The one sure way to know it's spring is the motorcycle dealers are running demo days in an effort of enticing you to part with your cash for their newest motorcycle offerings. Saturday was a mixed bag of sun and clouds and warmer temperatures in Victoria. So it was up out of bed early, grab a quick cup of coffee which wasn't nearly enough, and we were on our way to check out Honda's newest offerings in hopes one would follow hubby home. We looked at everything and hubby tried two, the NC750X manual and NC750 DCT. I suggested he try the Africa Twin and VFR1200, and he wasn't interested. I was tempted to take out the F6B, which is a scaled down Goldwing without the top trunk and then after sitting on the behemoth I decided against it due to how heavy it was. I was also on a mission for my riding school to put the Rebel 300 through its paces, as we are looking at it as an addition to our traffic fleet.
Hubby was 'meh' on both NC's, although he did find the DCT automatic intriguing, but not enough to purchase it. He found the manual NC a capable plain bike. It has a reputation being compared to 'oatmeal' pokey, slow, and very low revving, the bike was designed as a commuting bike and its presence in the market has more of a solid footing in Europe due to its good gas mileage and front trunk which sits where the gas tank normally would. He did like it, but it is not hitting any chords in his heart, so I guess it means more test drives.
I rode the Rebel 300, my impression is that it is a vast improvement over the previous Rebel 250's, which were chunky small beginner bikes. My last experience with the 250 was a bone rattling ride which is as slow as a bowl of watery oatmeal, but it was a good entry level bike for those looking to get something light and flickable. The Rebel 300 has more pep and is a little more agile, and doesn't shake your bones apart and has a cleaner design. It was a little sluggish for the highway and you have to quickly shift. For our purposes it will be a good traffic bike for novice students. I was also talking to a former student who is on the petite side and she purchased the CB300F last year and liked it, but felt it was still too tall, even with lowering links. She sat on the Rebel 300 and it was a perfect fit, so for petite riders there are two offerings the 300 and 500, which I believe share the same frame specs.
5 comments:
Looks like you two had fun. Hopefully hubby finds a bike that will make his heart sing, or at least make him want to give it a pat on the tank when he walk by.
Was the Africa Twin just too overhyped in his eyes?
Trobairitz - its so funny he still has his '84 Honda Magna and loves it, its just getting worn out. He'll know when he finds it.
Dom - I think he just feels the Honda line is limited and there isn't anything he finds appealing. He only wants something a 1,000cc and under because of insurance costs here. He does think the Twin is hyped and he has no desire to off road, so its not for his purposes. He thinks its heavy and its just not his style. He did like the VFR1200. If the NC750X had a little more oomph I think it might have fit the bill. I suggested a Vstrom to him and he's not crazy about that either, He likes my bike, but they don't bring the NC750SA here anymore, I think he woukd have bought it if they had it, but I could be wrong,
It has gotta make you grin, or keep looking! 😁
So that's what you were up to that morning! Time well wasted.
Let's see... Kirk needs a Ducati, or maybe a fully fared Apprilia. Once you go Italian, you never go back.
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