New Member

[2Fish]

Hi everyone,

New member here and new rider here. Bought my first bike last year, a 2013 NC700S. Only 2000km on it when I bought it! Put 3000 more on it before I had to park it over a long winter. Live in northern BC, so a pretty short riding season. Got on the bike a couple weeks ago, only to have to park it for a week due to random May snow.

Two questions, and I'm sorry if this is maybe the wrong spot;

1: My battery went flat over the winter, likely due to bad storage practices. I replaced the battery with a new one this season. Worked top shelf. Parked undercover, didn't ride for about a week, battery is flat again. When I bought the bike, there was an SAE plug connected from the battery posts, with an in line fuse. I plugged a USB charging port into that SAE plug, but nothing was connected to the USB port. Would this be slowly draining power to the point of completely discharging the battery?

2: I'm due for some new tires as these are (I believe) still the original tires. Plenty of tread left, but I guess well past the 5 year lifespan of bike tires I keep reading about. Living in a pretty remote town, there isn't actually a bike dealer/repair shop that deals specifically with motorcycles. So I need to mail order tires. When I use websites that let you put in make and model info for your bike, I'm only able to put in a Honda NC700X. I've searched a bit using the search bar on the forum, but I'm having difficulty finding an answer. I've looked at the specific size of the tires on the bike; the rear reads 160/60 R17 and the front reads 120/70 R17. I'm curious though if there's a size range that would be suitable? The area I live in has a fair amount of maintained dirt roads, and I would like to be able to ride somewhat confidently on these as well as on the highway (which makes up 90-95% of the riding i would do). I've read there's differences in suspension between the S and the X. I'm a small rider at 5'6" and about 150lb. Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated! Thank you!

Great forum you folks have here!

 

[670cc]

Welcome, 2Fish.

USB adapters often draw power whether there is a USB device connected or not. I suggest you disconnect the USB adapter during non use, or power it from a key switched 12 volt source.

The S and the X models use the same size stock tires. If you have difficulty finding the replacement tire you want in the exact same stock size, you may be able to vary the size slightly as long as the tire is designed for the same rim width.

My experience is that street tires work fairly well on maintained dirt roads, but an 80-20 (street/off-road percentages) or 90-10 tire might be preferred. Check the Tire Tech Talk subforum for discussions on tires.