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"Off road" versus other bikes in the class

celtsguy81

celtsguy81

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As I sit here painfully waiting for some of the dealers I've been in contact with to get back to me (I'm still looking at a '12 NC DCT and a 12 or 13 V-Strom) so I can find out who I can throw my cash at... I got to thinking:

I know the NC700X (DCT) is not an off-road bike. I know it's got the adventure styling, but it probably wouldn't compete with the V Strom or the BMWs if we were to try to go seriously off road.

Luckily I am going to be 2 up most of the time anyway, and thus wouldn't be trying anything harder anyway.

So... do you guys take your NCs "off road"... meaning dirt roads, maybe some bumps/gravel.. how do you like them, honestly? I'm sure this has been asked before, but since we're all forum browsing I figured I would give folks a chance to talk about it.

Keep in mind I've newbish. Not mechanically inclined at all.. so fixing the bike out in the woods if something goes wrong is probably not going to happen. Maybe if I have service I can google it. haha.
 
If you're talking maintained, unpaved roads, pretty much any bike can handle it. My biggest worry in that situation is whether I'd be able to get the traction to pick her up. I've only done very short bits so far (think long driveways and campground loops), but my dad and I are hitting some dirt roads in the mountains this weekend (him on his R1100RT), so I can let you know in a few days. But really, if a passenger car can do it, you don't need a GS or VStrom.
 
First - none of the bikes in this class are in any way dirt bikes or even dual purpose bikes. They are street bikes with adventure or dirt bike styling or styling features. With the proper modifications to suspension and protecting engines and transmissions they all can handle rougher terrain but if the terrain becomes technical or soft and deep then no one wants to be riding a near 500 lb bike bike with adventure styling.

Second - all of them as showroom equipped brand new can easily handle riding off of paved roads onto hard packed dirt or maintained (ill or otherwise) gravel roads. Any street bike on street tires can handle unimproved roads if ridden within the limits of bike and rider. The low center of gravity of the NC is a distinct advantage it has over its peers in this regard.

Don't buy the arguments of salespersons or kool aid drinkers that the above are not accurate. If you are going to ride even 1% of your miles off pavement then 99% of the time you are going to be on the street. I would keep my priorities in this order of 99 to 1.

I like to ride my NC on unimproved roads and have done so now and again. It handled these roads just fine.

RideApart Review: Honda NC700X | RideApart
 
When I was between the v-strom and the NC this article convinced me that the NC would be capable enough off road for anything I ever planned to do with it.

Might take a change of tires, and a few other accessories (crash bars, hand guards, etc.)
But with what I've seen on the forums for off roading photos, I've no doubt that the NC just needs a change of tires to be competitive with other adventure bikes out there.
Where it really shines against the other adventure bikes though is the frunk and the milage...

My next set of tires might end up being dual purpose.
 
Frunk = Front trunk?

Yeah... that really has me very, very close.

Latest offer from the one dealer willing to work through email is 8100 for the base Strom 650, but doesn't seem to be budging from the 9k for the NC700 DCT... even though the NC would be the 2012 model.
 
dduelin said:
First - none of the bikes in this class are in any way dirt bikes or even dual purpose bikes. They are street bikes with adventure or dirt bike styling or styling features. With the proper modifications to suspension and protecting engines and transmissions they all can handle rougher terrain but if the terrain becomes technical or soft and deep then no one wants to be riding a near 500 lb bike bike with adventure styling.
Click to expand...

There are some very good and important points here.

There are folks RIGHT NOW ~ traveling on unimproved roads around the world on Mopeds, Harley D's impersonators and Sportbikes - yes its true!

The best investment towards improving any bike off-road is your time. Drop it, push it, walk it, scare yourself a bit with the weight and speed and you will find you can take the machine to places that you probably shouldn't with a bit more confidence that you both will make it out. Parts are replaceable so don't get too hung up on cosmetics and wear enough protection to keep yourself safe. ;)
 
I agree with everything that dduelin has told you 110% If you plan a lot of dirt road riding (not sand) remember this is an adventure bike use good common sense , add these few accessories and your problems will be solved.

