Whats the Honda NC700S DCT like?
Discussion
As per the title really. I'd like to get another bike this year after stopping riding mine about 7 years ago and then selling it last year.
I passed my test in 2009 and bought myself a '99 CBR600F. Lovely bike to ride and did everything I needed it to do, however I always struggled a little with the clutch. I've got early arthritis in both hands so after 10-15 mins of pulling in the clutch I start to struggle controlling it when I release it. This usually meant I would either stall the bike constantly or go bunny hopping up the road, neither of which were ideal. I've ridden other bikes between 2009 and now, some older and some newer and struggled with the clutch on all of them.
Anyway, at the grand old age of 35 I really do fancy going riding again but I think it's going to need to be an automatic bike to keep my interest now. It seems that Honda are pretty much the leader in the auto bike field and I quite like the look of the NC700S. It looks like the older Hornet to me which was on my first bike list back in 2009. Can anyone offer any advice on what they're like? What's the DCT 'box like to ride with? I'm not looking for all out speed, which is handy because I know these only have about 50bhp, but it would just be nice to be out and about in the fresh air on a sunny day.
In the mean time, have a rather grainy picture of my old CBR600F
I passed my test in 2009 and bought myself a '99 CBR600F. Lovely bike to ride and did everything I needed it to do, however I always struggled a little with the clutch. I've got early arthritis in both hands so after 10-15 mins of pulling in the clutch I start to struggle controlling it when I release it. This usually meant I would either stall the bike constantly or go bunny hopping up the road, neither of which were ideal. I've ridden other bikes between 2009 and now, some older and some newer and struggled with the clutch on all of them.
Anyway, at the grand old age of 35 I really do fancy going riding again but I think it's going to need to be an automatic bike to keep my interest now. It seems that Honda are pretty much the leader in the auto bike field and I quite like the look of the NC700S. It looks like the older Hornet to me which was on my first bike list back in 2009. Can anyone offer any advice on what they're like? What's the DCT 'box like to ride with? I'm not looking for all out speed, which is handy because I know these only have about 50bhp, but it would just be nice to be out and about in the fresh air on a sunny day.
In the mean time, have a rather grainy picture of my old CBR600F
Edited by Sammo123 on Wednesday 7th April 13:15
Edited by Sammo123 on Wednesday 7th April 13:17
I can't comment on the DCT as I had a manual, but the NC700X I had was a good bike. I wouldn't say it was masses of fun compared to something a bit more conventional due to the low rev limit, but a perfectly good bike to hop on and go for a cruise round the countryside/pop to the shops (that tank-boot thing is fantastic!) /Cover distance comfortably.
Economical too. Usually 75mpg plus, though I did thrash the f
k out of it for a tank and got it down to 68!
Are you aware there's also the NC750 range that followed after a couple of years (also DCT)
Economical too. Usually 75mpg plus, though I did thrash the f
k out of it for a tank and got it down to 68!Are you aware there's also the NC750 range that followed after a couple of years (also DCT)
A500leroy said:
Nice bike but too expensive for me right now. Realistically I've got between £3-4k to spend and to be honest £4k is pushing it. I still have all my biking gear so at least I don't have to spend out any extra on buying all that this time They’re great bikes; not sparkling but hugely competent and vice free. The DCT gearbox is impressive, too-smooth, generally picks the right gear (better in sport as it doesn’t want to change up as soon as it can though) and doesn’t impact the impressive fuel economy.
They handle neatly without being spectacular and are comfortable. Plus you’ll always sell it on to someone who wants a workhorse/commuter when the time comes.
They handle neatly without being spectacular and are comfortable. Plus you’ll always sell it on to someone who wants a workhorse/commuter when the time comes.
I commuted on a NC750x for 3 years, only got rid of it last year as Covid meant no more commute.
For commuting it was excellent and the DCT gearbox in sport mode is great, was rarely beaten off the lights on it. In fact I've been looking for a new bike recently just for weekend use and I'm thinking of getting another as I'm not particularly looking forward to mashing up and down the gears again on a 'normal ' bike.
For commuting it was excellent and the DCT gearbox in sport mode is great, was rarely beaten off the lights on it. In fact I've been looking for a new bike recently just for weekend use and I'm thinking of getting another as I'm not particularly looking forward to mashing up and down the gears again on a 'normal ' bike.
