Just bought an NC - what are your essential mods?

[MalcolmReynolds]

Ok, I didn't know they would be re-covering the back seat portion also. That would actually be good so that the seat matches. I was a little worried about that. Which means I need to find a rear donor also. Thanks for the clarification. That helps a lot.

 

[Penerka]

Question regarding the Rox Risers: Did any of the cables have to be changed/lengthened to accommodate the 2" risers? Thank you.

 

[lue42]

I agree - I didn't get the top case as I didn't need that much storage - did get the rear carrier so I could mount a soft top bag if needed.

When I started thinking about luggage I was all about the side luggage, and not interested in the top box. However I changed my mind and think that for commuting or daily riding a top box is a priority over side cases if faced given a choice.

I wear a helmet that is too big for the frunk so having locked storage for my helmet (and jacket, gloves, etc) is a game changer and makes taking it back and forth from work, and the trip from parking lot to office a much nicer experience.

Of course, everyone's needs will vary depending on frunk usage, etc.

 

[670cc]

Question regarding the Rox Risers: Did any of the cables have to be changed/lengthened to accommodate the 2" risers? Thank you.

2 inch risers work OK on a manual transmission, non-abs NC700X. You will need to rework the front brake hose mounting at the lower triple clamp to get some slack. A longer brake hose is preferred but it can be done with the stock hose. The clutch cable will be at it's limit and routing can be an issue with handguards, but it can work.

For DCT and/or ABS machines, I cannot speak from experience.

 

[Hank]

Two inch risers on my DCT would have required some extra wire.
I find if I slide forward a little I am more comfortable with both seat and bars. (I use an Airhawk.)

I don't think any mods are mandatory on this bike.
It is a satisfactory commuter stock, if you can tolerate the seat.

Here are my mods:

YouTube

 

[SC Rider]

Question regarding the Rox Risers: Did any of the cables have to be changed/lengthened to accommodate the 2" risers? Thank you.

I have the DCT and 2" risers just fit. If the wires had been any shorter it wouldn't have worked.

I installed the Kappa K35 and these Saddlemen bags with this bracket. I've been pretty happy with them. Most of the reviews say the straps aren't up to the quality of the bags and they are correct. I riveted industrial strength velcro in three spots and attached them to the frame. I don't carry anything heavy in them so am not too worried.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Engine crashbar. Fenda Extenda. Some form of shock protection. These are my basic first purchases/fabrications. Fabrication in the case of shock protection.

 

[MalcolmReynolds]

Engine crashbar. Fenda Extenda. Some form of shock protection. These are my basic first purchases/fabrications. Fabrication in the case of shock protection.

Thanks Griff, I had the same line of thinking on this. I did order a fenda extenda, and I found a rear hugger that looks like provides better protection than most I see. Sadly it cost almost double what the shorter huggers cost, but it looks like it should protect the rear shock and under seat area better from Factory M on ebay. I ordered a radiator cover, but I didn't see any reviews about it here on the forum so I guess I get to be the "test subject". I haven't made a decision on a crash bar yet or if I am going to get one.

Thanks to the folks here the motostorm.it site is very good for price. So I ordered some Kappa K33's an a Givi V47 topcase. On the windshield I just decided to stay with what I know works and that is a Madstad and I have that ordered. I placed the order for the Russell Day Long, so I have a production date for a seat. I am just trying to run down a seat to use as a build seat and have to get them some pictures of me on the bike.

Once I get all of this stuff on the bike and figure out how comfy I am then I will look at the next projects to finish making it "my own". I know I need to figure out electrical drops, GPS, lighting, possibly some highway pegs and peg relocators, but I will wait and see what the first wave of mods does for my riding comfort before I go crazy with those.

On a side note I was cleaning the bike this weekend and looked at the chain. I don't think that thing has been oiled or cared for since day one. So I put it up on the center stand and oiled and started to clean that poor chain up. Luckily the bike is only 4000 miles so it hasn't been abused for very long. I know exactly why it was this way... Because I HATE messing around with the chain also... So it is not as high a priority as it should be. So I ordered the Tutoro chain oiler for the bike. I have used a Lubeman in the past and it worked very well for me. So I am hoping the Tutoro will do a good job.

Hopefully stuff will start to show up by next week. I know I am a little late getting started this late into the beginning of riding season so all the bike related businesses are starting to get SLAMMED right now and will only get worse over the next month or so. So I feel lucky that the things I have ordered have been in stock.

