PC800 Review (link fixed)
- Thread starter JQL
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DirtFlier
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Honda started as a motorcycle company and first brought cars here in the early-70s and the sales of Honda cars have been on a steady climb ever since so it would be foolish to de-emphasive the auto division! Unlike the 60s-70s when the US was the primary export market, Honda now sells less than 2% of its motorcycle production here so their emphasis on other markets is fully understandable.
Yup, the PC800 is weird and ugly with all the Tupperwear removed but should the engineers have made it beautiful when there was never any intention of selling a naked version?
Phil - the NT700V was way overpriced when it was introduced. The why's of the retail price is complicated and I won't go into it here! If it had an MSRP about $1000-$1500 lower it might have helped sales. At the time and perhaps still today to some extent, the magazines mainly loved bikes that did 0-to-60 in 4 sec and attained a speed of 110 mph in the 1/4 mile - the NT always failed those parameters so it never got a good writeup.
The sales people in a dealership are not "trained by Honda." They are local folks who were probably doing something completely different a year ago. Business at a motorcycle dealership in the US is seasonal so there is always lots of movement of staff.
Yup, the PC800 is weird and ugly with all the Tupperwear removed but should the engineers have made it beautiful when there was never any intention of selling a naked version?
Phil - the NT700V was way overpriced when it was introduced. The why's of the retail price is complicated and I won't go into it here! If it had an MSRP about $1000-$1500 lower it might have helped sales. At the time and perhaps still today to some extent, the magazines mainly loved bikes that did 0-to-60 in 4 sec and attained a speed of 110 mph in the 1/4 mile - the NT always failed those parameters so it never got a good writeup.
The sales people in a dealership are not "trained by Honda." They are local folks who were probably doing something completely different a year ago. Business at a motorcycle dealership in the US is seasonal so there is always lots of movement of staff.
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junglejim
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I agree with that. I think the salesman broke my pannier latches when he was showing me the features of the new motorcycle. He slammed the lid repeatedly and even pounded on it to get it to close. There was no way of knowing at the time that the. plastic pillars were broken. I also watched (through an open door) as the guy in the shop tried for 10 minutes to install the battery vertically.
Same experience with the Kawasaki shop. I bought a new (2-year old) Cocours 10. They promised a free "first service". They didn't realize that the Kawasaki book listed a valve adjustment in the service manual. Of course they didn't want to do the valves so they told me they were OK. I insisted that they do the valve check. When I picked up the bike they had scratched some of the exterior plastic but I could tell they didn't remove the valve cover or carbs.
Motorcycle shops here typically sell motorcycles, boats, water skis, docks, 4-wheelers, snowmobiles, side-by-sides, trailers, chain saws, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, etc. How can anyone keep track of all the new features of all that stuff????
DirtFlier
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In many other countries where motorcycles/scooters are essential transportation, a dealership tech might work at a shop his/her entire working life. It's not looked down upon to be a motorcycle tech and unlike here, blue collar workers are valued! Perhaps a good comparison might be a heating/AC person in this country.
The truth is the early '90s I was heavily eyeing both the GB500 and the CB1. Living near poverty out on my own at the age 16 while attending High School and working part-time job at Ralph's Supermarket. Choosing between a new motorcycle or having a roof over my head. The roof won over the bike.
Also licking my wounds from the Hondamatic experience at about same time. I had moved on to a 1976 CB550K, which I bought for $150 from a tow yard as a lien sale. That was a deal hard to walk away from given the circumstances.
Funny how fate has different plans for you.
Also licking my wounds from the Hondamatic experience at about same time. I had moved on to a 1976 CB550K, which I bought for $150 from a tow yard as a lien sale. That was a deal hard to walk away from given the circumstances.
Funny how fate has different plans for you.
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Wow! I had never seen the GB500 Tourist Trophy before. What a classy-lookin bike it is.
During that period from 88-90, Honda built several innovative models. The 650 Hawk, the 400 CB-1, the GB500, the Pacific Coast, and the ST1100. Impressive. I have owned all of them except the GB500, which never came to Canada. I still have an 88 Hawk and an 89 CB1 which were bought new. The ST1100 was my favorite.....quite a bike.The truth is the early '90s I was heavily eyeing both the GB500 and the CB1. Living near poverty out on my own at the age 16 while attending High School and working part-time job at Ralph's Supermarket. Choosing between a new motorcycle or having a roof over my head. The roof won over the bike.
Also licking my wounds from the Hondamatic experience at about same time. I had moved on to a 1976 CB550K, which I bought for $150 from a tow yard as a lien sale. That was a deal hard to walk away from given the circumstances.
Funny how fate has different plans for you.
