My last new bike. I hope …..

Yoda

Yoda

Joined
Apr 25, 2013
Messages
292
Location
Western New Mexico (Ramah)
Bike
2021 Suzuki 650 VStrom; N
You guys are a bad influence my wife says.

Jungle Jim buys a BMW for gosh sakes.
ChucKLRST gets a fresh new NT1100.
Coyote Chris looking at Triumph’s and selling his FJR. Heresy.

I truly thought a new MotoGuzzi V85TT would be a perfect last bike. Simple air cooling. Shaft drive. Cruise. Ready to tour. UNTIL I rode one and discovered it was a cleverly disguised bbq grill. My feet and legs were COOKING after only a 15 min ride on a nice fall day. Forget it.

I looked at used BMW’s. 10 year old R1200GS. Affordable. BUT. Man, are they HUGE. I would never be able to pick it up.

I checked out Triumph Tiger Sport 800 tour. Too pricey. Looked at the new NT1100 and it was mighty tempting but still felt VERY big.

The TransAlp with new E-clutch was just not comfy for a long ride. Too much like a big enduro.

So, after all was considered, I bought the “Old Man’s Bike.” I am indeed OLD enough.
Nope, not a Gold Wing.
A new, updated NC750X DCT.

It is comfy. Nice low seat. Very low center of gravity. Exceptional fuel economy. SMOOTH. Easy handling. Stable highway manners. Only 3100 rpm at 60 mph. And, of course since I’m cheap, a very low price. Plus a 4 year warranty since I don’t know didlysquat about DCT.

I love the ‘frunk’ storage box. No more tank bag. Liking the parking brake. Trying to remember not to grab the clutch. LOL

So far, after a week, I’ve only racked up about 300 miles. First tank was 73.5 mpg with city, highway, and some mountain riding. Great!

Looking forward to next summer in Spearfish where all the new and old bikes will migrate. By then I plan to have panniers, cruise control, touring windshield, etc.

See you there. Rich
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Glad you are happy! Honda makes good stuff. Wish they would made the 650 4 cylinder into a sport touring bike. The E clutch clutch pull is very light.
My own quest has taken a set back with my injury and heart condition. I still have 3 good bikes.
Seat heights are ridiculas on many bikes...The good thing about the fronk is it keeps the gas weight lower. Still love my Interceptor, but put on risers, taller windscreen, cruise, luggage rack and panniers on this baby. After putting on a center stand. Would like to try that bike. Stay away from Italian, unless its food.
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Great choice Rich! Enjoy. That's a very practical bike for you and seems to check all your boxes. Probably the best fuel mileage of anything out there. And Honda makes great products.

Are you adding a center stand?
 
Yoda said:
Not planning a center stand right now. I have a hoist to lift it easily for servicing.
(I should be used to the DCT by next summer!)
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Understanding that chain maintenance is a highly controversial issue I think that at least some maintenance is warranted. When I traveled I'd spray it with lube at the end of each day while the chain was warm. Some recommend each tank of gas. Some never do anything.

You can spray the chain without a center stand by spraying a short portion (bottom), rolling the bike a short distance and spraying another short portion, and repeat until you have the whole thing done. Not convenient to say the least. Plus when on the side stand the chain is less accessible. This is exactly why people say that all chain drive bikes should have a center stand.

Whatever you decide there will always be someone who will agree with you and a dozen who don't.
 
junglejim said:
Understanding that chain maintenance is a highly controversial issue I think that at least some maintenance is warranted. When I traveled I'd spray it with lube at the end of each day while the chain was warm. Some recommend each tank of gas. Some never do anything.

You can spray the chain without a center stand by spraying a short portion (bottom), rolling the bike a short distance and spraying another short portion, and repeat until you have the whole thing done. Not convenient to say the least. Plus when on the side stand the chain is less accessible. This is exactly why people say that all chain drive bikes should have a center stand.

