- Joined
- Sep 26, 2012
- Messages
- 526
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- Location
- South West Fl. U.S.A.
I had to send a letter to the editor of Cycleworld magazine; I told them if they keep referring to the NC as a beginner’s bike I would run over their foot. I'm no beginner, with over 40 years of riding experience, my last ride being a GSX-R750 that I traded for my new NC. Calling a motorcycle a beginner’s bike in America has generally been a nail in its coffin. Outside of the 250cc boom at the onset of the climb in gas prices, nearly any standard style motorcycle with less than 125hp has been pegged a "beginners" bike. Being a predominately male sport (sorry ladies we know you ride, but the numbers hold this true) and the American male being who we are, we want "big and bad" to impress our friends, enemies and the girls (again sorry ladies, but you know men).Over the years I've seen a lot of fine Standard style motorcycles fade away because of this moto-journalist tag line. The testers want them faster so everyone else must too. This is why Honda imported to Europe first, its where the standard bike market is the strongest, the U.S. is in the midst of a test, will the market accept a 700cc 50'ish horsepower, sit upright bike that’s not a Harley clone or an outright mega-mile touring ride. I've put several of my sportbike freak friends, the ones who said I was crazy for trading my Gixxer, on this bike and every one admits (alone never in a group) that they enjoyed the ride and it was fun to ride something that didn’t require the "work" that a 1000cc fire-breather takes to ride. Hey Honda-How about a NC only test ride day at your U.S. dealers, Free Hotdogs and balloons for the kids...You may make the NC an American favorite and bring the "Standard" back to the UJM. That would be a real win.