1. Engine Case Skid Plate
2. Engine Guards (We don't Crash)
3. Hand Guards
4. Tires: Continental Twinduro TKC80 Dual Sport Tires 120/70-17 (front)
Heidenau K60 150/70-17 (rear)

Then you will be able to ride the dirt roads with Nortwestrider in July across Washington State. Hope to see you there!
 
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I just bought mine last month NC700X. My previous bikes in order were YZ80, FZR1000, FJ1200, KTM LC640, VTX 1800, Concours 1400, K1200S.

I would have to say this is a blast to ride....minus the Honda "it's-killing-my-butt seat." With the previous additions that Old Can Ride mentioned I would hit off-road hard packed trails. The only trade off is the ground clearance. My KTM was great, but heavy and the center of gravity was very high.... a bear to wrestle with. This NC has a nice combination of features and comprises well. Gas mileage is awesome. Just went from Ft. Lauderdale to Big Pine Key on 3 gallons....200 miles.

I appreciate this forum and plan on slowly making some mods. I just ordered the Danmoto carbon pipe for $130. I liked the Yoshimira, but couldn't see spending $500.
 
celtsguy81 said:
I know it's got the adventure styling, but it probably wouldn't compete with the V Strom or the BMWs if we were to try to go seriously off road.
Click to expand...

I think you are very wrong here. I think the NC can do EVERYTHING a Wee can do....and some of it better. The Wee has had the advantage of several years of successful marketing and being one of a very few 650 cc class "adventure" bikes. The others: KLR (owned one and you get what you pay for) and BMW F650 (still a thumper and expensive). This left the Wee in its own kind of niche. Yes, the Wee is a good bike if not a great bike that can do many things. I'm certainly not slamming the Wee. I think the only advantage the Wee has over the NC is several more years of sales and a larger group of owners. If you look around here and ADV you will find many doing the same kind of things to their NC as folks were doing to the Wees in the early years of production. Also, the NC is gaining aftermarket products all of the time with support of Givi, SW Motech and others. There is even a rumor that Jesse is developing bags for the NC.
Mike
 
dduelin and modeselector rocked the answer

Better riders (or braver, or maybe dumber/smarter, lol) than me, could make a mockery of the average inexperienced dude on a smaller and more appropriate off road bike, while riding a Vstrom or NCX, but I'm not going to stray very far before I chicken out and let discretion put a stop to too many shenanigans off of a gravel forest service or logging road.

These things are heeeeavvvvy, pretty low ground clearance, minimal suspension travel, and the wide, 17" front wheel is rather spooky in most conditions off road, to say the least.

You can make it a little less sucky by judiciously adding/subtracting various bits here and there, as mentioned in above posts, but in the end, you will have to decide where your personal comfort zone is, as far as what you would consider "off road" capable.

My easy could be a world of hurt for you, and the next guy (or gal) would point fingers, laugh, and leave me for wolf snacks, stuck where he or she rode through, no problem...
 
I don't know why people assume the V-Strom is an off road bike and the NC isn't. From the looks of it the header and engine case are just as exposed and crushable on the V-Strom as the NC. On top of that on the V-Strom there's not even as many sturdy mounting points for a skid plate as the NC. Ground clearance and suspension travel are similar. The V-Strom also doesn't have as low a center of gravity making off road maneuvering more difficult.
 
I've taken my GL1200 Goldwing and GS1100E down a ton of gravel/dirt roads before and several fields. My NCX has been down very rough gravel/dirt roads and is a heck of alot easier than most bikes in it's class!
I'm think the NCX will be a lot easier to handle than the wee or KLR given you set it up for the terrain you're going to ride.
The bike is just a starting point! You can make it fit your needs, like most other bikes. (Set it up for they way you ride!)
The low center of gravity the NCX makes it a winner compared to other bikes in its class.
The only problem I have with the NCX is, it didn't come out 15 years ago.
 
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Old Can Ride said:
I agree with everything that dduelin has told you 110% If you plan a lot of dirt road riding (not sand) remember this is an adventure bike use good common sense , add these few accessories and your problems will be solved.

