30Sep18 78.77 Average mpg $3.53/mile
I would like to expand this week on how unique the NC700X is. From my perspective it is the perfect bike. When Honda started selling bikes to the masses in the 1970s new riders were buying a lot of the CB series motorcycles. The series came in several different engine sizes that ranged from the 1971 CB50 to the 1979 CB900F. The little 49cc CB50 reportedly did 95 km/hour, a little under 60mph at red line. Which was great for those lucky few that lived a few miles from work and got hold of one before the 1973 gas crunch hit. There was the CB750 which was considered to be Honda's flagship bike in the 70s. It had lot's of power and several configurations from the under powered two speed 'automatic' Hondamatic. To the 67 hp version that was called a 'superbike'. Other notable CBs were the 350, 450, 500 and the one that was my first bike, the CB125S. My Dad found it in the paper. It had 12 miles on the clock and it was 2 years old, a 1978. It was beautiful. It had been stored (improperly) for the two years in the spare bedroom of a woman that got it when she was dating a guy that bought it for her. She just wanted to get rid of it and my Dad made her take a fair offer for it. (Sometimes I hate my Dad for teaching me that people should have ethics and morality because it has been a real handicap for me.) Anyway we took it home and replaced the battery, removed the fuel tank, replaced the fuel line and rebuilt the tiny carburetor. We then cleaned the tank as well as we could, but still seeing what looked like rust in it, we filled it with soapy water and ball bearings and shook the crap out of it. After rinsing it several times the inside of the tank looked like new. I rode that bike everywhere for about a year. I bent a valve one day and we took it to the shop to have them tear the small motor apart. They fixed it for a couple of hundred dollars and I rode it a few more months until I broke the crank. We took it back to the shop and they diagnosed it and told my Dad that it would be much more to fix and I don't think that he was happy about it. It turns out that running that tiny bike on the freeway at 65 miles per hour was not a good idea. This is when I learned that the bike was running over 12000 rpm at 65. My Dad did not understand how that was possible, he was under the impression that a vehicle would not go faster than it's red line. We both learned something that day. I decided that I would not purchase another motorcycle that did not have a tach.
These CB bikes are what I consider to be the predecessor of the NC700 bikes. Someone even once told me that the CB stood for 'Commuter Bike' and the NC stood for “New Commuter”. I don't know how much stock I put into that because the nomenclature actually came out of Japan, but it makes for a good story.
By 2000 I had owned several bikes and was not really happy with any of them. None got great mileage. The Virago had good power and shaft drive but I don't think I got over 30 mpg with it. The 650 was a decent commuter bike but difficult to take care of. The Suzuki 250 would not go up a hill while riding two up. New bikes by 2000 were just toys or scooters for around town. Poor mileage, expensive upkeep and high reported insurance rates kept me away. Not to mention that for several years manufacturers seemed to be allergic to putting tachs on anything but a sport bike.
Last year I realized that I could not continue to count on my 18 year old pickup to be reliable for another 25000 miles that I drive in a year. I started to look at a replacement car and settled on the Subaru Imprezza. But out of curiosity I decided to do an analysis on getting a motorcycle instead. The biggest selling point of getting a bike instead is that I could use the carpool lane to get to work. Without that benefit the cost itself appeared to be pretty much a wash over the next 5 years. Over 10 years the Imprezza would probably win out but I only looked at 5 years for several reasons. The only bike that fit the bill though was the NC700X. I went down and checked the fit, looked at the CTX as well but I think I prefer the more upright riding position. Reports of more than the factory claimed 65 mpg sold me. Additionally, oil changes were only every 8000 miles and most of the maintenance that I checked into looked pretty mild. Tires are still more than for a car (yes 2 motorcycle tires are more than 4 car tires) and the radiator on the bike costs more than 5 radiators for my pickup.
What this bike is not:
This bike is not a cruiser. After an hour in the saddle I am ready to get off of it but my commute is about an hour so it's not a problem. It does pretty good on the highway but it still runs about 3500 rpms at 70, some cruisers run at lower rpms which would normally translate into better economy but this one still beats a lot of them and it is much better around town than a cruiser would be. I haven't had the opportunity to test it but I suspect that city riding and highway riding would produce similar mileage results.
This bike is not a sportbike. It does have good low end torque and when I twist the throttle it moves pretty quick but it is not as fast as a sportbike. It has good power to get on the freeway and pulls away from lights very well. It has more power than I need. A sportbike is not actually something that I would consider.
This bike is not a scooter. Some very small cc scooters claim over 150 mpg but one would not consider taking one onto the freeway. For my commute that would add an hour onto my already arduous journey.
This bike is not a dirt bike. I know there are quite a few riders worldwide that run off-road tires on their NC and go off the beaten track. While this bike probably does well with trail riding, it would be left in the dust by purpose built dirt bikes or even duel sports. I don't actually plan on running mine off road because it doesn't do as well as I would like over bumps and I suspect that it would wear out quicker by punishing it with trail riding. My purpose with it is to try and get as many miles as possible out of it.
What this bike is is the perfect storm of economy, power and hopefully – reliability.
