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Senior Lady on brand new '21 NC750xd...my experience so far

Glad to hear you are back on a bike and happy!

My wife and I are both 60. She has a '16 NC700x and I have an '18NC750x.

We are leaving in a couple weeks, possibly heading to Nova Scotia? Or maybe just touring New England? Much of that depends upon the border, the expected Canadian border guard strike, regulations on the Canadian side after we cross, etc etc etc. Maybe it is the wrong year to cross the border as tourists? But Nova Scotia sounds so alluring. Honestly not sure where we will end up, maybe Michigan? Who knows. But we are going to get out of here for a couple weeks, maybe three.

We got back into riding several years ago after decades of scooter riding. You'll get back into it soon enough. FWIW, my wife has Givi V35 side cases, but no top box. Her HJC helmet fits in her Frunk, but also fits into the V35 clamshell opening side cases. so she has options. I have Hepco & Becker Gobi side/top cases. The Givi stuff is pretty nice but the H&B is built to take a beating.

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If judging a book by its cover, those two machines are certainly not neglected! I know it may sound odd, but I enjoy maintaining my bikes. Both look awesome.
 
Really like your matching red H&B cases...nice!!!! Especially like that the side cases are top-loading. Where do you get those?
LITM,

Great to hear you are back in the saddle.
Arizona is my favorite state to ride in, hands down! Once out of the metro areas, Arizona offers epic rides in every direction. You live in a truly beautiful state.

And congrats on the new NC. Glad you are over the moon with your new ride.

As for the top case...
The frunk? I have yet to actually fill mine for a day-long ride. As for trips, especially long ones, I seem to need side cases because a top case alone is rarely enough space...unless it is truly massive. But putting weight up that high and far back on the airframe seems counter intuitive. I recently put a one-step removable side case system on my new NC. The added benefit is the side case rack kinda acts like a crash-bar for the rear of the bike (when riding without the cases). And, no gymnastics with mounting/dismounting. I'm sure there are plenty (?) of pop on/pop off top cases. But in the last 20 years, most of my top cases sat on a shelf, only to be mounted when doing a max capacity load out...which isn't often. And every one of them was a relatively expensive affair (especially the quick disconnect type) by the time I bought the rack AND case. I'm obviously in the "removable side cases first" camp. Of course this all means nothing if you need a top case as a back rest for a passenger. In that "case"... never mind.

Cheers to rediscovered Mojo, LITM. Enjoy your new bike.
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LITM,

Great to hear you are back in the saddle.
Arizona is my favorite state to ride in, hands down! Once out of the metro areas, Arizona offers epic rides in every direction. You live in a truly beautiful state.

And congrats on the new NC. Glad you are over the moon with your new ride.

As for the top case...
The frunk? I have yet to actually fill mine for a day-long ride. As for trips, especially long ones, I seem to need side cases because a top case alone is rarely enough space...unless it is truly massive. But putting weight up that high and far back on the airframe seems counter intuitive. I recently put a one-step removable side case system on my new NC. The added benefit is the side case rack kinda acts like a crash-bar for the rear of the bike (when riding without the cases). And, no gymnastics with mounting/dismounting. I'm sure there are plenty (?) of pop on/pop off top cases. But in the last 20 years, most of my top cases sat on a shelf, only to be mounted when doing a max capacity load out...which isn't often. And every one of them was a relatively expensive affair (especially the quick disconnect type) by the time I bought the rack AND case. I'm obviously in the "removable side cases first" camp. Of course this all means nothing if you need a top case as a back rest for a passenger. In that "case"... never mind.

Cheers to rediscovered Mojo, LITM. Enjoy your new bike.
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You make some excellent points. I don't really want a huge top case but I do have a small Wolfman tail bag that fits bits & bobs and is nice to keep separate from all the things in my frunk. It also means if it's on a rack, I don't need to remove it when I fill up. What bags are those on your bike? It looks like they open to the side. The frustration I have with side-opening cases is that everything falls out when you open them. Someone suggested putting bag inserts in them but that's just more money. Are those SW-Motech crash bars in your pictures? I like how low-profile they are. Also, where do you find the center stand? Thanks!!
 
LITM, the Givi E22 side bags are a good choice for smaller, top opening side cases. They are easily removed from the racks when you don’t need them on the bike. I prefer top opening cases.

