New 2012 Honda NC700X 700cc Parallel Twin!

Great response, thanks so much for the info.

That is a great showcase to illustrate what a little paint can do to make this bike look completely different.

Would love to hear what kinda quote you get back on a paint job. I'd love to get the red that I've seen on the overseas version of the NCX, or even a darker cardinal color.

Very sharp, indeed. I'd throw on a shorty after-market exhaust to finish it off. Nice!

Went to the Local Honda Dealership, for a test ride, streets still wet and showroom bike was dry. No test rides on ANY dampness visable on our local roads.
With serious checkbook talk, they would have prepped the bike for a 5 mile max test ride as/or their policy dictates.

Impression---Stock seat not too bad, I am 6' 4'', and with hip and back issues, I somewhat felt comfortable the way the stock seat has some rear glut/lumbar backing. If Sargent Seat makes a all day comfort perch, I will put one on in a FedEx minute.

In the cockpit, ah, er....I mean seat, I was sold on the bike on the merits of the LOW CENTER OF GRAVITY, as I rocked the bike from side to side, and best describe it as It had the light weight feeling of a 250 cc moto.

I also liked the seat to tank transition as my knees hugged the tank in a well thought out engineered wedge, as controlling this bike thru the twisties is going to be quite the grin maker.

So as things look now I will be planning on a California Hwy 96 ride to the coast in a New Concept 700 Mode about June1 , as I am already loaded for a 4 month journey by other means.

I like my DR650's midrange punch, so although the test ride is still coming, if this bike is all about low to mid range 'power up' then this rider in his 60's should be quite happy.

Of course anything and life's contingencies could change one's Moto horizions.

DR650
TTr250
ex/ Vstrom 650 & 1000---ex KLR650 ex XR650L

Yeah kind of interesting; both of my employees who ride started riding after seeing me do it every day rain or shine. My KLR is 2000 model, both bikes they ride are much newer and nicer right up until you get way off the road where I tend to go on vacation when I can. I have ridden the 700x several times, really enjoy how it runs on the road. Great torque curve for the way I ride. I had a Transalp for many years; great bike. If Honda sets up a 700x with a setup similar to the Alp I would probably pry open my wallet. Until then I will keep plodding along on the KLR.

I currently have both, most likely will be selling the Alp soon.................

I purchased a NC700X recently and have only put 180 miles on it.The first 50 were easy miles around town then I took a 130 mile ride to Bartlett Lake and a long way around coming back. The second ride involved some freeway time, lots of two lane and some undulating dirt road. I bought the NC from Western Honda and they did let me test drive it prior to buying along with a CRF250L. The 250L by the way did not impress. It felt really heavy for a dual sport of that size and had the engine characteristics of a CRF 230. I was expecting more.

on the NC test ride I wasn't particularly pleased with the angle of the handlebars, the thinness of the grips and the clutch engagement. I still elected to buy it because I wanted good fuel mileage and a quiet no fuss motorcycle.

After the 130 mile ride yesterday, I noticed on the last 30 miles that hey... the clutch feels great! Nice long linear engagement. So that already seems to have improved.

Same goes for the suspension. Was stiff at first, particularly on Bartlett Lake road where small imperceptible bumps in the road didn't move the front suspension but were felt right through the handlebars. But then on a rolling dirt road with a few stutter bumps it felt pretty good. I'm sure the suspension will soften up over time where that comfort feeling might switch around to be better on the asphalt and less comforting on the dirt. Don't know, but I attribute the harsh feeling in the forks to stiction from the fork seals at this point.

The power delivery takes some getting used to but I more or less was expecting a decent 0 to 70 acceleration and then signing off after 80 based on the acceleration times from Cycle World. So while the bike may get up to 110 give or take, it takes a really long time from 90 to get to 110. I only saw 90 indicated on the ride yesterday and some of that was chasing a BMW 1200GS down a hill. On the way back up another hill the NC still held 90 but wasn't going to go any faster. And yes the GS could easily out accelerate me from what was already a good clip (around 65).

Still, for what I bought it for, an inexpensive commuter that can go on a long trip (which I rarely do). It seems a good fit for me. I'm a short 5'7" and have a varied background in motorcycling for some 40 odd years. The NC is replacing a Buell XB12X (which if for sale if anyone is interested). The Buell replaced an 1100GS and an SV1000S in 2008 which seemed like a good compromise of retaining sportyness yet an upright riding position.

The short time on the NC does make me appreciate the Buell for all of it's benefits, great handling, brakes, acceleration, but I'm looking to calm down a bit and I think the NC is the right direction for me. It still did a spirited ride on the twisty sections and seemed to pull the hills with little effort. But on the freeway, if you are already going 75 and want to go 85, it takes a little longer to get there where the Buell is effectively already there just thinking about it.

On the plus side for the NC, it's very smooth, linear acceleration, very flickable, feels much lighter than the Buell even though the Buell is actually lighter. Turn in is quick and effortless on the NC while the Buell requires a conscious counter steer or significant lean to the inside to hold the same line. And... the NC is really quiet and gets outstanding gas mileage. The last two items are what I was looking for along with the great initial cost.

Honda did their homework.

