New Member Questions / Upgrades

[mdmcdougall]

I just got a 2012 NC700X from my Father in Law. He bought it new and only put 1300 miles on it, bless his heart. I always bugged him about letting me know if he ever wants to sell it and yesterday he called me over to his house and gave me the bike. Happy Birthday for me.

The bike has been dropped a couple of times, once the Left turn signal broke off and once the Brake lever broke.

Who has upgraded the brake and clutch levers with the bendable kinds and what brands do you guys like?

Im gonna do the seat mod also since im 6'3" and need the room.

Thinking I might need new tires soon since they are almost 5 years old from the DOT dates, what tires is everybody like? I mostly ride on pavement, with a little chance of fire roads, no heavy off road stuff.

Thinking I might change the exhaust also. What brands do you guys like?

Thinking of a rear rack for my luggage, what brands does everyone like with regards to ease of install and $ ?

I know I have a lot of questions and didn't know if I should post them individually but here goes. If I need to post separately I will.

Im anxious to start putting some miles on this beauty.

My other bike is a 2002 VFR 800, which is currently up for sale. Wife says I can only have 1 Motorcycle at a time.

I attached some pics, hopefully I did it correctly.

 

[670cc]

I found the levers that are both adjustable reach and jointed to reduce breakage to be too sloppy for good feel. There're too many joints. I prefer adjustable reach only.

The tire sub forum covers popular tire choices. There's really no reason to repeat it all here.

 

[GunNut37086]

congrats on the kickas bday gift!!

are the tires dry-rotted?

looks like a v-stream windscreen? if so, best there is, in my opinion

my advice would be to put a 400-500 miles on before changing much...that way you learn what is highest priority.

if the frunk isn't enough room for storage that's a different ballgame...I recommend checking out Motostorm they have fantastic prices on Givi and Kappa luggage. Even with shipping you'll save a boatload.

Best of luck with the new bike!

 

[Old Can Ride]

Russell Day Long (a California company) makes a very nice seat for your motorcycle. Yes, they are pricy, but well worth the money. Like GunNut37086 stated, unless you drive at high speeds and you can see tire speration or dry rot, then the tires should be fine. I am a big Givi fan also. By purchasing just Givi every thing fits perfect. I also agree on the windshield, it is one of the best. You might need to adjust the shield up or down, but other than that it is a great windscreen. There a number of exhaust systems on Ebay. All have a better sound, but non add that much more power....

Have fun, and welcome the forum.

 

[Deleted member 5383]

There's a lot of similar quality items from a number of companies. But like GunNut37086 says, let some riding set your priorities. Don't drink the kool aid.

Adjustable levers are fine, but if you don't want busted ones, and would like some additional crash protection get some real handguards.

 

[FezUSA]

As above, ride and then figure out what you actually need. Then search this forum as there's a tonne of great info. You can also use Google to search this site with often times better results, just go to Google and type in your search term and add "site:nc700-forum.com" to the end without the quotes, e.g. carrier site:nc700-forum.com

For me, I wanted/needed a soft bag and carrier for my workday commuting. I bring a laptop + accessories, gym gear, lunch and when needed IT toolkit. If the weather is questionable I'll also throw in my Olympia packable rain gear. For the first year I just strapped my Wolfman bag to the pillion seat. This bag was chosen for size, then durability, then other 'features'. I also bought a bright coloured waterproof backpack cover that I put over it in the hard rain. This year I put on the SW-Motech Alu-Rack along with their soft carrier plate. This gives me a nice streamlined rack that on its own doesn't really add much, but still looks good. However the quick-release carrier plate allows me to carry my bag and also strap on any extras with ease and has many tie-down options. The plate installs and removes in under 30 seconds and means that my pillion seat is still available for the occasional passenger and saves a minor annoyance during fuel-ups as I don't need to move the bag to get to the filler cap. In addition, if I ever decide to go with a top box then there are many conversion plates available for different manufacturers so I'm not limited to one particular brand of box. There's also side frames available for panniers of various brands. SW-Motech make excellent gear that is well reviewed and the install was very very easy.

Have fun figuring out what you need and plan on spending plenty of time going through the forums looking at everyone's mods to see which ones might work for you. Just don't spend more time on the forum than actually riding

 

[dduelin]

Congratulations on the score. I try to keep tires less than 3 years old on my bikes. It's just my opinion. It's a subtle change over time but comparing older tires with newer ones with a fingernail press into the rubber can show how the compounds harden.