Can't comment directly on the 700, as mine is a 750, but I'd assume very similar with slightly less power & torque.
Slightly depends on your riding style - if you like to rev the nuts off things, it won't suit you at all, it's a very low revving bike. The red line is actually lower than my car....
However, what it lacks in top end, it makes up for in bottom end - particularly with the DCT box meaning there's no pause in acceleration. It's very nippy off the line, and has plenty of punch for 'real world' riding up to motorway speeds. And it'll happily cruise at motorway speeds in a very unstressed manner, just runs out of steam a bit in the acceleration. It's never going to set the world alight or rip your arms off, but honestly, I've never really been frustrated by it either.
DCT is great. I kinda miss having clutch and gears when out on a Sunday afternoon, but for commuting it's wonderfull. Has 3 main modes - Normal (D), Sport and manual control. 'Normal' I find pretty awful - it has you in 6th by the time you hit about 35mph, with consequent sluggishness and lack of engine braking. Sport is far better - on the later bikes there's 3 stages of it with varying levels of aggressiveness in holding onto the gears. Mine tends to live in S3 when not in manual mode. Manual mode is controlled by thumb and finger shift buttons on the left bar, and works well, only really interfering if the bike's about to stall. You can also knock it up or down a gear using the buttons when it's in one of the auto modes.
Handles well enough for me, but I'm no biking God, some may find it too soft. But a very 'friendly' bike to ride, no harshness or nasty surprises.
Has built in storage where the fuel tank would be - big enough to take some helmets, and easily big enough for a rucksack with a laptop etc in it when commuting.
Also sounds nice to my ears - not loud, but a nice V-twin esque grumble. Honda did some clever fiddling with the crank angle and timing to make a parallel twin do a passable impression of a V twin.
Slightly depends on your riding style - if you like to rev the nuts off things, it won't suit you at all, it's a very low revving bike. The red line is actually lower than my car....
However, what it lacks in top end, it makes up for in bottom end - particularly with the DCT box meaning there's no pause in acceleration. It's very nippy off the line, and has plenty of punch for 'real world' riding up to motorway speeds. And it'll happily cruise at motorway speeds in a very unstressed manner, just runs out of steam a bit in the acceleration. It's never going to set the world alight or rip your arms off, but honestly, I've never really been frustrated by it either.
DCT is great. I kinda miss having clutch and gears when out on a Sunday afternoon, but for commuting it's wonderfull. Has 3 main modes - Normal (D), Sport and manual control. 'Normal' I find pretty awful - it has you in 6th by the time you hit about 35mph, with consequent sluggishness and lack of engine braking. Sport is far better - on the later bikes there's 3 stages of it with varying levels of aggressiveness in holding onto the gears. Mine tends to live in S3 when not in manual mode. Manual mode is controlled by thumb and finger shift buttons on the left bar, and works well, only really interfering if the bike's about to stall. You can also knock it up or down a gear using the buttons when it's in one of the auto modes.
Handles well enough for me, but I'm no biking God, some may find it too soft. But a very 'friendly' bike to ride, no harshness or nasty surprises.
Has built in storage where the fuel tank would be - big enough to take some helmets, and easily big enough for a rucksack with a laptop etc in it when commuting.
Also sounds nice to my ears - not loud, but a nice V-twin esque grumble. Honda did some clever fiddling with the crank angle and timing to make a parallel twin do a passable impression of a V twin.
For what you are after they're ideal. A Honda dealership I used a lot when instructing used them as courtesy bikes. In normal they change up very early and you won't want to do that. I thrashed it everywhere whenever I had one and still got 45mpg, which included a lot of stop start town stuff.
They have enough performance to make you feel like you are on a bike rather than a car.
We also had an Integra Scooter, which was very heavy. You had to be careful where you parked it and the brakes weren't really up to the job.
They have enough performance to make you feel like you are on a bike rather than a car.
We also had an Integra Scooter, which was very heavy. You had to be careful where you parked it and the brakes weren't really up to the job.
Alternatively, has anyone ever tried a Magura Hymec?
https://www.magura.com/en/components/powersports/h...
https://www.magura.com/en/components/powersports/h...
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