STBernard
BlewBayou
Another Vfr lover here. I have 3 of them plus the ST. A white 93. A yellow 2000. And a red white and blue 2007.
On the forums there are lots of issues with the new vstrom 1000,maybe they will get them sorted with an updated model at some point,the extra power has to be good,just seems to be a lot of niggly issues with it,People seemed to like the old 650 better than the old 1000, but the new 1000 has been getting good reviews in the magazines. (Of course, almost everything gets good reviews in the magazines...)
I quite enjoyed the 29,000 miles I put on the NC700X. Honestly sometimes I wonder what possessed me to sell it. The CTX and NCX share the same frame and running gear and as you posted the platform feels very light and is stable at highway speeds and is nimble in the twisties. In addition to running around close to home I toured a lot on it and did many long high speed days in the saddle and two IBA rides. It did a lot of things really well and despite having only 50 rhp it never felt stressed doing it. They are inexpensive to buy and operate and have typical Honda build quality. The NCX cost me a nickel a mile to run, the ST has been 9 cents a mile.I've been thinking about getting a second bike for quick trips to town and shorter trips around here, like OzarkSTOC. I rode a CTX 700 yesterday at the Honda dealer. It was, compared to the 1300, super light and low speed handling was great. Of course, the power was lacking, but for as light as it felt, it was fairly stable at 65 mph in the wind. This board has always shortened my learning curve by others sharing their experience. Can I get some suggestions on second bikes others have purchased for the reasons above? Thanks.
I went thru a couple of KLR's & have a DR650 at the moment as well. 'Great bikes but the thumper vibe does start to get to you, particularly at sustained highway speeds. I had westrom for a while as well (DL650) to try to fix that, a really nice bike that did just about everything pretty well except for one thing: I just never wanted to ride it- sold it within a year. To me the perfect 2nd (or in my case 3rd or 4th really) bike is a Bonneville. Big enough to be capable of anything but not so big that it gets in the way. And, like a well endowed girl in a tight sweater, it kind of hard to look at and not smile:.... Too buzzy and light for me at hi way speeds, and as for the woods, I get enough of a beating on the tractor bush hogging the fields. I guess I shoud have titled this thread "3rd Bike".:
Since I now own Mellow's Vstrom I can attest to the validity of this statementI would do the VStrom 650 again in a heartbeat, cheap to buy, own, maintain and takes the same size tires as the bigger adv bikes so those choices are good. It's a vtwin and one of the smoothest engines I've ever had.
Eyeballing the Royal Enfield with a side car as well. Out of the box for me.I went thru a couple of KLR's & have a DR650 at the moment as well. 'Great bikes but the thumper vibe does start to get to you, particularly at sustained highway speeds. I had westrom for a while as well (DL650) to try to fix that, a really nice bike that did just about everything pretty well except for one thing: I just never wanted to ride it- sold it within a year. To me the perfect 2nd (or in my case 3rd or 4th really) bike is a Bonneville. Big enough to be capable of anything but not so big that it gets in the way. And, like a well endowed girl in a tight sweater, it kind of hard to look at and not smile:
Looking hard at those Mike.Glenn, if you are just going to ride the bike around town and close to home I'd say get either a CTX or NC with DCT. I think the NC with DCT would be a great bike for a bunch of in town driving. The upright seating position lets you see well and the DCT keeps the clutch hand from getting sore. The NC is an easy bike to own and very economical.
Mike
A "dual-sport" is a relative term like "adventure bike". You can create both out of just about any bike. Before you make such statements you should look around for people who disagree with that statement. Start with HONDABIKEPRO, Ponyperformance and Bammamate and see how they use their NCs. A group of NCs did the WA BDR last year.(the X really isn't a dual sport).
100? Depending on the choice of 1 of 4 CTX models it is 38 to 60 lbs heavier than a 500X but feels lighter compared to the 500X because of the lower CG of the 670cc laid down engine carried low in the frame and the under seat fuel location.For me, the CTX has too much overlap in function with the ST1300. I'd prefer something with a more extreme difference for a second bike. I read that you didn't like your thumper. The new Honda 500's (CBR, F, and X) intrigue me and I wish they'd used that motor in the new promised Africa twin or a different dual sport (the X really isn't a dual sport). They're 100 lbs lighter than the CTX too.
Okay, the X isn't really a dual sport without modification. The relative part for me is cast wheels - I don't consider any moto with cast wheels as a suitable dual sport. I've been on dozens of dual sport rides where rims were bent (done it several times myself) and even cracked, and the bikes still finished. Wouldn't happen with cast wheels. Also, the suspension on those bikes are good for only the slowest of speeds on anything other than groomed forest service roads. Even with modification, the travel is still less than 7" (I think the X was 5" or possibly a little more).A "dual-sport" is a relative term like "adventure bike". You can create both out of just about any bike. Before you make such statements you should look around for people who disagree with that statement. Start with HONDABIKEPRO, Ponyperformance and Bammamate and see how they use their NCs. A group of NCs did the WA BDR last year.
Mike
To me a dual-sport is still a usefully descriptive term, off and on road with with maybe a 70% bias toward dirt. To hit than you need a large wire wheel out front, weight under 400#, and a torq curve biased down low. A DR is the upper end of a proper dual sport, the 400 being better suited than the 650. Adventure bike is more of a marketing term (I'm well practiced in those black arts). Its sort of what they had to do when the GS's started to get huge & lost any real pretense of off road bias. Street bikes with dirt styling are adventure bikes, real dual sports these days tend to come in the color orange. You can of course take any bike anywhere and I have in fact taken a fully leden ST down the Valley of the Gods road but it wouldn't be the best tool for the job. Then again taking bikes to the edge of their design envelope tends to be where the most fun is to be had....A "dual-sport" is a relative term like "adventure bike". You can create both out of just about any bike...