MartinDT
Registered user
Honda NC750X DCT – a lightweight solo touring option
I have now owned my NC750X DCT for four months, have done 7,000 miles touring around Wales and thought I should report on my findings for the benefit of riders who may be interested in touring on this bike. My reasons for buying this bike in the first place?
I do long distance touring on tarmac, always without a pillion and mainly in Europe. I needed a light weight bike for pushing about. Arthritis in hands meant sitting upright now essential (previous bike a Blackbird). The DCT is of great benefit here as working the clutch for 8-10 hours a day, day after day, became very painful and I tended to use nearly as much ibuprofen as petrol! I always try to minimise motorway travel so was prepared to sacrifice some motorway mile eating ability for lightweight handling on minor roads and mountain passes. Price, of course. £7,000 sounded a great deal better to me than £14,000.
So how has the bike lived up to these expectations to date? Nearly perfectly. I had to make a few changes. Firstly the usual stuff like heated grips, centre stand, MRA Varioscreen, fitment for satnav, hugger but also a little more as I didn’t like the sound and the front suspension. A racing can from a previous bike sorted the sound very nicely thank you very much and a fork rebuild improved the front end markedly, especially when pushing on a bit on less than perfect tarmac.
The bike also outperformed expectations in some areas. The main one being that absolutely incredible DCT. It is seriously good, ultra smooth and always in the right gear (and that includes gearing up and down). The second one being the handling of the bike. Now I bought this bike to get away from the temptation to head for the autobahn for another 175mph stint and it certainly does that. What about excitement in the twisties? Well, I can assure you there is plenty. This bike handles very well and the DCT is no stumbling block in this department. I’m running BT023’s, a tyre I have great confidence in especially as I once got snowed in overnight in the Pyrenees on my Blackbird and managed to ride out of the pass on the snow without a spill (and that, may I add, was without ABS and traction control).
What, in my opinion, this bike is not for? Off road riding, two up distance work or for riders wanting to carry loads of luggage and camping gear. I travel very light and stay in hotels. A small tail pack and of course the space in the “fuel tank” will see me through for a fortnight, or so I hope as I’m about to go down to Grenoble to do Route Napoleon followed by the Route des Grandes Alpes on my way back. Will tell you how that went in due course.
MartinDT
I have now owned my NC750X DCT for four months, have done 7,000 miles touring around Wales and thought I should report on my findings for the benefit of riders who may be interested in touring on this bike. My reasons for buying this bike in the first place?
I do long distance touring on tarmac, always without a pillion and mainly in Europe. I needed a light weight bike for pushing about. Arthritis in hands meant sitting upright now essential (previous bike a Blackbird). The DCT is of great benefit here as working the clutch for 8-10 hours a day, day after day, became very painful and I tended to use nearly as much ibuprofen as petrol! I always try to minimise motorway travel so was prepared to sacrifice some motorway mile eating ability for lightweight handling on minor roads and mountain passes. Price, of course. £7,000 sounded a great deal better to me than £14,000.
So how has the bike lived up to these expectations to date? Nearly perfectly. I had to make a few changes. Firstly the usual stuff like heated grips, centre stand, MRA Varioscreen, fitment for satnav, hugger but also a little more as I didn’t like the sound and the front suspension. A racing can from a previous bike sorted the sound very nicely thank you very much and a fork rebuild improved the front end markedly, especially when pushing on a bit on less than perfect tarmac.
The bike also outperformed expectations in some areas. The main one being that absolutely incredible DCT. It is seriously good, ultra smooth and always in the right gear (and that includes gearing up and down). The second one being the handling of the bike. Now I bought this bike to get away from the temptation to head for the autobahn for another 175mph stint and it certainly does that. What about excitement in the twisties? Well, I can assure you there is plenty. This bike handles very well and the DCT is no stumbling block in this department. I’m running BT023’s, a tyre I have great confidence in especially as I once got snowed in overnight in the Pyrenees on my Blackbird and managed to ride out of the pass on the snow without a spill (and that, may I add, was without ABS and traction control).
What, in my opinion, this bike is not for? Off road riding, two up distance work or for riders wanting to carry loads of luggage and camping gear. I travel very light and stay in hotels. A small tail pack and of course the space in the “fuel tank” will see me through for a fortnight, or so I hope as I’m about to go down to Grenoble to do Route Napoleon followed by the Route des Grandes Alpes on my way back. Will tell you how that went in due course.
MartinDT