Waiting on that seat is going to be the hardest thing! Production date is in June and they are talking up to 10 weeks to build. I don't recall my last RDL taking that long once I had the production date. So that is probably a worst case kind of thing, but still that puts the seat out into late July or early August before I might see it! So I am going to need to improvise something with the stock seat while I am waiting...

 

[rippin209]

Thanks Griff, I had the same line of thinking on this. I did order a fenda extenda, and I found a rear hugger that looks like provides better protection than most I see. Sadly it cost almost double what the shorter huggers cost, but it looks like it should protect the rear shock and under seat area better from Factory M on ebay. I ordered a radiator cover, but I didn't see any reviews about it here on the forum so I guess I get to be the "test subject". I haven't made a decision on a crash bar yet or if I am going to get one.

Thanks to the folks here the motostorm.it site is very good for price. So I ordered some Kappa K33's an a Givi V47 topcase. On the windshield I just decided to stay with what I know works and that is a Madstad and I have that ordered. I placed the order for the Russell Day Long, so I have a production date for a seat. I am just trying to run down a seat to use as a build seat and have to get them some pictures of me on the bike.

Once I get all of this stuff on the bike and figure out how comfy I am then I will look at the next projects to finish making it "my own". I know I need to figure out electrical drops, GPS, lighting, possibly some highway pegs and peg relocators, but I will wait and see what the first wave of mods does for my riding comfort before I go crazy with those.

On a side note I was cleaning the bike this weekend and looked at the chain. I don't think that thing has been oiled or cared for since day one. So I put it up on the center stand and oiled and started to clean that poor chain up. Luckily the bike is only 4000 miles so it hasn't been abused for very long. I know exactly why it was this way... Because I HATE messing around with the chain also... So it is not as high a priority as it should be. So I ordered the Tutoro chain oiler for the bike. I have used a Lubeman in the past and it worked very well for me. So I am hoping the Tutoro will do a good job.

Hopefully stuff will start to show up by next week. I know I am a little late getting started this late into the beginning of riding season so all the bike related businesses are starting to get SLAMMED right now and will only get worse over the next month or so. So I feel lucky that the things I have ordered have been in stock.

Waiting on that seat is going to be the hardest thing! Production date is in June and they are talking up to 10 weeks to build. I don't recall my last RDL taking that long once I had the production date. So that is probably a worst case kind of thing, but still that puts the seat out into late July or early August before I might see it! So I am going to need to improvise something with the stock seat while I am waiting...

you've got a nice list of mods going already, good luck with the seat I'm sure it'll work out. The Tutoro is a great buy I've used mine for over 30k miles and it's great (don't forget to adjust when the temperature changes allot) I ordered two quarts of their lube with the oiler and one quart lasted me over 28k miles with me slinging more then enough oil. I'm assuming the radiator guard you mentioned is the one you posted earlier that is from Amazon if so please report back on the fit, the screen looks ok but easily upgraded I'm more concerned with the fit for mounting it. If you plan on doing more then a couple simple electrical accessories check out the posts on installing a fuse block, I've added a few accessories that only get used from time to time and I just wired them up individually and now I'm thinking of adding a frunk light and possibly a set of auxiliary lights I'm regretting not doing the fuse block from the start.

 

[Neostorm]

For me it was the pair of 40 watt led light pods. At night I'm like a train going down the road and during the day, when lane splitting drivers notice me more and move out of the way.

 

[Neostorm]

My bike came with the russel day long. I put on the stock seat to see how it was because I couldn't clay foot both feet. I didn't make it a day before I put the day long back on. Totally worth it

 

[calipo223]

My mods are the Dale rear rack, parabulem windshield, Rox 2 inch rizors, and a pair of highway pegs to stretch out. I also did the seat mod to get rid of the slope. My bike is very comfortable now. It's a great city bike and commuter, and I had no problems driving to upstate New York, Maine, New Hamshire and Vermont, from Massachusetts. I might get some side bags as well. It's a decent motorcycle

 

[MalcolmReynolds]

Well the mods I have added so far on the NC since I posted this have been:

Madstad Windshield
Sheepskin seat cover - which I put padding below to level out the front of the seat.
Beadrider - I prefer a little more air flow and it raises me up some
Knight Engineering - lowering pegs
Delkevic 17" Tri-Oval Exhaust
Throttle rocker

Other items are waiting on me to get some more time to get them on the bike like the hugger, LED's, and chain oiler. And I still have some items arriving like my bags will be here this week. Unfortunately I will be out of pocket for the next couple of weeks so I won't be getting anything done on the bike. My production date is in June for my Russell Day Long, and my donor seat has arrived here that I will have Russell rebuild for me. I just need to get that off in the mail and to Russell before the production date.

