Just one more question....

[Coyote Chris]

OK, I am feeling like Columbo here but I keep having questions....
1. The gas gage doesnt seem to move till there is a significant amount of gas used up. Is this typical and has anyone come up with a fix like we did with the connie gage, using a variable resistor?
2. Given it is cold here but the temp gage seems to ride at what would be the one quarter full mark if it was a gas gage. So I left the bike running in my garage when I got back from a ride and when the gage got up to "half full" the fan came on. I assume this is normal?
3. I wonder if anyone has had any problems buying a 2010 now and having the battery crap out early. I am thinking the batteries in these bikes could well have been made in 2009. I use a battery tender so I guess we shall see.
4. Anyone install some sort of a "bigfoot" additon to the kick stand pad or feel the need to do so?
5. I took a deep breath, said a prayer, and tried to put the bike up on the centerstand today for the first time. There was nothing to it. Even with my bad back, it was a piece of cake. My connie I have to put a 3/4 in board under the rear wheel. I am wondering if it will be this easy with a bit of a load on (this was with a full tank of gas.)
6. I have one year to decide if I want a five year extended warrenty for $800. What do you think? With connie still in the picture, I envision putting about 3,000 to 5,000 miles a year on this bike.
Chris surrounded by a growing pile of farkels....

 

[vacanefan]

Hey Chris, here are my experiences on your questions:
1. Normal.
2. Normal.
3. No issues so far with battery.
4. There have been a couple of members to modify the side stand. I'm sure there are posts on this site.
5. Getting the bike on center stand has been no issue with the bike loaded or unloaded for me.
6. I bought the extended warranty, but plan on putting many miles on it (13,000 in first year).

--Jeff

 

[tawilke46]

5. I took a deep breath, said a prayer, and tried to put the bike up on the centerstand today for the first time. There was nothing to it. Even with my bad back, it was a piece of cake.

Now I am feeling like a real wuss.
Seem to be the only one on the forum that has had a problem with getting the NT on the centerstand. I always bang up my right shin on the left footpeg.
Had no problem with my '98 PC800.
http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/album.php?albumid=179&attachmentid=3202
Notice PC is up on centerstand!!!!!
Must be my technique........maybe need more cake........maybe need to workout more......

 

[taldric]

Everything sounds pretty normal to me. At the annual NT rally last year I got attention because my bizarre method for putting the bike up on the center stand. Come this summer and we can all compare notes. Maybe we can have a contest to see who can stop-to-center stand the fastest!

 

[RedLdr1]

3. I wonder if anyone has had any problems buying a 2010 now and having the battery crap out early. I am thinking the batteries in these bikes could well have been made in 2009. I use a battery tender so I guess we shall see.

You are assuming the battery in your NT came with it from Honda. That is not always the case, the battery dealer puts in may have been sitting around the shop for awhile...or even quite awhile.... I've seen that done more than once.

 

[its just rain]

I smiled when the sidestand was mentioned. I tried and tried to get it up on that darn thing this afternoon and just couldn't quite get it there. I finally pushed the back wheel up on a couple pieces of plywood to give it just a bit more height and got it up on the stand. I've read all the techniques here but for the life of me just can't do it. I know, I know I'm a wuss

 

[ohblackwater]

I smiled when the sidestand was mentioned. I tried and tried to get it up on that darn thing this afternoon and just couldn't quite get it there. I finally pushed the back wheel up on a couple pieces of plywood to give it just a bit more height and got it up on the stand. I've read all the techniques here but for the life of me just can't do it. I know, I know I'm a wuss

You're probably not a wuss, you probably just haven't figured out the right technique. Why don't you take the bike by a dealer and let them show you how to do it. Let them show you and then you do it a couple of times right there in front of them. I'd think that they'd be happy to show you how to knock this out. It should be real easy, but there IS a technique to it. My bike doesn't have a side stand, but I have a buddy with a goldwing who's does. I was going to put his GW up on the sidestand once and just didn't have the technique to do it. He showed me how, but then put the bike back down and said "now you do it"...and I did. It was a charm. Cheers!

 

[Nicole]

Now I am feeling like a real wuss.
Seem to be the only one on the forum that has had a problem with getting the NT on the centerstand. I always bang up my right shin on the left footpeg.
Had no problem with my '98 PC800.
http://www.nt-owners.org/forums/album.php?albumid=179&attachmentid=3202
Notice PC is up on centerstand!!!!!
Must be my technique........maybe need more cake........maybe need to workout more......

Your braver than I to try! I haven't even tried to get mine on the stand yet .... but if i want to go camping I probably want to start trying

 

[Chuck 500]

Answers above are spot on by my (limited) experience.