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I put the H&P 55L top case on my NC. It is big enough to hold EVERYTHING but also big enough to become a sail in the crosswinds. I use it when needed, but mostly its on the shelf in my garage.



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Nice! Thank you!! What are those side frame sliders (is that the right word?) you've got...those look cool.
I don’t know. It is not my bike that I pictured. I just grabbed a photo off the internet to show what the E22 side bags look like.
 
Givi makes great stuff and has top loaders (as pictured).
There are some smaller tail bags that attach under the seat, so fueling would not be an issue. I believe Cycle Gear can help there.

As for the side-open cases: The system on my bike is the SHAD 3 Point, with 35L cases. Pop on and off without tools, and are lockable. I use military style helmet bags to pack and shlep my crap around. They are soft sided, washable, hold a lot of stuff and stay clean inside the side cases. They are also zipper top so you can rummage while they sit in your (open) side case without spillage. You can get them at 1/3rd the cost of those fancy-dancy liner bags (saw them for $22 new on line, $10 used). I'm likely one of the "more frugal" individuals you might meet, so spending money where I don't have to is physically painful. Hence using stuff I have left over from my adventures with Uncle Samuel. The crash bars on my bike are Hepco & Becker, and yup, I chose them for the super low profile.
Lastly, the center stand is stock Honda. Fleabay on clearance, $135 delivered. 10 minutes to mount, saves hours of future futzing around while trying to service the bike. Worth every penny.
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I admire your reentry into riding and your bike is gorgeous. Lots of great advice in this thread, I'm not sure I can add anything.

Ride often and ride intentionally to practice or polish riding skills like low speed maneuvers, cornering, and braking. Maybe not during the entire ride of course but a few minutes at the beginning or end. Studying books like Total Control by Lee Parks or Sport Bike Riding Techniques by Nick Ienatsch were really good for me as a reentry rider in 2005. Both have suggestions for skill building in the form of drills and practice maneuvers. I took an ARC (Advanced Rider Course offered by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation) pretty soon after coming back into the sport and continued with the Lee Parks Total Control course. I take refresher courses about every 2 or 3 years since.

NCs are like a bad penny for me. I've had three different ones for about 70,000 miles and all three were outfitted with different luggage options. The 2012 I set up with fixed Givi luggage racks and a Givi arms that mounted their fixed top case base plate. This base plate is useless except to clip on a top box. The side racks were not easy to remove once mounted and stayed on the bike all the time. This bike had 36 to 45 liter side opening Monokey panniers and several Givi Monokey top cases from 33 to 46 liters. The 2015 I set up with SW Motech quick detach luggage racks and their Alu-Rack tail luggage rack. These side case racks came off in seconds when not in use and with optional Givi adapters allowed me to retain use of the same collection of Givi panniers and top boxes I had used on the 2012. If I was going on a long trip I attached panniers and a top box for max capacity but most of my miles were with a top case only. I don't carry much in it most of the time, it's for storing light items like clothing layers and gloves. When stopped and off the bike there's room to lock up my helmet. My favorite top box is the compact Givi V33B. I like side opening cases vs top loaders. I fabricate a half height partition for one pannier to keep small items in place and in the other one I install hooks or loops for netting to separate the halves for day-type rides or for long trips unhook the netting to make space to carry a full fitting soft luggage bag that takes up most of the space. I use stuff sacks to keep things organized. When the case is opened nothing falls out and I don't have to dig around the bottom to find what I'm looking for. The lids add "shelf space" to spread items out when opened. The 2013 came to me outfitted by the previous owner with Honda luggage. The panniers are slim at 27 (??) liters and while smaller than what I'm used to they were sufficient for the one trip I've taken with it. I pack smaller and lighter than I used to and with the Dale's Rack a dry bag on that rack takes a lot out of the panniers and they don't need to be 36 liters. The Honda panniers keep the bike nice and slim and easy to throw a leg over. I mount the bike standing on the downside foot peg and top boxes are never in the way (yet). I never wanted Honda luggage in the past but I have to say it's perfectly adequate for my needs and well made. I have no plans to change them. Givi makes the side and top case for Honda but they will not fit on Givi or SW Motech racks.

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LITM, the Givi E22 side bags are a good choice for smaller, top opening side cases. They are easily removed from the racks when you don’t need them on the bike. I prefer top opening cases.

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I really like these Givi E22 Monokey cases for the sides. They look great and are not overly huge.
Pack light.
I see some of these on my wife's bike in my mind now. Small, light, trim.
 