Been trying to figure out what to do about the electrical mods. I have a battery tender that I would like to figure out how to get into the battery and drop the SAE connector out where I can get to it to keep the bike charged up for the non-riding months and to be able to use that drop as needed for running a compressor should I need to use it. I also need some drops for a GPS and USB for charging a phone. But frankly I haven't sort out how I am going to approach it yet.

I decided it was past time for me to get a some more riding training so I signed up for the experienced rider course with the MSF and will decide if this is the year I finally get off my behind and take the advanced rider course. I keep dragging my feet and come up with excuses for not taking the advanced riders course and I probably just need to suck it up and do it. I will have to see how I do on the NC in the BRC2 first and then decide based on my schedule if I can swing the advanced course. I really don't have an excuse, just too easy to procrastinate! But as soon as I can get back to the bike I need to spend some quality parking lot time on the NC... Gotta get ready for "the box!" ROFL

 

[supertux1]

Well the mods I have added so far on the NC since I posted this have been:

Madstad Windshield
Sheepskin seat cover - which I put padding below to level out the front of the seat.
Beadrider - I prefer a little more air flow and it raises me up some
Knight Engineering - lowering pegs
Delkevic 17" Tri-Oval Exhaust
Throttle rocker

Other items are waiting on me to get some more time to get them on the bike like the hugger, LED's, and chain oiler. And I still have some items arriving like my bags will be here this week. Unfortunately I will be out of pocket for the next couple of weeks so I won't be getting anything done on the bike. My production date is in June for my Russell Day Long, and my donor seat has arrived here that I will have Russell rebuild for me. I just need to get that off in the mail and to Russell before the production date.

Been trying to figure out what to do about the electrical mods. I have a battery tender that I would like to figure out how to get into the battery and drop the SAE connector out where I can get to it to keep the bike charged up for the non-riding months and to be able to use that drop as needed for running a compressor should I need to use it. I also need some drops for a GPS and USB for charging a phone. But frankly I haven't sort out how I am going to approach it yet.

I decided it was past time for me to get a some more riding training so I signed up for the experienced rider course with the MSF and will decide if this is the year I finally get off my behind and take the advanced rider course. I keep dragging my feet and come up with excuses for not taking the advanced riders course and I probably just need to suck it up and do it. I will have to see how I do on the NC in the BRC2 first and then decide based on my schedule if I can swing the advanced course. I really don't have an excuse, just too easy to procrastinate! But as soon as I can get back to the bike I need to spend some quality parking lot time on the NC... Gotta get ready for "the box!" ROFL

I'm almost 10,000 miles in on a 2016 and have almost all the farkles or are planning them.

If I had to do it over again, here are the mods I would do in order:

12-V SAE charge and tire compressor connector. $5 - easy, no need to remove plastics.
Centerstand. Useful to mod the suspension, clean chain, change tires etc... $130
Seat. Slope mod, or aftermarket. $0-600
Windshield. Madstad, etc... $260
Front Forks. RT Valve/Spring, Cogent Dynamics, etc... $300
Rear Shock. Wilburs, Ohlins, Nitron etc... $600-$1250
Tires. Dump the OEM ASAP. Michelin PR4 etc... $350

Most of these are the big ticket items, but they address the top things where Honda took a budget shortcut on and thus will improve the ride the most.

After that probably would go with the protective accessories:

Radiator Screen - keeps road crap from deforming the grill.
Fenda Extenda - keeps mud and road crap out of the grill.
Rear Hugger - protects the rear shock from road crap.

Crash Bars - optional, for your mistakes.
Bash Plate - ditto
Handguards - ditto

After that, I'd go with the luxury items which includes things like extra lights, USB chargers, foot pegs, RAM mounts, throttle lock etc...

You could put lights above everything else as there is a safety component to them.