1. Engine Case Skid Plate
2. Engine Guards (We don't Crash)
3. Hand Guards
4. Tires: Continental Twinduro TKC80 Dual Sport Tires 120/70-17 (front)
Heidenau K60 150/70-17 (rear)
Click to expand...

Old, now that your back in full regalia on here I wonder if you would share how well or badly these additions protected the bike. I would be curious to know for instance if the engine guards did their job or if the hand guards protected the levers and bars. There have been many opinions here on who makes the best guards but you have the actual test results.

if you already went through this on another post please point me to it. Thanks.
 
1. Engine Case Skid Plate - Over the years as a dealer I saw a couple of times that someone did crack the engine cases. Let me say that in every instance it was a predominate dirt bike. Why take the risk when a skid plate protects you. It does cost a lot of money for a dealer to split the cases and put it all into new cases. This I have done. I have also stopped drilled the crack and used small rotary tools - (Dremel) - to V out the metal around the crack. Then I filled in this area with a product called PC7. PC7 is an epoxy that comes in two separate cans and can be purchased at most Ace hardware stores. In both cases were I used the PC7 I gave no warranty on the work, and in both cases the PC7 is still holding a few years later. On my last Alaska trip I hit the skid plate hard on four occasions, and had no case damage.

2. Engine Guards - These product the bike from some damage. With engine guards the engine side cases and covers are protected in most cases. For some reason some people think that the wide engine guards will protect their legs, this is not the engine guards intent, nor does it protect your legs. The only pieces of plastic I have to replace from my accident in Alaska is upper plastic parts. The only piece that was completely destroyed was the large black piece over the blinkers, but every thing has to come off to replace it. The other two top pieces got some scratches, but very little.

3. Hand Guards - Hand guards are meant to protect your hands only. They are not designed to protect the levers or handle bars. My hand guards got scratched bad, but my hands have no damage from the Alaska accident. An old flat track racing trick to protect the levers is to not tighten them so tight that they don't twist around when you go down. That is what I had done and I had no damage to the levers other than to straighten them up again.

4. Tires - If you are going to ride dirt roads a lot, then go to dirt road tires. They will give you better traction in the dirt. However, street tires will do for most the dirt roads I ride, you just have to slow down and use good common sense.

That is were I used poor common sense in Alaska. It was not my tires that cause the accident, it was my driving to fast for the road conditions. At 65 mph I would have gone down no matter what kind of tires I had on the bike. I should have been driving 45 mph. The impact force at that speed will crack, break, and dislocate your bones and organs. The impact force dislocated my should at impact, long before I hit the ground. The pewter bracket that holds the instrument panel in place, shattered at impact. I still remember seeing it just flying apart in place. Professional football players crack, break, and dislocate their bones and organs at an impact force of about 30 mph. As bikers we go down at a much greater impact force. That is why some folks call us organ donors. The protective clothing we wear keeps the skin on our bodies, but nothing can protect you much from the impact force.

Common sense will always be our best protection, so use it.

dalton.jpg
 
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The trails I ride I could use my NC,they are easy dirt tracks and the NC could cope.Until there comes a times when you drop the bike and "Guess What" there,s no one to help you pick it up..I think its 450ibs (give or take) My brain says maybe,my back says no No NO !!!! But its no worse then the god allmighty GS in that respect....
 
Old Can Ride said:
1. Engine Case Skid Plate - Over the years as a dealer I saw a couple of times that someone did crack the engine cases. Let me say that in every instance it was a predominate dirt bike. Why take the risk when a skid plate protects you. It does cost a lot of money for a dealer to split the cases and put it all into new cases. This I have done. I have also stopped drilled the crack and used small rotary tools - (Dremel) - to V out the metal around the crack. Then I filled in this area with a product called PC7. PC7 is an epoxy that comes in two separate cans and can be purchased at most Ace hardware stores. In both cases were I used the PC7 I gave no warranty on the work, and in both cases the PC7 is still holding a few years later. On my last Alaska trip I hit the skid plate hard on four occasions, and had no case damage.
"I just love a good bodge"

And regarding your pic,on that trip where you taking the kitchen sink with you???
Click to expand...
 
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