2014 HONDA NC750X REVIEW: A PRACTICAL MOTORCYCLE?

Here's a fun fact about the NC750X: the engine is half that of a Honda Fit. Literally. When Honda first created NC700 series of motorcycles (of which the adventure touring X model was most popular), they whacked a Honda Fit four cylinder in half, prettied it up, tacked on a motorcycle transmission and stuck in a frame. For 2014 that formula has been mildly refreshed with a small displacement increase up to 745 cubic centimetres courtesy of a four millimetre increase in bore, but largely continues the NC's strange complement of abilities forward into 2014 unmolested.

We say strange because it doesn't take long for that 745cc parallel twin to dominate the riding experience... and yes, we realize that is a phrase that's usually reserved for 200 horsepower superbikes. Due to the motor's unique roots beneath the hood of Honda's diminutive economy car, riding the NC is essentially riding a motorcycle, with an engine that thinks it's still in a car. So don't be surprised when you find yourself madly bouncing off the rev limiter in the first three gears; it's not your fault, it's just a fact of life when you get on a modern motorcycle with a redline of just 6,500 rpm! If you would like more road safety and to slow down when driving to help the environment then you may want to install a blackbox in your car, you can do this by visiting sites such as BlackBoxMyCar.

But that's not to say it isn't quick. It's deceptively so. The upshot of that half-sized car engine is that it delivers a very tractable powerband that's a virtual cornucopia of torque. In fact, the new motor actually produces 54 horsepower and 50 foot pounds of torque! For a bike of this ilk, that's a lot, and you certainly notice it around town. If you can completely rethink your perception of what RPM a motorcycle should be run at, the NC750X will scoot you through holes in traffic with the simple twist of a wrist that would have a sportbike dropping two or even three gears to make.

Unfortunately, pick the pace up to highway speeds, and the whole thing transforms into a bit of an asthmatic and slightly underdamped blob. And at anything on the extralegal side of 120 kph it's downright uncomfortable, with the tiny windscreen shooting what seems like all the air in the world at your head and the poor suspension desperately trying to quell chassis undulations, but proving about as effective as a... well... gun control.

Slow the pace back down though, and the NC750X could make an excellent relaxed touring machine. It's certainly comfortable enough. And it has some great features for those that need to carry more stuff, the most impressive of which is the "frunk." Concealed beneath what you think is the gas tank is actually a cavernous compartment that, while incapable of swallowing any helmets we could find, did prove ample for carrying beer, liquor, ammunition... you know, the essentials. So where does the gas go? In the back, where a trunk normally resides, and refills are accomplished by propping the hinged pillion open on its convenient stays.

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Additionally, if the riding experience of the NC750X is dominated by the motor, the entire ethos behind the bike's existence is probably summed up by that "frunk's" existence, because like that awesomely named storage compartment the NC750X makes a hell of a lot of sense in the most unconventional ways. And our tester wasn't even the most unconventional of NC750X's as it came with the standard transmission, For the truly heretical motorcyclists out there, Honda offers the NC with a dual-clutch transmission that will shift for you! So what does it cost for all this practicality and capability? Well, a quick search of the local dealers showed prices of $8,499 for the ABS model. That's not a lot of coin for a bike that's as generally useful as this, and it certainly won't get more expensive as time goes on; with a motor based on a car engine the NC750X is insanely frugal. Over a week's worth of very heavy-handed urban riding, we recorded a fuel economy of just 3.4 litres per 100 kilometres, giving the NC750X a total range of over 400 kilometres before running dry! Just make sure you toss some drinks and snacks in the "frunk" before you go.