Aftermarket levers often don't engage the clutch and brake lever micro switches properly. It's a thread that's popped up here from time to time.

I have had both the Givi and SW Motech rear rack and prefer the latter. To my eye it's better looking and more useful when a top box is not fitted.

I'd be asking my wife why she needs more than one pair of shoes or why not just one purse or handbag? "One is all you need Honey"

 

[ld_rider]

If I need to post separately I will.

Probably a good idea!

Im anxious to start putting some miles on this beauty.

Best idea!

I'll echo what others have said; Ride it and <then> decide what needs to be changed.

I have a set of GIVI luggage on mine and very happy with it. Same with my Russell Day long saddle.

They work for me but might not be right for you. I have the same windscreen and hated it until I added a MRA -Xcreen spoiler X-creen - MRA – Motorcycle Windshields

 

[MichaelJohn]

Thinking I might change the exhaust also. What brands do you guys like?

I put a Leo Vince slip-on on mine and it really added to my riding pleasure. It adds just enough volume and a lot of character to the sound - much deeper rumble than the stock pipe. I think I paid about $370 from RevZilla but I believe they're up to around $400 now. To me it was well worth it.

 

[Jut8]

I can second the recommendation for Motostorm.it for your luggage needs. No one around can match their prices. I got a givi rear rack, givi side monokey side case mounts, kappa k33n cases, and givi handguard shipped to my door for under $500.

If you dont need hard cases, while I am waiting for my stuff to arrive, I have been using Ogio soft saddlebags which I originally bought for my roadstar warrior. They play real nice with the NC also, easy on and off, and they are expandable and have a "rain jacket" that can go over them if needed.

I learned my lesson about bringing up the exhaust question here, your gonna get some flack for making the bike louder. I ended up going with a delkevic 13" trioval. I think it matches the line/look of the bike well, and it adds an exhaust note that I am happy with. It takes it from silent to a respectable exhaust note without being obnoxious....i like to hear my bike, it set me back $204 shipped. I have the carbon triovals by them on my aprilia tuono, and I can say that I am very happy with build quality, fit and finish on them. They are hard to beat.

With all that said, its easy to buy the bike and drop a ton of $$ into it right away, like other have said, put some mileage on her, and your priority list might change. It did for me. I found out for long trips, a new seat bumped up quite a few notches on my priority list.

 

[mdmcdougall]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I did a few things today to the NC. Did the seat mod and it feels a ton better just sitting on it stationary. Can't wait too go ride it. Have appt at DMV on Friday to register. Also replaced brake lever with stock type. Busy week this week, drop it off on Thursday to get my mechanic to give it the once over and change all the fluids.

I did notice that my left foot peg is bent also. Any preferences on those from the group? Here are some pics from today.

 

[shapemaster]

A very nice gift.

Do you ride with him?

I'd say stay with stock levers. Do you plan to drop the bike? Most likely not.

That windscreen is really tall but at your height may be perfect.

Congratulations! Low miles, yes most likely tires and a battery are in order.

Say, has he had any issues with the water pump or gasket leaking?

 

[mdmcdougall]

A very nice gift.

Do you ride with him?

I'd say stay with stock levers. Do you plan to drop the bike? Most likely not.

That windscreen is really tall but at your height may be perfect.

Congratulations! Low miles, yes most likely tires and a battery are in order.

Say, has he had any issues with the water pump or gasket leaking?

I have ridden with him a couple of times. I think he is done riding for now.

I see no water pump issues currently. No puddles on the ground in my garage. It has been sitting there for 2 weeks now.

I have the factory windscreen also. I am gonna try them both see which one I like best.

 

[Lars]

Welcome to the NC world. I'm new too, really enjoying getting to know my NC. Torque and a low center of gravity are awesome, as is getting twice the mileage my other bikes get! You've got lots of good advice to sort through here - my add to this discussion is to put a plug in for Sargent seats out of Florida. I've been on a Sargent for 10 years on my KLR, and my butt thanks them every time I do a 600 mile day! My NC seat from Sargent arrives tomorrow, complete with red welting to match my NC!

Also second the recommendations for SW-Motech Alu-Rack - nice product, very sturdy, lots of adaptor plates available.