 

[ld_rider]

One thing I added early on was a pair of Whelen TIR3 Super LED strobes wired to my brake light. These are serious strobes that will get anyone's attention that is following you. I have mine set up with three flashes...then off...and then another three flashes. The pattern repeats for as long as the brakes are applied. There are bunch of patterns to choose from but I think a three flash pattern is legal in most areas (for a brake light).

Next time you are on the highway at night check out the rear lighting of any motorcycle..It is pathetic (except a GL1800). Imagine running in the rain at night with a red candle as a brake light...

In heavy rain (day or night) I slow down. Once I scoot over to the right-hand lane, on go the Whelen strobes and if it is really gnarly out my 4-way flashers get kicked on. The rear visibility of my motorcycle goes up at least tenfold.

The Whelen strobes are genuine cop gear and super high quality. Remember, no motorcyclist caught at night, or in heavy traffic, or in the rain, ever said "Gee, I have too much rear visibility when I brake" ;-)


Whelen TIR3™ Super-LED(R) - StrobesNMore.com

The strobes are super bright, pulse VERY quickly, and have decent off-axis throw. I tried to upload a video of the strobes in action but it doesn't do them justice, my camera has a hard time following the flashes and compensating for the change in lighting between full on and full off.

If I get ambitious (unlikely), I can replace the stock reflector up there under the tail lamp with a third Whelen and wire it for a different pattern (always on maybe? Wig-wag w/lower two TIR3s? ). It would be almost a perfect fit replacement.

 

[jclay]

Just been doing some more reading last night here on the forum. Looks like I see a lot of recommendations for the Fenda Extenda, radiator guard, and hugger fenders. I found this radiator guard on Amazon: Amazon.com: Motorcycle Aluminum Stainless Steel Radiator Guard Grill Cover Oil Cooler Bezel Protector Grille for 2012-2016 12-16 Honda NC700X NC700 DCT 2013 2014 2015 (Black): Automotive

The price seemed reasonable, but haven't seen anyone post anything about it here on the forum. Anyone have any experience with this radiator guard?

looks suspiciously like the endless list of crap cnc products on ebay from china with various logos. i would not buy it.

 

[AgronomyMike]

I have one of these on the way. I was either going to make my own or not have one. I could not bring myself to spend 70$ on a little piece of expanded mesh so I figured I would take a chance on one of these. For 21$ I figured it was worth finding out.

I will report back when I get it and see how crappy it really is.

 

[MalcolmReynolds]

I have one of these on the way. I was either going to make my own or not have one. I could not bring myself to spend 70$ on a little piece of expanded mesh so I figured I would take a chance on one of these. For 21$ I figured it was worth finding out.

I will report back when I get it and see how crappy it really is.

I ordered one and it arrived. It was a little bit of a pain to figure out how to get it fitted, but I managed to fiddle around with it until it more or less sort of snapped into place. It looks OK and I think should do the job and for the price I think it was worth it. The thing that was a little irritating is the top bolt hole location is for the opposite side of the radiator where the existing bolt is. That bolt hole does not have a bolt holding the radiator in place. Luckily I had a bolt and nut that fit the bolt hole so I didn't have to run something down. Overall the aluminum matches the silver NC pretty well and I think it will do the job.

I have a hard time fathoming the prices I saw for these radiator covers/protectors. I think the one I bought is priced right for what it is and what it does. I would say give it a shot if you are in the market for a radiator protector for your NC.

Just ran out and took a bunch of pics as it was getting dark. Hopefully the pictures have enough light and you can see.

Here are the pictures of the inexpensive radiator cover and the fenda extenda I added:

 

[Deleted member 5383]

looks suspiciously like the endless list of crap cnc products on ebay from china with various logos. i would not buy it.

1: that's fabricated without CNC ; }
2: a lot of the CNC products I've gotten from China are quality, not any worse than the same types of products supposedly from elsewhere {and probably from China and then marked up 300 percent;}

 

[Deleted member 5383]

I have a hard time fathoming the prices I saw for these radiator covers/protectors. I think the one I bought is priced right for what it is and what it does. I would say give it a shot if you are in the market for a radiator protector for your NC.

I got one that was black for $25 awhile back that had "Akashi" in scroll lettering across the center. Wasn't bad, but not powdercoated but rather standard spraygun work. Came in 9 days. Does the job. I was going to rivet my own 16-gauge perf-hole powdercoated steel to its frame but really not much point to it.