Whatever you decide there will always be someone who will agree with you and a dozen who don't.
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Like oil threads, Huh?
Personally, I would like some SAE tests that say an O ring chain must be warm.
One of the many niceties of a center stand is proper adjustment and alignment. And safety. Say the instruction manual says stand the bike upright to measure the slack at midpoint of the bottom. Say the midrange is one inch, pushing down to pulling up. OK, fine. Now put the bike on the center stand and check that measurement. Say its the same, or bit tighter or looser. Then make a note of that. You will find that as the chain and sprockets wear, this measurement will change up and down as you pull the rear wheel round and round. You can also check the witness marks for adjustment vs using a cheep tool or even your eyes to make sure the chain is centered on the rear sprocket as the wheel goes round. I am a believer in the Chuck memorial Dupont cleaner and wax lubricant. It is a bit inconvienient on the road as you need the wax carrier to dry off 20 min before you ride again. So do it once a day when you hit the motel or campground. The biggest complaint I have ref chains on modrn bikes is access to the front sprocket for cleaning and inspection. There isnt any. When the bike is new, btw, it doesnt hurt to check the side to side play. Both my chain bikes look good after 15K. The sproket wear is due IMHO to dirty greased chains pulling the rear sproket around (and front visa versa), where the dirt acts like a lapping agent. There is a very real posibility I will be dead before my two Chains wear out.

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My personal opinion is that I don’t apply the DuPont wax based chain lube unless the chain is CLEAN and dry.
I use a pressure washer (car wash) when traveling. I just don’t get real close to the chain when cleaning to avoid blowing out the o’ring seals.
I hate to imbed dust and dirt in the lube.
 
Yep - - - A hundred riders = 100 opinions on chain maintenance.

My take on that is that there is NO one good answer. And in the end you'll end up replacing the chain and sprockets anyway. Certainly dirt and grime cause wear on the EXTERIOR of the chain and sprockets. The chain also stretches from the INSIDE wear as well. So the links get a little sloppy and the gullets of the sprocket get deepened and you adjust your chain tension.

The other factor is how much power is applied to the drive system. Hard acceleration and hard/frequent engine braking causes more wear than easier acceleration and engine braking (think 50 hp compared to 150 hp). Also chain slap isn't good either and smooth shifts are better too. The harder you use it the faster it wears out. So, maybe, the topical lubricants and cleaning are possibly less important than proper adjustment and alignment along with riding technique. I dunno. If you figure anything else out let us know (and have fun riding it).
 
A fairly handy jig for minor stuff like chain lubing without a centerstand can be made pretty easily. Good to put a strap to hold the front brake on to make it more stable.
Fairly small so can be carried easily.
Chain bikes should all come with centerstands.

Arknt
 

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junglejim said:
Yep - - - A hundred riders = 100 opinions on chain maintenance.

My take on that is that there is NO one good answer. And in the end you'll end up replacing the chain and sprockets anyway. Certainly dirt and grime cause wear on the EXTERIOR of the chain and sprockets. The chain also stretches from the INSIDE wear as well. So the links get a little sloppy and the gullets of the sprocket get deepened and you adjust your chain tension.

The other factor is how much power is applied to the drive system. Hard acceleration and hard/frequent engine braking causes more wear than easier acceleration and engine braking (think 50 hp compared to 150 hp). Also chain slap isn't good either and smooth shifts are better too. The harder you use it the faster it wears out. So, maybe, the topical lubricants and cleaning are possibly less important than proper adjustment and alignment along with riding technique. I dunno. If you figure anything else out let us know (and have fun riding it).
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So the links get a little sloppy and the gullets of the sprocket get deepened and you adjust your chain tension.
IMHO, you may get away with this for awhile but I believe the shape of a tooth is no accident. In the case of the rear sprocket, the chain pulls the sprocket teeth in such a manner that there is a smooth and even force on the transition of power from rollers to sprocket.
I would say most people do get about 15 k out of their chains and sprockets under a normal amount of use and abuse. I believe 30K is possible with lots of non agressive riding and good maintenance. In 1968, it was childs play and cheep to replace chains and sprockets on Japanese Motorcycles. Now, not so fun and not so cheep.
I think maintenance coupled with riding technique are all important. Especially in this US world of non enclosed chains. The good news is that they seldom give way compleatly and hurt anyone. $300-600 to replace chains and sprokets are a small price to pay vs going down in traffic. OTOH I have seen chains and sprokets that frighten me. Two Vstrom guys came to a BMW ralley Frosty and I attended. One has a chain with way too much slack and worn everything...he told me yeah, he was going to replace it when he got home...
Oshkosh 2o25. Love the chain wear indicators on this bike....
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BTW, chains can fail and not look bad. A centerstand allows a mostly complete inspection for cracks and damaged O rings. The high output LED headlamps now are amazing. I am not here to tell Yoda to not pressure wash a chain. His bike. But O ring failure is not uncommon and when they fail, damage inside the chain can come quick.
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I have a 2015 NC700X, I love riding it, wish it had ABS though. There's a lot of information over on this NC forum https://www.nc700-forum.com/ including discussions on chains:)

I've been thinking about upgrading to the DCT NC, I found a couple of "new" 2024s on cycletrader, I don't know what my wife would think about spending that kind of money.
 
