Ping Euro Posters Re Honda NT700V

 

This bike has apparently been out in Europe for a while now, and is
going to be coming to the US in the 2010 model year.

http://powersports.honda.com/2010/NT700V.aspx?CID=LG_Motorcycles+REPRISE+GOOGLE+LG_NT_700V+Honda $NT700V

As my faithful '99 VFR is beginning to get a bit long in the tooth -as
am I- and I no longer do track days, I'm looking at this as a
potential sport-touring replacement: fast enough to stay out of it's
own way but reasonably comfortable for a long day's ride, while at 560
pounds still not nearly as bulky around town or in the twisties as an
ST1300.

Anybody around Reeky (Euro subdivision) who's either (A) had some
saddle time on one of these or (B) have known an owner or two who
shared some opinions?  The specs look very much like what I'm looking
for (and it's a Honda) but I'd like to get some personal feedback
before plunking down the bucks.

I assume that the NT700 has been reviewed in the British Moto press,
but I've not found an online hands-on review, and nobody in the US has
had access to one so far as I know.

Thanx,  ~Pete

 

Twibil wrote:


<Yawn>

http://powersports.honda.com/2010/NT700V.aspx?CID=LG_Motorcycles+REPRISE+GOOGLE+LG_NT_700V+Honda $NT700V

<Yawn>

Oh, sorry, the Dullsville.
Actually, it is a cracking bike. Very comfy. Clever panniers. Handles quite
well too.
Utterly fails to stir the soul, but will whisk you from one end of your
country to the other with nary an ache or pain. Totally dependable.


Ridden one. It is a tool. A device for riding. Utterly fantastic at what it
does. Utterly forgettable. No known vices or adrenalin pumps.


They are quite popular amongst instructors in the UK for all the above
reasons. A couple of instructors I know use them for their training bikes
as they can easily carry spare radios, first aid pack, levers and
indicators etc. Day long comfort.
Oddly enough, they are only used as work bikes.


Ride before you buy.


Quite favourable reviews. Comfort good. Brakes good. Utterly reliable. Build
quality OK. Handling OK. Fuel consumption OK. A nice bike to pootle about
on.

 


Er, thanks for the opinions, but exactly the same complaints of soul-
less mechanical perfection have been lodged against just about every
single Honda motorcycle ever built; including the VFR I've been riding
quite happily for the last ten years.

Having begun my riding career back during the 1950s when American
bikes (read Harley-Davidson) were wont to break down at predictable
100 mile intervals, and required you to stop even more frequently than
that to screw the loose bits back on*, the concept of a dead-bang
dependable bike with no bad habits raises no fear in my heart that it
will cause me to die of boredom.

Besides: having both raced and served as a track instructor in the
past, I'm well aware that bikes -in and of themselves- do not provide
one with either excitement _or_ ennui. It's all in how you choose to
use them.

Otherwise they just sit there, you know.

~Pete

*British bikes were quite similar in that respect except that you had
to _import_ the parts that fell off and got lost. At one point I
bought most of a Norton 500 single. One part at a time.

 


But you could often find the part you needed along the road where it had
fallen off someone elses bike.

 



Don't be silly. No two people in the same area bought the same bike as
anyone they knew, so parts were rarer than rocking horese shit.

--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19