New bike

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Jun 26, 2014
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Ashford, Kent. United Kingdom
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2006 Black NT700V ABS
Well I just knew it would happen. Take my bike in for some work and get a loaner that happens to be a model I have always had a desire to try.

I must confess that I have had a morning of shameful intimacy with another bike and was hooked by the comfort, handling and especially the 106bhp V4 motor.

Throw in a far larger than expected trade in offer for my old faithful friend (must have been the 50k sticker that did it Phil) and I had signed on the dotted line following a brief call to the wife to seek her approval.

Anyway I pick this up on 1st July, my first ever completely new bike and wave a really fond goodbye to Betty, my ever reliable companion. I hope you don't mind if I stick around as I really enjoy this forum.

 
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Mellow

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Ok.. I was thinking that was the 1200X... heck we don't even get the 800X over here.. congrats on the new ride.
 

Phil Tarman

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Graham, that's a really good-looking bike! How tall is it? I was at the Motorcycle Sport Touring Association's STAR rally (which you already knew) and they had an Africa Twin for their bike raffle. It was a beautiful bike, but I would have needed at least a two-foot stepladder to have gotten onto it. Fortunately, I didn't win it. :)

You've probably noticed that a lot of people have stayed on the Forum after having traded their NTs for different bikes. You're more than welcome to be here and we'll all be looking forward to hearing about the VFR800X.

As people used to on the Concours Owners Group Forum, "Join for the Bike, Stay for the People!"
 
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junglejim

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That should be a great bike. I was interested, but as Joe pointed out we don't get them over here. Nothing sounds like that V4. They are really sweet. Enjoy your new ride.

I hope your dealer is more honest than mine. I recently negotiated a trade at a Triumph dealer to trade in my NT on a Tiger 800 XRx. I ended up accepting $500 less than I wanted for my NT. But when I went to pick it up (160 miles away) the sales manager told me that he had to lower the trade in price by another $800 (total trade in value $2,200). This I found out only after I had loaded the new Tiger in my truck for the trip home. As it ended up we had a big disagreement. I didn't trade in the NT, but I did get the Tiger. I'll never return to that dealership again. And I learned that any future deals will need to be better documented.
 

Phil Tarman

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Wow, Jim! I hope you got a really good price on the Tiger! I would have been tempted to leave that with a dealer with that kind of lack of ethics.
 

junglejim

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Wow, Jim! I hope you got a really good price on the Tiger! I would have been tempted to leave that with a dealer with that kind of lack of ethics.
That was a tough decision in a heated moment. Mitch was there with me to help. On the way down to the dealer my trailer had a wheel bearing problem so I had to unload the NT from the trailer and put it in the truck and leave the trailer about 50 miles from home. The NT was unloaded and the Tiger was loaded. I could only haul one bike. It was the last 2016 I could find and it was reduced $1,800. So I had to return there the next week to pick up my NT. It was over 1,000 miles between trading motorcycles and retrieving my trailer.

Retrieving the trailer was an adventure too. I left it at an RV dealer in their locked yard with the wheel off and sitting on a jack. High winds blew the trailer off the jack and then the frame froze into the soft ground which was only partly thawed when I parked it there. It took a couple hours to raise the trailer and another hour to install a new hub kit to get back on the road. I'm blaming the dealership for that too.
 

RedLdr1

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Nice bike! I'd be looking at one closely if it were available here... I'm looking forward to reading a review!
 
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gbrand42
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Jun 26, 2014
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Ashford, Kent. United Kingdom
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2006 Black NT700V ABS
Graham, that's a really good-looking bike! How tall is it? I was at the Motorcycle Sport Touring Association's STAR rally (which you already knew) and they had an Africa Twin for their bike raffle. It was a beautiful bike, but I would have needed at least a two-foot stepladder to have gotten onto it. Fortunately, I didn't win it. :)
It's a little taller Phil, on the NT I can flat-foot one side and tip-toe the other. With the 800X it is tip-toe both sides. My guess is it's maybe an inch taller. I believe it does have a height-adjustable saddle, although I do not know whether the loaners saddle was set on the high or low position, only that it was good for me.


