Ridefast January 2022

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Sean says… Honda’s NC700/750 has never been a bad bike. Ergonomically it is comfortable, everything is where you would look intuitively look for it, it is economical on fuel, is cheap by comparison for what you get, has Honda’s legendary reliability and is an all around good bike… However, it has never been an exciting, or even interesting bike to me. I’ve always viewed them as a bland commuter type, that does everything well, but you only really bought it because you needed cheap, bullet proof transport. I recall when my good mate and neighbour traded his used Transalp 700 in on one because he wanted a new bike, he was hugely excited and invited me over to come see his new pride and joy. Admittedly I was quite a tosser about it and laughed at his downgrade from the Transalp and then wandered off to look at his new mountain bike instead. So when Glenn came back from the launch of the 2021 model a couple of months ago waxing lyrical, (as usual), about the new NC750 I rolled my eyes. Glenn is readily taken in whereas I’m a lot more cynical and critical about life in general and something really has to be really special for me to even give it a second glance. Then Honda dropped off of demo DCT with us to run around on for a couple of weeks. Our resident wheelie hooligan went out on his rounds for a few days on the NC750 and when he came back grinning from ear to ear I knew I had to go ride it because he is even more critical about bikes than myself. The trick was trying to get it away from everybody else long enough to get a bit of saddle time in. Along comes deadline day, everybody is chained to their desks ‘last minute dot com.ing’ whilst I, for a change, was pretty much up to date and somebody needed to do a re-visit on the outgoing Katana model. I volunteered and grabbed the NC. We headed off down the N14 to Krugersdorp to collect the Katana from a Doctors Bikes & Scooters. Then it was off for a couple of laps around the Cradle, a burn down to Broederstroom past Lanseria and then back via the ‘Satellite Road’ to Krugersdorp with a quick snack stop in the Cradle, all in all about 300km’s of a good mix of flat out highways, long sweeping bends, plenty of typical SA bumpy AF country roads along traditional breakfast run route and a good bit of mid town lane splitting. Now, I am truly a fan of Honda’s parallel twin motors. They are very torquey, rev up silky smooth through the rev range and have a beautiful deep throaty sound that harks back to the long throw cranks of yesteryear. The new engine and management pack have somehow enhanced and improved on their perfection and have now turned it into something quite exciting. At 2m’s tall and 115kg’s I not only present quite a large surface for the wind to get around but I also weigh the bike down more than most people. Dropping into the saddle I immediately selected sport mode, but left it in full auto while negotiating mid morning traffic to the freeway from our office. The motor is very willing and in full auto mode whips off the line with a grin inducing alacrity, generally surprising most other bikes looking for the hole shot other side the traffic lights as the lanes merge again. The auto up change is so smooth as to be almost imperceptible, same with the down change which gives quite a sexy little auto blip burble from the exhaust in ‘Sport’ mode. The only time you really notice the change is when you yank on the gas and the box kicks down one or two gears to fulfill said request from your right hand. Once we got past all the traffic and got some open freeway on the N14 other side Centurion I switched to manual change, dropped down a couple of gears via the instinctively easy to use selectors on the left handle cluster, yanked on the gas and hit the up shifter just on red line, each up change was smooth M AFF C S
and the only noticeable difference was the extra thrust from the engine. On one long downhill I saw 196kmh before hitting the next uphill, and that with my bulk astride a little 750cc parallel twin. Uphills she managed to maintain a respectable 190kmh. But the best was yet to come, retaining the manual shift mode it was time to attack the bends in the Cradle. Now you need to remember, this is not a sports bike and it was tagging along on a 1000cc semi sports bike review. Stephan, our photographer commented on how much more comfortable I looked on the NC and how much further I was cranking it over in the bends. The NC is powerful enough to have a giggle in the twistys without trying to rip your arms off. The suspension is really stable and perfectly adequate for the power delivered by the engine, coupled with really good braking stability, a very neutral and comfortable sitting position it is a confidence inspiring machine to go learn corners on. Touring along the highways and byways the seat is luxurious, wind protection keeps enough of the wind off of you to be comfortable but still lets you feel a bit of that freedom of the breeze. I only have two small little niggles with this model, firstly, I think the left switch cluster was designed by Italians, The hooter button is placed prominently in the centre of the cluster, right where you would expect to find the indicator switch, (which in turn is hidden way down the bottom of the cluster), so every time I went to indicate I would hit the hooter much to the delight of the ‘Magosha’ patrolling the sidewalks. Then, I really missed cruise control, particularly on the long highway sections… Flip, this bike even lends itself to an adaptive cruise control, yes it might push the price up marginally, but the NC is so well priced and really good value for money that I don’t think a couple extra grand would hurt sales at all, especially if it is offered as an option. out,in fact I would probably look for reasons to go ride it. The boot is a great feature as well, I had my lunch cooler bag, rain suit as well as Stephan’s rain suit in there and still had a bit of space for phones, wallets and etc. Stick the key in where you might do for the fuel cap, turn it to the right to open the boot or to the left to raise the pillion seat to access the fuel filler. I do believe the low down, centrally mounted fuel tank does give this bike a lot of its stability and surefooted-ness. The updated styling and the electric blue paint also make it very eye catching. www.honda.co.za for your nearest dealer. The NC 750 DCT is a bike I would be proud to own and love riding every single day no matter what the weather throws MOST COMMUTER AFFORDABLE @Honda Centurion Commitiny Fun Specials DEMO RIDES AVAILABLE Service Deals STILL ON THE CORNER OF LENCHEN AVE SOUTH & HEUWEL STR CENTURION. ABOVE MAHINDRA COURTESY BIKES AVAILABLE BY APPOINTMENT ONLY EARLY OR LATE CHECK OUT COLLECTION CAN BE ARRANGE BY APPOINTMENT ONLY HONDA NC750 X FROM R126 000 CONTACT US 064 527 4435 - 012 663 8718 SALES: JR@ATLANTISMOTORS.CO.ZA SERVICE: KENNETH@ATLANTISMOTORS.CO.ZA PARTS: QUINTIN@ATLANTISMOTORS.CO.ZA FREE CHAIN CHECK AND LUBE AVAILABLE TO ALL MAKES AND MODELS Honda Wing Centurion www.hondawingcenturion.co.za Cnr Heuwel & Lenchen South, Centurion Find us on Facebook. Like our page.
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Ridefast January 2022

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