Don
New Member
This summer, I was able to test drive a CB500X and had read many good things about it and it's soul, so needless to say I was curious. I was quite disappointed. It felt like I was sitting on it ... not at all part of it. Maybe I didn't rev the snot out of it enough, but I didn't find it to have any special soul. I actually enjoyed the CBR500R much more. Maybe it was the riding position making me feel like I was on a race bike. 
When I road my NC back home that day, my thoughts were humf .. I still like my NC better. It feels more planted and sturdier and more powerful ... but the CBR500R WAS fun to ride. I really like how it looks and the flickability on the road.
anyway I've been thinking about the things that I like about my NC750X that always put a smile on my face. Like only slightly twisting the throttle in the Car Wash. There is some nice tones that come from this engine when driving in a cavernous cement room and occasionally at certain speeds and wind directions on the road ... and yes this is with the factory muffler. Next the soulless power band ... drop down 2 gears and tell me that. It's got a little. When I test drove the SV650 this summer I thought it had less soul than the NC ... that was until I dropped it down 2 gears as well. Then I had to hand it to the sweet little SV. Oh OH Oh I found where they stashed the 70 something horsepowers. Yes it felt like it had more hp than the NC but it felt strange to sit on it. Didn't feel at home on it as it felt kind of smallish.
... back to the NC ... When pulling away from a stop, find the perfect not too heavy throttle position that produces the slightly cruiser like putta putta, and take 2nd way early .. half way ... no quarter way through the intersection for a little more deeper voiced torque inspired tones.
Third gear really depends if you want to distance the traffic behind you or just sit back and keep a bit more safety zone between you and the car in front of you. For a little more sport open the throttle and ride 2nd to near RED LINE and then do it again in Third. That should take you right up to cruising speed or or or 2nd gear to city speed and ride in third for much better throttle response. I've often left it in fourth when riding 80 - 90 Kph in our somewhat twisty area when speeding up and slowing down a lot for the corners. The NC can really be quite sporty if you want it to be.
I tell my friends that I only have 52 hp and I use all of them. The guy with the 140hp bike is hard pressed to actually experience this power ... especially on the streets. I went to several motorcycle demo rides this summer and tested out bikes like the GSX250R to the GSX1000S to mention the lowest and highest powered memorable rides. The 1000S was memorable because I was a little scared of the bike with it's 145hp. It didn't matter what gear I was in and it pulled like crazy with the slightest throttle input. The GSX250R with it's 27.4hp was so grin inspiring when running it up passed 10k rpm and then doing it again through the next gear. Felt like a race inspired ride and then you look down at the gauges and you're just nicely at highway speed. I would love to own that bike for driving back and forth to town.
I am an NC750X owner. I put on around 10K kilometres a year and we can only drive 6 months a year. I like my bike. It gets washed and waxed often ... there is pride of ownership ... but it never stays clean. I get lots of nice compliments during frequent parking lot conversations when I'm out on my grocery shopping expeditions. Any excuse for a ride is a good one. I have no concern about putting more miles on my bike. I'm not saving them. I got this bike to ride. It's my summer mode of transportation when ever and where ever possible... well at least up to about 29(83F) degrees celsius and down to around 10(50F) celsius. and and and maybe not in a thunder storm.
anyway ... what did YOU do on your NC today?
Don
When I road my NC back home that day, my thoughts were humf .. I still like my NC better. It feels more planted and sturdier and more powerful ... but the CBR500R WAS fun to ride. I really like how it looks and the flickability on the road.anyway I've been thinking about the things that I like about my NC750X that always put a smile on my face. Like only slightly twisting the throttle in the Car Wash. There is some nice tones that come from this engine when driving in a cavernous cement room and occasionally at certain speeds and wind directions on the road ... and yes this is with the factory muffler. Next the soulless power band ... drop down 2 gears and tell me that. It's got a little. When I test drove the SV650 this summer I thought it had less soul than the NC ... that was until I dropped it down 2 gears as well. Then I had to hand it to the sweet little SV. Oh OH Oh I found where they stashed the 70 something horsepowers. Yes it felt like it had more hp than the NC but it felt strange to sit on it. Didn't feel at home on it as it felt kind of smallish.
... back to the NC ... When pulling away from a stop, find the perfect not too heavy throttle position that produces the slightly cruiser like putta putta, and take 2nd way early .. half way ... no quarter way through the intersection for a little more deeper voiced torque inspired tones.
Third gear really depends if you want to distance the traffic behind you or just sit back and keep a bit more safety zone between you and the car in front of you. For a little more sport open the throttle and ride 2nd to near RED LINE and then do it again in Third. That should take you right up to cruising speed or or or 2nd gear to city speed and ride in third for much better throttle response. I've often left it in fourth when riding 80 - 90 Kph in our somewhat twisty area when speeding up and slowing down a lot for the corners. The NC can really be quite sporty if you want it to be.
I tell my friends that I only have 52 hp and I use all of them.
The guy with the 140hp bike is hard pressed to actually experience this power ... especially on the streets. I went to several motorcycle demo rides this summer and tested out bikes like the GSX250R to the GSX1000S to mention the lowest and highest powered memorable rides. The 1000S was memorable because I was a little scared of the bike with it's 145hp. It didn't matter what gear I was in and it pulled like crazy with the slightest throttle input. The GSX250R with it's 27.4hp was so grin inspiring when running it up passed 10k rpm and then doing it again through the next gear. Felt like a race inspired ride and then you look down at the gauges and you're just nicely at highway speed. I would love to own that bike for driving back and forth to town.I am an NC750X owner. I put on around 10K kilometres a year and we can only drive 6 months a year. I like my bike. It gets washed and waxed often ... there is pride of ownership ... but it never stays clean. I get lots of nice compliments during frequent parking lot conversations when I'm out on my grocery shopping expeditions. Any excuse for a ride is a good one. I have no concern about putting more miles on my bike. I'm not saving them. I got this bike to ride. It's my summer mode of transportation when ever and where ever possible... well at least up to about 29(83F) degrees celsius and down to around 10(50F) celsius. and and and maybe not in a thunder storm.
anyway ... what did YOU do on your NC today?
Don
