the first place.
Step 6. User mode
I usually ride in standard mode, either automatic or manual depending on conditions and my mood. However, the engine breaking in this mode is minimal since it is always in the highest gear by default. So, in User mode I up the engine breaking to the max. The difference is not great, and I find that simply using the downshift lever to a lower gear (or two as you can quickly multishift down through the gears) gives better engine breaking than simply relying on the USER mode setting. If you up the power setting to the max and the engine breaking to the max, you are pretty much duplicating the sports mode.

Be patient with it. It's taken me about 1500 miles to get fully comfortable with all the options the DCT presents and to be able to flick between them all with ease. Now when people comment about the NC DCT being a boring commuter, I know they have never spent enough time with one. The bike can be many things to many people. I get over 60mpg (US, nearly 80/ imperial gallon) in standard auto mode but it will scratch with the best of them in sport manual. The NC750 DCT is a complex tool and like all complex tools it will reward you once you have mastered how to use it properly. This will not come on your first ride, or second, or third, but it will come and then you will smile a really big grin.

 

[Lsdpoet]

Thank you so much for the instructions...your information will be a big help as I go through my introduction to dct