2022: What did you do to/with your NC700/NC750 today?

[670cc]

Jeez, how are you guys hitting 80 mpg? Best I ever get is 62 but admittedly I do not short shift.

The simple answer is if you ride the bike one way, you get 62 mpg, and if you ride it a different way, you get 80 mpg. The single largest differentiator is speed. There is no magic to it. I think most people can recognize frugal riding habits and probably already know the riding methods that affect fuel economy.

 

[the Ferret]

Speed and rpms. You can do 65mph at 2750 rpms or you can do 65 mph at 6000 rpms. The latter uses a lot more gas than the former, even though you are both running 65 mph. Once you get over 3000 rpms or 70 mph the NC isn't that economical.

 

[mlc]

MPG variations to the extreme from the last three days :
A few hundred miles of 80MPH across the flat CA central valley : worst tank ever, at 57mpg
Next day, a couple hundred miles going around Yosemite, up to 10000ft Tioga pass and back, plus a few detours on gravel, driving the National Park speed limit : Best tank ever at over 85mpg
I used to think I just couldn't get it above 70mpg, my previous record. Cruising at 2000 RPM is where it's at.

Interestingly, I filled at the Big Oak Flat station, and went 9.8 miles down to the valley, at the speed limit, and got it to display 149.9mpg just as I hit the bottom. That tank stayed above 95mpg for the first 40 miles (not all downhill), but went down once I hit the nice curvy 55-limit roads over the hills.
Next tank back home keeping 75MPH on flat highway has been under 60.

I also saw another NC going up Big Oak Flat and Tioga Pass early on Sat, with 3 Harleys.

 

[Amwolf]

I filled up yesterday, and doing the math, I got 74mpg. I usually average between 70 and 75mpg so that makes me happy, but I also usually ride at a little over 3000 rpm. The reason I do is that 3000-4000 is the powerband of the NC700 engine, and I live in northern New England where the roads are often curvy, hilly, or curvy and hilly, and being in the powerband is kind of necessary in those circumstances.

There are a lot of things that affect milage. Yes, rpms is part of the equation, but so is load. At 54MPH, my NC needs about 3000 rpms in 5th gear, and about 2400 in 6th. At 2400rpms in 6th gear, I can feel the engine lugging unless I am on a long, flat straightaway. (RPMs are approximate because the Tach on the stock display is not very accurate. Each LCD segment represents 200 rpms, and so you cant tell if you are at 2401 rpms, or 2599 rpms.)

50-55 is about all I can do on the majority of the roads where I ride. I ran one tank of gas where I went up to 6th gear once I reached speed, and another tank where I did not use 6th at all. Measuring milage at a fill-up, I found my overall fuel economy using 6th gear was 65 mpg, and my overall fuel economy using 5th as my top gear was 73 mpg.

Long story short, below 60mph I have to hold the throttle a lot more open to maintain speed in 6th gear than I do 5th, and the extra throttle negates any fuel economy I would gain from lower RPMs. Knowing this, I don't use 6th gear until I pass 60mph, unless I am on a long, flat straightaway.

 

[the Ferret]

Well technically, max horsepower comes at 6200 rpms and max torque at 4700 rpms so if you really wanted to be "in the peak of the power band" it would be between those two numbers, but that would hardly return satisfying gas mileage numbers regardless of terrain and unless you were in a lower gear would certainly be well into speeding ticket territory in most cases.

Honda designed the bike to take advantage of high fuel figures and as such, particularly in the DCT model in standard mode, gets to 6th gear very quickly, but will automatically downshift to whatever gear is necessary depending on speed, load and terrain. Unless there is a hill anytime you are on flat ground above 45 mph you will be in 6th gear and that will be well below 3000 rpms and achieving max fuel mileage figures. That's how Honda designed it. May not be the most "exciting" way to ride, but it is (or should be) the most economical.

Those with manual transmissions are forced to decide what gear and at what speed they choose to be running in, hence what gas mileage they can expect.

2018 Honda NC750X | Road Test Review | Rider Magazine

Is this the perfect commuter? The Honda NC750X has a lot going for it: upright, comfortable seating, decent elemental protection, a user-friendly

ridermagazine.com

 

[Luke’d]

That is true, my mileage may suffer a bit with a manual depending how aggressive I am. Like Amwolf, central PA is very hilly & twisty. I get very little interstate driving here & I average 65-72 mpg where I ride. I enjoy shifting & at 61, I still can. It’s nice to know that as the arthritis in my wrists gets worse I can always switch to a DCT and still enjoy riding!
Huzzah!

