NT700 Rolling chassis photos

stephenmacklin

Guest
Greetings folks. Can anyone share any photographs of their NT700 with all the plastics removed. (Yes, I am looking for motorcycle nudes - lol) Thinking a 2007 Non ABS bike might make an excellent base for a RTW bike. Shaft drive, EFI, fast enough, light enough (hopefully), serviceable on the road with a bit of rework and prep. Thanks
 
Stephen, someone here will undoubtedly be able to help you with some NT porn :biggrin:. I might also suggest the Deauville forum on your side of the pond, "deauvilleuk.org" as I know I have seen some pix posted on their site. In the UK as you likely know they deal with both the 650 and 700 Deaus whereas we only were "allowed" to buy the 700's. Hope this helps!

Mike
 
Thanks for the replies. Found some maint videos that gives me an idea of what would be involved. There seems to be a lot of heavy bolt on steel protection under there. Will never understand why Honda dropped the mid weight shaft drive shaft platform.
 
stephenmacklin said:
Thanks for the replies. Found some maint videos that gives me an idea of what would be involved. There seems to be a lot of heavy bolt on steel protection under there. Will never understand why Honda dropped the mid weight shaft drive shaft platform.
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I agree that it is sort of the ideal motorcycle for solo touring and commuting, but I suspect that the reason to drop mid-sized shaft drive bikes was simply that they cost too much to build and the resulting retail price put them too high to compete with chain-drive 650s and too close to much larger bikes which were faster, more comfortable and could carry more stuff.
 
It's pretty simple. If a company sells all of its model XX motorcycle each year, they keep making it. If they don't sell each one made, that model XX goes away.

End of story.
 
Who was that super nice guy that used to come to our rallys....was he a Scot or was he Irish? Maybe Stephen knows him? I dont think we are likely to see a intermediate bike with a shaft any time soon. Its a money and weight issue. I still think there is nothing wrong with an enclosed chain.
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When I first started riding in the late-60s, it was in the dirt with a couple of good pals. One of them had a Bultaco Matador that had a completely enclosed chain and I was amazed at how clean and fresh it looked after many months of neglect. The Matador had a heavy alum casting at the back wheel with rubber boots that enclosed both runs of the chain.

Now days that level of protection could be done with plastics for a lower cost and nil addition to unsprung weight. To me, it's purely a cultural hangup we Americans have with wanting to see an open chain & drive sprocket. Many of the smaller bikes made for countries where dirt roads are common do have an enclosed drive chain.
Those customers don't care about the "looks" and just want a chain drive system that requires far less maintenance.
 
DirtFlier said:
When I first started riding in the late-60s, it was in the dirt with a couple of good pals. One of them had a Bultaco Matador that had a completely enclosed chain and I was amazed at how clean and fresh it looked after many months of neglect. The Matador had a heavy alum casting at the back wheel with rubber boots that enclosed both runs of the chain.

Now days that level of protection could be done with plastics for a lower cost and nil addition to unsprung weight. To me, it's purely a cultural hangup we Americans have with wanting to see an open chain & drive sprocket. Many of the smaller bikes made for countries where dirt roads are common do have an enclosed drive chain.
Those customers don't care about the "looks" and just want a chain drive system that requires far less maintenance.
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Yup! I can relate to that. My first bike was a Honda S65 which had an enclosed chain. I noticed that when I looked at other "real motorcycles" (read big) they had exposed drive chains while the mopeds (read small) had enclosed chains. Practicality mean nothing to me then, it was all about the looks. Needless to say that I was tickled when I graduated to an S90 with an exposed chain. The next visual cue was the stamped steel frame which I graduated from with the CB160. The final visual item were the gray control cables. My CB750 finally delivered me to the black cables which everybody knew back then were used on "real" motorcycles.

Mike
 
Many of the early Honda’s had enclosed chains although I think it had more to do with keeping those early riders clean from what flings off a chain than it did with lowering chain maintenance. Remember how the people were dressed in the early Honda advertisements.
 
Warren said:
Many of the early Honda’s had enclosed chains although I think it had more to do with keeping those early riders clean from what flings off a chain than it did with lowering chain maintenance. Remember how the people were dressed in the early Honda advertisements.
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I have had two bikes with enclosed chains. An 80 cc Yamaha circa 1965 and my 1980 Yamaha XV920 RH.
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JustPassinThru said:
An enclosed chain is an interesting idea...interesting retro idea, I guess I should say. Never saw one of the early Hondas with it; but I had seen reprints of the ads.

But. Even enclosed, there's wear on the sprockets. Ask anyone who's had a camshaft chain fail.

I agree with others, how we're not going to see the midsized shaft-drivers again; and I agree with the given reasons why. The added cost and complexity in tooling, didn't translate into additional sales...why bother? America is not an important motorcycle market - relatively speaking. Not anymore; not the way it was in the 1960s. People were more adventurous and had less income; and, frankly, there weren't nearly so many cars per person and so good used car prices stayed up. Back about 1965, a college student was going to have to take the bus; and a little moped or cycle could be liberating. Today, with borrowed money so free, most of them have cars. Many since high school, even.

So...we get what's easy, inexpensive to tool up, and what the market demonstrates buyers will accept.

In fact, every shaft model Honda brought out, was less than a success except for the Gold Wing and to a lesser extent the CX500. Everything else seems to have come, not sold quickly, and went away forever. Now it seems the Crosstour is going the same way.
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The new Moto Guzzi v85tt is a mid displacement shafty 850 cc and is a helluva touring bike. It's got cruise control standard and will easily keep going when the pavement ends with 6+ inches of suspension travel and 19/17 in hoops. Ride modes for rain and off road, abs, 6 gallons fuel, 50+ mpg. And it comes with various side and top load pannier options. Tubeless tires for 2021 MY. Lastly it weighs 60+ lbs less than the NT.
I'm not selling them. Lol
Here's a picture of mine modified for lightness and with a Puig bar mounted touring windshield. I prefer soft bags for travel / off-road.
I like the style and convenience of the NT700 though around town and some sport touring two-up. But the Guzzi really makes me smile every time it's ridden.

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Here's a pic when I first got it with the factory cases and frame mounted windshield. A beautiful bike. And less expensive then the big bikes. Paid 11k for this lightly used model.
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I love the V85tt. If I had longer legs and wasn't already 78 yrs old, I'd be saving my money to buy one! It looks like a bike with lots of quality and I've got a dealer 22 miles from my house!
 
JustPassinThru said:
Boy, it does look good, though.

And it ticks off all the boxes. Shaft; air-cooled; fuel injected.
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Yes it does. And the cruise control works great for those longer rides. Vibration is present but not bothersome. I don't get numb hands like I did on R1200GS I tried for a few months.
Though its retro in style the engine and drivetrain are thoroughly modern and brand new designs. The drive train is really quiet without water pumps and what not. While the gearbox is extra slick and smooth shifting. The clutch pull is much lighter than the NT. I'm 5'8 and not problem with the height though the seat can be lowered more than 1/2 ".

Hope I'm not coming off like a fan boy but ....the state of the art in design and manufacturing has come along way since 2010 and the transverse 90 deg v twin motor.. mama mia ; ) By far the most fun I've had on a motorcycle.

You should test ride one. Routine maintenance is easy what with the spark plugs and valve heads right out in the open.
 
I know not many here are interested in cruisers but Honda has been making the Shadow 750 for a long time and it’s an entry level low cost bike with shaft drive. It can be done.
 
Even though I'm aware of all the supposed foibles of Geese, I still would like to have one. They have always fascinated me.

Mike
 
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