Then I found this thread today. It's comical how so many people will talk about a motorcycle model with authority (trash talk) without having ever ridden one. All of the comparisons to other middle weight machines that have higher initial cost and get significantly lower mileage are missing the point of the NC. And if any of those other machines are close in cost, the low CG is still the kicker on the NC. It feels lighter than any other bike I have every put a leg over other than my trials bike and my RD350 or RD400. If I want to get my thrills, I still have the RD400 which gets all of 25 MPG on expensive pre-mix.

The NC gets scooter mileage in a motorcycle package. That comes with a compromise in top end performance. On the flip side, the Buell "can" get over 50 MPG, averages around 43 and has a huge grin factor. I don't care what the journalists say, the NC does not excel in the hooligan department but... I didn't buy a Toyota Corolla hoping it would be a WRX. Still, if you ever tried to drive a Corolla fast, it can be fun because it handles reasonably well. It's no WRX, but it can still attack corners. I put the NC in the same category only its still a motorcycle and still a lot more fun, accelerates faster and gets better fuel mileage than a Corolla.

Anyway those are my impressions after 180 miles on the new NC.

Nice review. Thanks...I know this is not why most folks buy, or look at, this bike, but has anyone done any performance mods to unlock performance potential: exhaust, FI mapping, timing, sub-throttle plates...whatever may be applicable to this model? If you could get another 10'ish+ hp w/a nice exhaust note and still get in the 60's for mpg's, that'd be a nice combo for me. Surely somebody somewhere is playing...

I think it would be a challenge at best. This engine is based on the Honda Fit engine, it was designed from the start to be low revving, and very efficient, with decent torque down low. I would be very cautious messing with the mpg on this motorcycle with only 3.7 gallons sloshing around under your butt.

Agreed challenge is an under statement...........10HP would be asking for a 20% increase.............extremely hard to do without very serious compromises..............some aftermarket exhaust cause a HP and or torque lose, but most do not admit it..............add the required no reduction in MPG makes this a near impossible feat.

Would be shame to destroy the torque curve on the stock NC trying to get 5 HP.

Yep, I don't know much about the bikes potential w/changes. That's why I was wondering. I don't care about high-revving (In fact, I prefer it not require it.), but a little more punch and spirit sounds nice. May not be doable. Time and fiddling will tell, I reckon.

Just saying hp lives in the upper rpm range, probably not going to happen in a sub-700 cc motor that hits it's rev limiter at, what, 6500.

I just checked, a Kawasaki ZX-6R which makes 110 hp at the rear wheel at 14K rpm, makes exactly 50 hp at 6.5K rpm. Sounds a lot like a NC700X at 6500 rpm. So although you may not care about high revving engines, horsepower does.

New member here from Sweden (sorry in advance for the crappy english)

Been reading these forums for a a while and this thread since this autumn. I just want to share my thoughts on this bike. I bought my ncx in late June and rode to October til it got too freakin cold and it whas time for winter storage. In these months i rode 11000km, 3200 of those was during a weeks vacation this summer. No planning, i just packed the bike and chased the sun(we had the crappiest summer in years). After 4 days of riding i went straight home 800km when a friend called and wondered if i wanted to pay him a visit at hes family home. Ofc i said, so the next day i packed the bike and rode 700km, visited him for two days and rode the 700km home again in pouring rain.. Not a single time have i bitched about this bike, i just love it, not even when i have to remove the dry bag every time i refuel have there been a frown on my face ;-)

Ive rode it everywhere, from highway to the smallest deertrails. Sure its not best at anything but it is a jack of all trades, and thats what i love.

I have rode bikes since i was four years old, enduro and mtx til i was 24 when i got my first street bike.
Bikes as follows
Ktm 625
Kawazaki z750
Ninja 900
Tt600r
Ktm superenduro
After that i bought the NCX. Im 190 cm and weighing in at 94kg and i have no problems with the size of the bike.

Well thats a short review of the bike and my background if it helps someone.

+1
HIgh rpm's are required for small engines to produce big horsepower. If it's a big hit of power at lower engine speeds you want, there are a few expensive tricks you could employ and all of them will kill your fuel economy.
But really, for its engine size, you're not going to find more low end grunt at low rpm and continuing thru 6200. This bike already shines there, and if you want more than that your money would be better spent with a larger displacement twin cylinder engine. 3 and 4 cyls will give you more hp, but at higher rpm.
Big pistons = big torque. High rpm = high hp

For what it is, you're not going to do much better than a stock NC700 right out of the box, but you can spend a LOT of money chasing small gains.

Cayder...interesting that you compared it to a Corolla. That's just what I don't want in a bike. On the road, with the wife, or kids, the Corolla is a fine car. The same qualities that make it a fine car, make for a piss poor motorcycle, IMHO, at least. I'm assuming your bike did not come with ABS? Although this is not a "deal breaker" on it's own, I find it strange that Honda would make such a proven safety feature "unavailable" on a bike with a "standard" transmission? My present bike doesn't have ABS, but my next bike will. Hope you enjoy many safe miles on the 700. Me? If I go with Honda, it'll be the new CB1100! Only available WITH ABS up here in Canada......as it should be.
Lyle

Anybody know if the NC is being discontinued for 2013????
I am at the dealer, and they are saying no 2013.

Nice write up and welcome to the asylum!

Blame the importer, Honda (Japan) doesn't care.

It's available in all colors and all transmission+abs combinations
in most other places in the world.

To tell the truth, I'm surprised they even imported it to USA.

Metal replacements are available and highly recommended.