I admire your reentry into riding and your bike is gorgeous. Lots of great advice in this thread, I'm not sure I can add anything.

Ride often and ride intentionally to practice or polish riding skills like low speed maneuvers, cornering, and braking. Maybe not during the entire ride of course but a few minutes at the beginning or end. Studying books like Total Control by Lee Parks or Sport Bike Riding Techniques by Nick Ienatsch were really good for me as a reentry rider in 2005. Both have suggestions for skill building in the form of drills and practice maneuvers. I took an ARC (Advanced Rider Course offered by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation) pretty soon after coming back into the sport and continued with the Lee Parks Total Control course. I take refresher courses about every 2 or 3 years since.

NCs are like a bad penny for me. I've had three different ones for about 70,000 miles and all three were outfitted with different luggage options. The 2012 I set up with fixed Givi luggage racks and a Givi arms that mounted their fixed top case base plate. This base plate is useless except to clip on a top box. The side racks were not easy to remove once mounted and stayed on the bike all the time. This bike had 36 to 45 liter side opening Monokey panniers and several Givi Monokey top cases from 33 to 46 liters. The 2015 I set up with SW Motech quick detach luggage racks and their Alu-Rack tail luggage rack. These side case racks came off in seconds when not in use and with optional Givi adapters allowed me to retain use of the same collection of Givi panniers and top boxes I had used on the 2012. If I was going on a long trip I attached panniers and a top box for max capacity but most of my miles were with a top case only. I don't carry much in it most of the time, it's for storing light items like clothing layers and gloves. When stopped and off the bike there's room to lock up my helmet. My favorite top box is the compact Givi V33B. I like side opening cases vs top loaders. I fabricate a half height partition for one pannier to keep small items in place and in the other one I install hooks or loops for netting to separate the halves for day-type rides or for long trips unhook the netting to make space to carry a full fitting soft luggage bag that takes up most of the space. I use stuff sacks to keep things organized. When the case is opened nothing falls out and I don't have to dig around the bottom to find what I'm looking for. The lids add "shelf space" to spread items out when opened. The 2013 came to me outfitted by the previous owner with Honda luggage. The panniers are slim at 27 (??) liters and while smaller than what I'm used to they were sufficient for the one trip I've taken with it. I pack smaller and lighter than I used to and with the Dale's Rack a dry bag on that rack takes a lot out of the panniers and they don't need to be 36 liters. The Honda panniers keep the bike nice and slim and easy to throw a leg over. I mount the bike standing on the downside foot peg and top boxes are never in the way (yet). I never wanted Honda luggage in the past but I have to say it's perfectly adequate for my needs and well made. I have no plans to change them. Givi makes the side and top case for Honda but they will not fit on Givi or SW Motech racks.

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Great internal solutions to keep things from spilling out.
Brilliant!
And your bike is a thing of beauty. I love it.
By the way, on my own bike I never bother to remove the side racks when I don't use the panniers. The bike still handles the same with or without unused pannier racks. Just another grab handle on the rare occasion that I drop the bike.
 
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Congrats on your new ride and getting back on board. Traffic can be intimidating, self confidence in yourself and your bike will help. As noted, consider side cases -a top case is carrying everything up high and raises you CG. Panniers will help to keep the load low, making it easier to handle.
 
I admire your reentry into riding and your bike is gorgeous. Lots of great advice in this thread, I'm not sure I can add anything.

Ride often and ride intentionally to practice or polish riding skills like low speed maneuvers, cornering, and braking. Maybe not during the entire ride of course but a few minutes at the beginning or end. Studying books like Total Control by Lee Parks or Sport Bike Riding Techniques by Nick Ienatsch were really good for me as a reentry rider in 2005. Both have suggestions for skill building in the form of drills and practice maneuvers. I took an ARC (Advanced Rider Course offered by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation) pretty soon after coming back into the sport and continued with the Lee Parks Total Control course. I take refresher courses about every 2 or 3 years since.