1. Fuel gauge is definitely non-linear. Full is full and empty means there is one gallon (MOL) left.
2. Fan behavior seems normal
3. Had a recent battery issue on my 2010. Attributed to sitting for almost three weeks. Weak voltage cause bike not to start. Dealer recharged battery and it seems fine today.
4. As for "bigfoot", I carry a plastic pad I got as a freebie form the MSF course I took. I only use when i park on a soft surface like soft gravel or grass.
5. Center stand is definitely a technique. It takes practice. Dealer should be able to show you and spot you while you practice some. Mine did when I took delivery. Make sure bike is in neutral and pull in clutch. made that mistake one night and nearly dislocated my knee i was romping on the stand so hard.
6. As for the extended warranty, it will depend on your plans. If you plan to keep the NT for five years, it's a good idea IMHO. I plan to keep mine that long and will like be close to 100,000 miles by then.

Keep the shiny side up,

Chuck

 

[elizilla]

Must be my technique........maybe need more cake........maybe need to workout more......

Cake. Definitely go for the cake. It'll help more, plus, it's cake!

 

[Coyote Chris]

Yes, I agree it is all technique....over the years, bikes have gotten heavier but with good technique (the stomp) I never had a bit of problem (even though I am a 160 lb weakling) untill Connie. After gettting a voodoo doll that looks like a Kawasaki Engineer and sticking it a bunch of times over that and the valve cover, and no drain holes in the forks, I just carried a small flat board no thicker than 3/4 of an inch and beveled one end so I could role connie back onto it. Then it was easy. Maybe a series of training boards would be useful....keep going thinner and thinner till you get the technique.

 

[Coyote Chris]

I wonder if my battery has a code date?

 

[RedLdr1]

I wonder if my battery has a code date?

Maybe, but what really matters is the in-service date when it was first serviced and initially charged...

 

[bicyclist]

6. I have one year to decide if I want a five year extended warrenty for $800. What do you think? With connie still in the picture, I envision putting about 3,000 to 5,000 miles a year on this bike.

When companies try to sell me an extended warranty, I ask them whether they've sold me a piece of junk. If it's a good product, why do I need an extended warranty? Based on the experience of the Europeans in the past dozen years, the NT seems to be a pretty good product. Keep that 800 bucks in your pocket and you'll still have it at the end of 5 years. Give it to them and ya got nothing. If you do have a problem, you can fix a lot of stuff for that amount. Just my opinion.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I bought the extra four years of warranty protection. One of the good sides to that decision is Honda's roadside assistance plan. If I break down in the middle of Montana, they send a truck and take me to a dealer and the bike gets fixed free. I'm at 34,000 miles now and by the time I start my 22,000 mile retirement ride in July of '13, I'll be close to 60,000 miles. I'm guessing that by the time I've had the bike 5 years, it'll have well over 100,000 miles on it. It may be getting close to 200,000. By then I may need some warranty service.

 

[tawilke46]

Shoot! I'll be lucky to have 60,000 miles in 10 years!
At my age (ok, I'm only 65, a youngster, I know) and condition (kidney transplant 18 mos ago) it is too uncomfortable for me to ride more than 250 to 350 miles in one day, may get a 450 miler in every now and then. But that is about the outer limit for me in one day.
Can't put together the strings of high mileage days I used to.
More into shorter daily rides, taking my time and stopping for the night and getting some rest for the next day's riding. Taking longer and enjoying the ride.
I still get there, just takes longer.
This NT is my last hurrah for motorcycle riding. When I reach a point where I can't ride this thing anymore, I am hanging up my spurs.

 

[Coyote Chris]

I agree. I will skip the extended warrenty. I already have motorcycle/RV insurance in case I am stranded. But if I was to put on higher milage, I think I would spring. Conversly, for $1500, I turned down the two year maintenence agreement.

 

[Coyote Chris]

I suspect that dealers have some wiggle room in warrenty and service agreeement as far as prices....Perhaps my dealer meant the first year plus two additonal. He said he wanted to see the bike three times a year.
$1200 would be not out of the relm of fairness if it included three valve settings in addtion to 9 oil changes. It is still too rich for my blood. Thow in an addtional two year warrenty and a loaner bike during service periods and I am there.
(By the way, the Coeur D'Alene Id dealer, who is getting in two black NTs and will discount them, said he is seeing bikes of all sizes returned to the warehouses from failed dealerships. ) I put this down more to the economy
as dealers in a healthy economy here can sell lots of quads, bikes, watercraft, and snowmobiles in the Pacific North west.)

 

[tawilke46]

I put this down more to the economy
as dealers in a healthy economy here can sell lots of quads, bikes, watercraft, and snowmobiles in the Pacific North west.)

Dealers here in Baton Rouge tell me they make most of their annual revenue selling 4 wheelers during hunting season. Not motorcycles.
And that is every year! I guess if you are a outdoor sportsman you have money to burn on 4 wheelers every year, regardless of how the economy is doing.

 

[Chucksklrst]

When I bought my Wee the local dealer was asking MSRP of $8099 + TTL. I told the Sales Manager about the ad for a new Wee in Charlotte for $7,300 + TTL and told him I really didn't want to drive over but I would if he didn't match it. They matched,

You got a good deal on your Wee. I bought my 2009 ABS from a local Denver dealer in Nov 09 and got it for 6999.+tax & plates. I had gone in earlier in the summer and they would not budge off of retail of 8000+. Same unit. It had been sitting there for a year. It was cold in Nov. and I guess they were hungry by then.