JASJR said:
I have a 2015 NC700X, I love riding it, wish it had ABS though. There's a lot of information over on this NC forum https://www.nc700-forum.com/ including discussions on chains:)

I've been thinking about upgrading to the DCT NC, I found a couple of "new" 2024s on cycletrader, I don't know what my wife would think about spending that kind of money.
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Hide the bike behind the vaccumm cleaner. She will never find it!
All my bikes are left overs, discounted.
I dont know the breaking system of the NC. It doesnt rain here so I dont even know if mine works....only that the rear brakes dont work on the VFR and Vstrom. I DO know that traction control has saved my bacon more than once. They dont use salt here on the roads....they use sand. I was accellerating out of a stop sign, turning left onto a 55 mph highway on my FJR and the back wheel broke loose in the turn....when bam! The Traction control saved me.
ABS in cars is wonderful. That is how I check for black ice in WA state. Not sure I have ever seen it work on a bike.
 
Braking systems are now real complicated. BUT the laws of physics still apply to all of them. There are simi-intregated and fully integrated braking systems.

Semi integrated systems apply front brake some rear brake pressure when the hand lever is used, It is commonly in a fixed 70% front/30% rear ratio. The foot lever only activates the rear brake.

In a fully integrated braking system the hand lever activates both front and rear brakes simultaneously and the brake pedal does too. But then the computer gets involved. It can compute front/rear brake pressure based on front lever pressure and wheel speed. More sophisticated systems can also factor in lean angle and pitch from accelerometer inputs.

There may be more than I'm aware of (common). And I left out the part about how ABS and riding modes integrates with this too (which I mostly don't understand). All of these systems seem to work great for their intended purposes and we must keep this in mind. It is still a motorcycle and you're on two wheels going fast. Pay attention!!!!!
 
junglejim said:
Braking systems are now real complicated.
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Actually, I have found the Honda ST1300 and Goldwing braking systems to be the most complicated based on how they do linked braking...

The Yamaha/Suzuki/BMW systems I find to be pretty darn good and not nearly as complicated when it comes to linked systems. From a hardware perspective anyway.. if there's a computer involved, I'm find with that as long as I can flush/bleed the system easily.
 
Coyote Chris said:
All my bikes are left overs, discounted.
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I used to shop for value too as long as it included the things that I thought were a "must have". But I quit that last summer.
I bought the motorcycle that I wanted. (recommended)
I also bought the bicycle that I wanted. My best value bicycle is for sale (actually 2 of them).
I complain about a whole bunch of new stuff, BUT, I enjoy some of the new stuff too because it works better.
 
Mellow said:
Actually, I have found the Honda ST1300 and Goldwing braking systems to be the most complicated based on how they do linked braking...

The Yamaha/Suzuki/BMW systems I find to be pretty darn good and not nearly as complicated when it comes to linked systems. From a hardware perspective anyway.. if there's a computer involved, I'm find with that as long as I can flush/bleed the system easily.
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I am going to burn. I never worry about getting out the last bit in the linked systems. From 1983 Goldwing on.
 
junglejim said:
Braking systems are now real complicated. BUT the laws of physics still apply to all of them. There are simi-intregated and fully integrated braking systems.

Semi integrated systems apply front brake some rear brake pressure when the hand lever is used, It is commonly in a fixed 70% front/30% rear ratio. The foot lever only activates the rear brake.

In a fully integrated braking system the hand lever activates both front and rear brakes simultaneously and the brake pedal does too. But then the computer gets involved. It can compute front/rear brake pressure based on front lever pressure and wheel speed. More sophisticated systems can also factor in lean angle and pitch from accelerometer inputs.

There may be more than I'm aware of (common). And I left out the part about how ABS and riding modes integrates with this too (which I mostly don't understand). All of these systems seem to work great for their intended purposes and we must keep this in mind. It is still a motorcycle and you're on two wheels going fast. Pay attention!!!!!
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Something else I refuse to worry about, like shims.
I am bummed that 300 milliom years ago, I would have had oceanfront property. :(
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junglejim said:
I used to shop for value too as long as it included the things that I thought were a "must have". But I quit that last summer.
I bought the motorcycle that I wanted. (recommended)
I also bought the bicycle that I wanted. My best value bicycle is for sale (actually 2 of them).
I complain about a whole bunch of new stuff, BUT, I enjoy some of the new stuff too because it works better.
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At our point of life, why not?
 
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