NCs are like a bad penny for me. I've had three different ones for about 70,000 miles and all three were outfitted with different luggage options. The 2012 I set up with fixed Givi luggage racks and a Givi arms that mounted their fixed top case base plate. This base plate is useless except to clip on a top box. The side racks were not easy to remove once mounted and stayed on the bike all the time. This bike had 36 to 45 liter side opening Monokey panniers and several Givi Monokey top cases from 33 to 46 liters. The 2015 I set up with SW Motech quick detach luggage racks and their Alu-Rack tail luggage rack. These side case racks came off in seconds when not in use and with optional Givi adapters allowed me to retain use of the same collection of Givi panniers and top boxes I had used on the 2012. If I was going on a long trip I attached panniers and a top box for max capacity but most of my miles were with a top case only. I don't carry much in it most of the time, it's for storing light items like clothing layers and gloves. When stopped and off the bike there's room to lock up my helmet. My favorite top box is the compact Givi V33B. I like side opening cases vs top loaders. I fabricate a half height partition for one pannier to keep small items in place and in the other one I install hooks or loops for netting to separate the halves for day-type rides or for long trips unhook the netting to make space to carry a full fitting soft luggage bag that takes up most of the space. I use stuff sacks to keep things organized. When the case is opened nothing falls out and I don't have to dig around the bottom to find what I'm looking for. The lids add "shelf space" to spread items out when opened. The 2013 came to me outfitted by the previous owner with Honda luggage. The panniers are slim at 27 (??) liters and while smaller than what I'm used to they were sufficient for the one trip I've taken with it. I pack smaller and lighter than I used to and with the Dale's Rack a dry bag on that rack takes a lot out of the panniers and they don't need to be 36 liters. The Honda panniers keep the bike nice and slim and easy to throw a leg over. I mount the bike standing on the downside foot peg and top boxes are never in the way (yet). I never wanted Honda luggage in the past but I have to say it's perfectly adequate for my needs and well made. I have no plans to change them. Givi makes the side and top case for Honda but they will not fit on Givi or SW Motech racks.

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Lots of very helpful information! Really like the cargo nets and partitions in your side cases. Yeah...those are pretty slim and where did you find the stickers you put on them? As a side note, I've watched your video doing u-turns one-handed. Damn! Doing u-turns on this bike is intimidating to me for some reason. I feel like I need to strengthen my hand so that I can better finesse the throttle when I'm doing them. Also, when I was riding my husband's CTX dct, it seems much more daunting trying to do u-turns. I guess the rake makes a difference? I'm not a cruiser girl, but the CTX was enjoyable in its own way.
 
Congrats on your new ride and getting back on board. Traffic can be intimidating, self confidence in yourself and your bike will help. As noted, consider side cases -a top case is carrying everything up high and raises you CG. Panniers will help to keep the load low, making it easier to handle.
Thanks! When we lived in San Diego, I did do a bit of lane splitting but only when traffic was stopped. Here in AZ, it isn't permitted so I do stop behind cars so that if I must escape from getting rear-ended, I can squeeze between the cars in front of me. As for top cases, I was thinking of getting one just for my helmet. I use my frunk for lots of stuff like water bottles, cameras, food, gloves, snacks, etc. However, I do have a very small, expandable Wolfman Peak tail bag that is perfect for extra liners, gloves and loose layers...nothing that would upset me if it was stolen. And it's so small, you don't even know it's there. I hadn't thought about running the straps under the seat; I think I'd rather slap it on a rack.
 
Great internal solutions to keep things from spilling out.
Brilliant!
And your bike is a thing of beauty. I love it.
By the way, on my own bike I never bother to remove the side racks when I don't use the panniers. The bike still handles the same with or without unused pannier racks. Just another grab handle on the rare occasion that I drop the bike.
I feel the same about leaving panniers off when not touring. Also, I have some small 15 liter Nelson-Rigg packs and I'd prefer to put them over racks so they don't scuff up the frame of the bike. You definitely can attach them without racks but the racks, I'm sure, will keep them tidy plus give me more to strap them to They hold a lot, actually!
 
Lots of very helpful information! Really like the cargo nets and partitions in your side cases. Yeah...those are pretty slim and where did you find the stickers you put on them? As a side note, I've watched your video doing u-turns one-handed. Damn! Doing u-turns on this bike is intimidating to me for some reason. I feel like I need to strengthen my hand so that I can better finesse the throttle when I'm doing them. Also, when I was riding my husband's CTX dct, it seems much more daunting trying to do u-turns. I guess the rake makes a difference? I'm not a cruiser girl, but the CTX was enjoyable in its own way.
Thank you. Honestly I got tired of hearing naysayers saying that without a manual clutch it is impossible to do slow speed work on a DCT bike.

