I have just posted this on the UK NC700 forum and thought you guys might be interested :
A year ago I made the fortuitous decision to buy yet another (my 3rd) NC750X instead of the Africa Twin which had just been launched. It was fortuitous because if I'd ordered the Africa twin I would probably have not seen it for 7 or 8 months because of the earthquake in Japan. The reasons for the decision included (in the NC's favour) - storage space, mass centralisation, lower weight, fuel economy, and bugs ironed out. During my test ride a year ago, of the AT and the 2016 NC I hadn't noticed much difference in suspension but then I had not taken either bike on the roads I typically ride (A and B roads in the Dales). And they hadn't had an AT with DCT to test at the time. Today they had.
Many people will be aware that I should have taken the NC on those roads during my test ride, as I ended up hating the new suspension. I have more or less fixed it now, but my main aim today was to see how the AT compared and to check that the AT's DCT functioned as well as the NC's.
I went prepared to fiddle with the damping adjustments on the AT - much to the consternation of Graham at Honda Newcastle. However I think he realised how silly it was to expect a rider not to attempt to test the adjustablity of the suspension when it is provided for in spades. In the end he said just put it back to where it was would you. Well I never had to touch it at all. It was better out of the box on those Dales type roads than my NC even after the £1000 I have spent on the suspension upgrades. Not only was it a smoother more compliant ride, but the handling was brilliant and that's with a skinny big front wheel and sort of knobbly tyres. I will come back to this issue at the end.
Now to the DCT. Yes it's just as good - in fact I think it might be better. I know we have had discussions on here as to whether D-mode really has a 'learning' mode which alters the gearchange points depending on the way you ride. Well I don't think I was imagining it on the At - it seemed a very real effect - after a few minutes riding gently then every gear change was early and the whole ride was ultra relaxed. But give it a bit of gas (still in D-mode) and for the next few minutes all the changes seemed earlier up and down.
So the DCT is just as good - but of course that's linked to the engine and here I think the NC scores - obviously not in terms of power where the AT is very satisfying, but in terms of smoothness. Honda have done a good job of using the clutch slip at low revs to smooth out the effects of the bigger twin (and probably Euro 4 emission regs), but I think it works better on the 750, and for me the slightly harsher engine braking of the bigger engine is not as nice - others may prefer it though. *I have this obsession with being able to 'tootle' on a bike without the stop/start chuntering that most modern bikes display with their on/off throttles. The At handles it pretty well through slow traffic near the Metro centre but again not as well as the 750.
I made sure I rode the bike the 45 miles back to the shop on mixed roads in a simulation of a typical NC ride during which I average about 73mpg (UK). I stayed in D-mode all the way and the At returned 58.6 mpg
Although I used to be nearly 5ft 11 and am now still a respectable 5ft 10inches, my legs are not particularly long with an inside leg measurement of 31.5 inches. Even so I was able to almost flat foot both feet with the seat on the HIGH position (easily with it on the low). And from this perch it felt brilliant - the bike felt so big compared to the NC, and yet perfectly safe when I stopped at junctions. The high seat gave a wonderfully relaxed leg bend which would really have helped on long runs - I hadn't previously thought the riding position on the NC was cramped.
The screen was just as bad as I remembered it - in fact the buffeting was so bad I had to go home and swap to a non-peaked helmet. Whilst there I removed the screen and tried it for a few miles screenless. It was perfectly smooth, although at 70 plus there was a bit more grip needed on the bars. I can't see how as some people say the buffeting comes up from the fork area, if it disappears when you take the screen off.
Whilst at home I had a good poke round to find storage spaces, and found precisely none. How Honda can make such a big semi faired bike without any cubby holes for even a visor wipe I just don't know. Someone has recently posted that you can make space for a tiewrapped toolkit under the seat but only if you use it in the high position.
Ultimately I was very impressed with the power and suspension of the AT (and if necessary I would ride it screen-less) so I talked to Graham about a trade-in. EEEEEk My 2016 NC750X DCT is worth £4300 - less really as that's Glass's price for one with 3000 miles on and mine has done 10.7k. That's £3k depreciation in a year - maybe buying a budget bike is false economy. And Honda now want about £12.3k for a new AT DCT.
I can't really justify forking out £8k - and riding the NC back home I decided to stop at Sainsbury's in Team Valley. I got a whole weekend's food in the not-tank - try that on an Africa Twin. And it's made me realise that for the extra £1k I have spent on the NC's suspension I ought to be able to expect to get somewhere near how the AT behaves. I think the problem is the (very expensive) Wilbers, so that will be my task for the next couple of weeks.
..... mind you I might be tempted into finding that 8k if I can't get it right.