 

[NcinSC]

I'd probably need a ladder to get on that seat.

At 6’3” I needed the extra height.

 

[Luke’d]

I rode out to the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA. Filled my growler with a new Mango Pilsner, the wife & oldest daughter loved it. Got my wife a new sweatshirt, since I stole hers…
Also hit a new milestone. Only 3000 of those miles on the 2015 are mine….I have only had it 8 months & I do very little interstate riding.

 

[Alias]

At 6’3” I needed the extra height.

At 5'10" I'd want a ladder.

 

[Jt105]

New lights were delivered. They look nice in person.
Yellow ring just glows white when powered. Center is more of a spot light.

I plan to mount them inside the bars in the front.

 

[Jt105]

Left the house this morning for work. Pulled onto the main road and heard a clanking sound. Saw something in the road flopping around in the mirror.
I forgot to latch the lid on my Tusk pannier and the lid flew off at 40mph! Doh! Turned around and picked it up before it got ran over. Corners got dinged up, that's about it. Need to hit it with a file to clean up the road rash and touch up the black paint. Oops!

 

[davidc83]

New lights were delivered. They look nice in person.
Yellow ring just glows white when powered. Center is more of a spot light.

I plan to mount them inside the bars in the front.

View attachment 49811View attachment 49812

You got a link to those lights?

 

[http404]

Left the house this morning for work. Pulled onto the main road and heard a clanking sound. Saw something in the road flopping around in the mirror.
I forgot to latch the lid on my Tusk pannier and the lid flew off at 40mph! Doh! Turned around and picked it up before it got ran over. Corners got dinged up, that's about it. Need to hit it with a file to clean up the road rash and touch up the black paint. Oops!

I had a friend who had that happen on his bagger (top loader bags) and all his personal papers were strewn across half a mile of roadside. We both learned a lesson about that. Glad mine open from the back.

 

[http404]

Forgot to post

I did a Charity Ride for a 5 year old girl with eye cancer..
There were a ton of bikes & of course my girl stood out alone…

Good to see you’re getting the most out of your tires.

 

[http404]

I appreciate the MPG responses from those of you who didn’t intimate that I was an ignoramus.

 

[the Ferret]

Wow, sure hope I wasnt one of those, because that certainly was never my intention. Apologies if I was.

 

[http404]

N

Wow, sure hope I wasnt one of those, because that certainly was never my intention. Apologies if I was.

Nope! Thanks. Doesn’t matter who it was but I thought it was interesting the numerous responses were both similar and different. I’ve been riding for 42 years and know that mpg is a function of a lot of things, primarily RPM. I should have been more clear that I don’t know how people can ride at such reduced rpm to achieve such high mileage. For me, the bike really shines at 4-5k and I know that’s why I don’t get 80 mpg. It was more a question of riding styles along with maybe topography or other factors. No matter. This will all be buried in old pages a month from now. I always enjoy your posts, Ferret.

 

[the Ferret]

Ahhh I understand now. Thanks for the explanation.

I used to ride more agressively, but started slowing down in my 50's, then moreso in my 60's and now in my 70's I ocassionally get passed by turtles and snails. If I make it into my 80's I'll probably get tickets for impeding lol

 

[670cc]

I appreciate the MPG responses from those of you who didn’t intimate that I was an ignoramus.

Nope! Thanks. Doesn’t matter who it was but I thought it was interesting the numerous responses were both similar and different. I’ve been riding for 42 years and know that mpg is a function of a lot of things, primarily RPM. I should have been more clear that I don’t know how people can ride at such reduced rpm to achieve such high mileage. For me, the bike really shines at 4-5k and I know that’s why I don’t get 80 mpg. It was more a question of riding styles along with maybe topography or other factors. No matter. This will all be buried in old pages a month from now. I always enjoy your posts, Ferret.

Your MPG question asked was, “Jeez, how are you guys hitting 80 mpg?”. If it was a rhetorical question or there was some hidden message, that was not clear (to me) at the time. If you already know that how you ride is why you don’t get 80 mpg, then why ask the question that way? Sorry if some responses were not what you expected.

Accept that not everyone wants to ride their NC the same way as someone else. I actually dislike the character of my NC when it’s ridden at 4-5K. I rarely run it over 3300 RPM and I like it that way. To each, their own.

 

[Jt105]

You got a link to those lights?

Post #897 in this thread...
https://www.nc700-forum.com/threads...r-nc700-nc750-today.20315/page-45#post-254814