The yellow and red pattern I made by hand from strips of reflective tape.
 
A more modestly priced route will be to buy GIVI

I've never heard GIVI described as "modestly priced", and this is by someone who has bought into the GIVI system. I have the GIVI trekker outback top box and side cases on my bike and I love it, but it cost a pretty penny.

Fun fact, "GIVI" is the Italian term for "You need to buy the part to work with the part you bought need to use to make the product you bought work".
 
I've not done this before...just telling a bit of my story...

After owning a '16 NC700xd for 6 yrs., and having to make an unexpected move from a very cool area of San Diego to the Phoenix grid about 9 months ago, I totally lost my mojo. In San Diego, I commuted to work on my bike every day, and rode on the weekends every chance I got. We lived in an area where you could get out on a back road right away, escape the traffic and just get away. 95% of the time I was solo. When we moved to the Phoenix area, my hb said he was "done riding", I totally lost my mojo, gave in to fear and became pretty much depressed about riding. I would go out to the garage, look at my bike, cry and go back inside. I did this for months, folks...please be gentle with me in your comments...I was scared of the insane amount of traffic, the huge grid of stop & go traffic lights and no knowledge of where to go on a bike to get away from it all. In spite of all that, I wasn't ready to stop riding. I'm about to turn 60 but I just didn't want to quit. And I do enjoy riding solo...not interested in group riding...but it would sometimes be nice to have someone to ride with who is into getting out there in the early morning hours.

I debated the whole thing for quite awhile, hiding away in our house, depressed and just lacking that desire to get out there, and I'm sorry to say, gave in to the fear of traffic, lack of confidence and thinking I should quit. Finally, I sold my bike - tearfully - and tried to feel ok about it. I never felt ok with selling my bike...instead, I got more depressed.

One day, I went in to a dealership and saw the new '21 NC750xd on the floor...calling to me. I knew I shouldn't but I stood in front of that bike looking it over, bending down to check out the details, lusting over it. I put all my stuff down on the floor, and swung my leg over that gorgeous bike. Immediately, I was surprised at how much lighter in was than my 2016 NC700! It was narrower! The windshield was taller! The seat was more comfortable! The dash was much more eye-catching. So, yes, a sales guy came over and started the conversation...you know the one...the one where he starts asking all "those type" of questions. Well, I knew pretty quickly that as little as I knew about bikes, I knew much more about this bike than he did...I talked his ear off and maybe he'll thank me later for making him go do a bit more research, but I couldn't take my eyes off the bike.

Long story short, I bought the bike. It is so gorgeous. I've been out only a few times. The most recent was when we had rain from our monsoon storms...which scared the bejeezus outta me. But this bike has traction control and that helped a lot!

Ok...I know this is a LONG post. I haven't been out much because of the insane heat (that we didn't have in SD). I have a stupid question, though. I will need to get a rear rack. How do you do this? How do you know which rack to get? Do you find a top case that you like first and then get the corresponding rack? I want one where you don't need to remove the grab rails that are already there. Right now I have a small Wolfman tail bag but if I ever get the opportunity to do longer trips, I might want a top case.

And I need to stop feeling so guilty about buying a new bike! I don't have buyer's remorse, but I do feel the guilt about buying brand new vs. used. I also need to find a way to stop having that fear every time I get out there! We have a lot of snowbirds here and the driving styles from that many people is insane! Ok...deep breaths...I can do this...

Thanks for reading if you made it through all this... I just needed to get it off my chest.
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If you want to get out of the heat and come up to "Green Arizona" (Flagstaff), we have the Overland Expo West coming up on Sept 24-26; if you don't want to deal with the chaos of a show, there is a casual event on Weds the 22nd in Downtown Flagstaff from 6p-8p. Drop a line if you think you might make it up.
 
I've never heard GIVI described as "modestly priced", and this is by someone who has bought into the GIVI system. I have the GIVI trekker outback top box and side cases on my bike and I love it, but it cost a pretty penny.

Fun fact, "GIVI" is the Italian term for "You need to buy the part to work with the part you bought need to use to make the product you bought work".
When you price the 2021 NC luggage set, which might be around $2000 (US) if I remember right, the Givi stuff looks somewhat modestly price.

"Genuine Honda Accessories" is Japanese for you still need to buy two more accessories in order to install the first accessory you bought.
 
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