Mike
A year ago I made the fortuitous decision to buy yet another (my 3rd) NC750X instead of the Africa Twin which had just been launched. It was fortuitous because if I'd ordered the Africa twin I would probably have not seen it for 7 or 8 months because of the earthquake in Japan. The reasons for the decision included (in the NC's favour) - storage space, mass centralisation, lower weight, fuel economy, and bugs ironed out. During my test ride a year ago, of the AT and the 2016 NC I hadn't noticed much difference in suspension but then I had not taken either bike on the roads I typically ride (A and B roads in the Dales). And they hadn't had an AT with DCT to test at the time. Today they had.
Many people will be aware that I should have taken the NC on those roads during my test ride, as I ended up hating the new suspension. I have more or less fixed it now, but my main aim today was to see how the AT compared and to check that the AT's DCT functioned as well as the NC's.
I went prepared to fiddle with the damping adjustments on the AT - much to the consternation of Graham at Honda Newcastle. However I think he realised how silly it was to expect a rider not to attempt to test the adjustablity of the suspension when it is provided for in spades. In the end he said just put it back to where it was would you. Well I never had to touch it at all. It was better out of the box on those Dales type roads than my NC even after the £1000 I have spent on the suspension upgrades. Not only was it a smoother more compliant ride, but the handling was brilliant and that's with a skinny big front wheel and sort of knobbly tyres. I will come back to this issue at the end.
Now to the DCT. Yes it's just as good - in fact I think it might be better. I know we have had discussions on here as to whether D-mode really has a 'learning' mode which alters the gearchange points depending on the way you ride. Well I don't think I was imagining it on the At - it seemed a very real effect - after a few minutes riding gently then every gear change was early and the whole ride was ultra relaxed. But give it a bit of gas (still in D-mode) and for the next few minutes all the changes seemed earlier up and down.
So the DCT is just as good - but of course that's linked to the engine and here I think the NC scores - obviously not in terms of power where the AT is very satisfying, but in terms of smoothness. Honda have done a good job of using the clutch slip at low revs to smooth out the effects of the bigger twin (and probably Euro 4 emission regs), but I think it works better on the 750, and for me the slightly harsher engine braking of the bigger engine is not as nice - others may prefer it though. *I have this obsession with being able to 'tootle' on a bike without the stop/start chuntering that most modern bikes display with their on/off throttles. The At handles it pretty well through slow traffic near the Metro centre but again not as well as the 750.
I made sure I rode the bike the 45 miles back to the shop on mixed roads in a simulation of a typical NC ride during which I average about 73mpg (UK). I stayed in D-mode all the way and the At returned 58.6 mpg
Although I used to be nearly 5ft 11 and am now still a respectable 5ft 10inches, my legs are not particularly long with an inside leg measurement of 31.5 inches. Even so I was able to almost flat foot both feet with the seat on the HIGH position (easily with it on the low). And from this perch it felt brilliant - the bike felt so big compared to the NC, and yet perfectly safe when I stopped at junctions. The high seat gave a wonderfully relaxed leg bend which would really have helped on long runs - I hadn't previously thought the riding position on the NC was cramped.
The screen was just as bad as I remembered it - in fact the buffeting was so bad I had to go home and swap to a non-peaked helmet. Whilst there I removed the screen and tried it for a few miles screenless. It was perfectly smooth, although at 70 plus there was a bit more grip needed on the bars. I can't see how as some people say the buffeting comes up from the fork area, if it disappears when you take the screen off.
Whilst at home I had a good poke round to find storage spaces, and found precisely none. How Honda can make such a big semi faired bike without any cubby holes for even a visor wipe I just don't know. Someone has recently posted that you can make space for a tiewrapped toolkit under the seat but only if you use it in the high position.
Ultimately I was very impressed with the power and suspension of the AT (and if necessary I would ride it screen-less) so I talked to Graham about a trade-in. EEEEEk My 2016 NC750X DCT is worth £4300 - less really as that's Glass's price for one with 3000 miles on and mine has done 10.7k. That's £3k depreciation in a year - maybe buying a budget bike is false economy. And Honda now want about £12.3k for a new AT DCT.
I can't really justify forking out £8k - and riding the NC back home I decided to stop at Sainsbury's in Team Valley. I got a whole weekend's food in the not-tank - try that on an Africa Twin. And it's made me realise that for the extra £1k I have spent on the NC's suspension I ought to be able to expect to get somewhere near how the AT behaves. I think the problem is the (very expensive) Wilbers, so that will be my task for the next couple of weeks.
..... mind you I might be tempted into finding that 8k if I can't get it right.
Mike