I hope your dealer is more honest than mine. I recently negotiated a trade at a Triumph dealer to trade in my NT on a Tiger 800 XRx. I ended up accepting $500 less than I wanted for my NT. But when I went to pick it up (160 miles away) the sales manager told me that he had to lower the trade in price by another $800 (total trade in value $2,200). This I found out only after I had loaded the new Tiger in my truck for the trip home. As it ended up we had a big disagreement. I didn't trade in the NT, but I did get the Tiger. I'll never return to that dealership again. And I learned that any future deals will need to be better documented.
Jim, really sorry to hear of your bad experience with that dealer - I would not be using them again if I was in your position. I am fortunate to already have a great long-term relationship with my dealer, and the deal has been documented and signed by both parties so I don't anticipate any problems. Hope you enjoy your Tiger - I have also been looking at this model but I think that for me the Honda worked out a little better, and of course it is available in the UK. I really hope Honda start selling this model in the states soon, I'm sure it would sell pretty well.
 
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WVRider

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Silver 2010 NT700V
Ok.. I was thinking that was the 1200X... heck we don't even get the 800X over here.. congrats on the new ride.
Same here ! I think the 800 would do great over here. I would even consider that one and appears to be shaft drive. If the luggage would be decent, I'd be sold.

Edit: Oh PS; Beautiful bike by the way !
 
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gbrand42
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Ashford, Kent. United Kingdom
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2006 Black NT700V ABS
Well here she is - I collected her this morning and just have time to get home, fit the Airhawk in case of numb rear problems and I'm off to do the National Road Rally 2017. Not quite an Iron Butt but will clock up 600-700 miles in the next 24 hrs. First service is booked in for Monday.

 

Phil Tarman

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Wow! That looks like a great ride! Let us know what you think after you get back from the National Rally.
 
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Well here she is - I collected her this morning and just have time to get home, fit the Airhawk in case of numb rear problems and I'm off to do the National Road Rally 2017. Not quite an Iron Butt but will clock up 600-700 miles in the next 24 hrs. First service is booked in for Monday.

Sure wish they would sell that model here in the USA. That bike might make me a Honda owner again. Nice looking bike.
 
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gbrand42
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I had a great day/night on the rally, met some very nice people and did a lot of miles which helped me to get used to the new bike - here are a few thoughts.........

The V4 engine is a great piece of engineering - it sounds really purposeful, is silky smooth, and has plenty of power (I haven't explored full throttle application or over 7,000 rpm as it's breaking in). Fuel consumption is a little worse than the NT - I am getting 50 mpg while breaking in, the NT used to give me about 55 mpg in normal use. I anticipate once I can explore all the power it will return maybe 45mpg, but I can live with that, it's giving me 41bhp additional fun so a little more fuel is worth it. I can detect no vibration through seat, pegs or bars. I found several times that I was cruising along in 5th gear instead of 6th, several years of NT ownership seems to have programmed my brain to stop changing up when I get to 5th, this is despite there being a gear indicator on the dash display. Cruising is effortless - an indicated 70mph has the engine spinning at 4400 rpm in top gear, similar to the NT, although with the red zone starting at 12,000 there is a little more to play with at the top end.

All controls have a quality feel we can expect from Honda - a nice touch are the adjustable clutch and brake levers which enabled me to fine tune the reach. The clutch is hydraulic and has a very slightly heavier pull than the cable arrangement on the NT which may be an issue for some. The LED lights were something else, I have never felt so confident riding out in the country at night although of course this did not help when a deer darted out of the undergrowth just in front of me - happily we did not collide.

In terms of comfort I think it would be wrong to expect total comfort over 700 miles on any completely stock bike. I can say that I had no knee or hip issues which had troubled me on the NT before I lowered the pegs. The seat gave me no more numb-butt than the stock NT seat but is something I will be looking to modify in due course as my modified NT seat was a revelation. A new issue I had was some pain across the back of my neck and shoulders. I believe this may be due to the extra width of the bars combined with the very upright riding position. It wasn't a huge issue and I'm hoping that I may find this fades as I get more miles under my belt and my body adjusts to the new riding position. I also found the grips a little skinny and hard as I used to run grip-puppies on the NT to help with the vibrations, so I may get a set for the Crossrunner.

Tyres are Bridgestone Adventure A40s which seemed perfectly fine in both wet and dry as we had a little rain during the night, I did not once see the traction control light flash which would have indicated some intervention from the bike.

Finally the stock screen is OK and is height adjustable, but I think I may change it for a touring screen which will give me a little more protection.

In summary - I love the new bike, I don't believe there is a perfect bike that suits every rider straight out of the crate, and the things I may need to change are relatively minor and not required urgently as they are as a result of me being probably excessively picky.

If I haven't bored you too much and you are still reading this, I hope it may have been of some interest to you. Now get onto your dealers to get this bike imported! The USA needs this bike.
 
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