DirtFlier
Site Supporter
The NT700V's intro to the US was just a trial. It had been wildly successful as the NT650 for many years in Europe and was often the best selling Honda motorcycle in many of those countries but the mood of buyers was starting to taper off. The number of NTs brought to the US was pretty small which didn't help the price because MSRP is somewhat dictated by the size of the order. This is the thing that killed the GB500 and made it way, way expensive for a bike with only a single cyl 500.
In comparing old vs new, I have actual experience riding the mid-70s, CB400F 4-cyl bike so when the then-new CB-1 was introduced I rode one for a few days. I was amazing at how well it pulled from low revs in too high a gear - this has always been my "liveability" test for small bikes. The ancient CB400F would have required 2 or 3 downshifts in a similar situation! The CB-1 was carbureted but had computer controls on ignition and fuel/air mixtures so it not only revved like crazy but also ran well down low in the rev range.
In Japan, they had a local market CB250F, 4 cyl and the internal engine parts were absolutely tiny. It made me wonder if the people assembling the cyl heads wore jeweler's loupes!
In comparing old vs new, I have actual experience riding the mid-70s, CB400F 4-cyl bike so when the then-new CB-1 was introduced I rode one for a few days. I was amazing at how well it pulled from low revs in too high a gear - this has always been my "liveability" test for small bikes. The ancient CB400F would have required 2 or 3 downshifts in a similar situation! The CB-1 was carbureted but had computer controls on ignition and fuel/air mixtures so it not only revved like crazy but also ran well down low in the rev range.
In Japan, they had a local market CB250F, 4 cyl and the internal engine parts were absolutely tiny. It made me wonder if the people assembling the cyl heads wore jeweler's loupes!
I think it was Honda’s attempt at the British Styling of yesteryears. It didn’t sell very well here in the states, sounds familiar? However, it could’ve done very well in Europe. I heard stories to the fact that dealers couldn’t give them away. Prices dropped to $2,800 just get rid of them. They have been a cult classic since and sell for $4,000 to $6,000 in today’s market.
I had to give up on it at the time due to my financial situation. When my interest came back around, they were too expensive for an over 25 year old motorcycle for my taste. For $1,200 I would’ve considered the possibility.
I think this post has wandered a tad. I rode a PC800 for 5 years before my NT. I suspect many on this forum are here as a result of the pregnant scooter call the PC800. We should give it more of the respect it deserves. One can always find something to pick at but it once was written by a MC mag as the " worlds most maintenance free motorcycle." I have seen nothing to contradict this. Take one on a 2,000 mile trip before you critique it.
Woodaddict
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the PC 800 was my biggest "CC" bike that I had. thought I was doing good with the HP (46), when I was stumbled across the NT "700cc", I thought, man do I really want to go down 100cc? only to find out what fuel injection can do!!! wow 64 hp!!!! won't own another carb bike! nothing to clog up in there
Don't I remember that Honda had a 6-cylinder GP racer? I've always figured they used torque wrenches calibrated in gram/mm and tweezers to assemble that engine.In Japan, they had a local market CB250F, 4 cyl and the internal engine parts were absolutely tiny. It made me wonder if the people assembling the cyl heads wore jeweler's loupes!
That is a bit of a challenge these days to be able find them. Also the fact that they are hard to find under $4,000 for a bike that is up to 30 years old. I couldn’t get over the looks of this bike over 30 years ago and still cannot to this day.
Just to give you prospective that a 10 year old NT700V sells for about $3,000.
Sorry, I’m not one to spend that kind of money just to take a 2,000 mile trip to try it out.
Gee, Russ, I've never noticed threads wandering on this forum before!
[or for that matter, on any other forum. IMNSHO, threads that wander produce some of our most interesting conversations].I've said it before (even in this thread), but I probably wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for the PC800 showing up. It reminds me in some way of the Raymond Loewy streamlined steam engines. Instead of reminding me of a pregnant scooter, it looked like a highly efficient streamlined motorcycle. I fell in love with when I saw an article in Popular Mechanics or Popular Science and then really when I saw one at a rest area north of Wheatland, WY. I talked to the rider for a few minutes and learned that he was on his way to Alaska. When I moved to Ft Morgan a few years later, and learned to ride, a church member who had one of the mother-of-pearl ones was selling it because he'd bought a new Goldwing 1500. I'd have bought it in a flash if he hadn't wanted $4200 for it. I was going through a divorce. I did buy a practically brand-new '83 GL650i Silverwing Interstate -- in '98 that only had 19,000 miles. I kept it a year and put another 19,000 miles on it before buying my first '99 Kawasaki Concours.
I agree that the NT was overpriced, but it was the only bike that checked the boxes I needed to check. I had seen a '08 at a dealership in Mannheim, Germany, and saw my next one in Ft Collins. It was a red non-ABS and the dealer was willing to come off the list price (whatever that was) by $2-300 and give me a whoppin' 10% off any accessories I ordered. I did quite a bit of internet "shopping" and learned that Russellville Honda in Russellville, AR, was willing to sell an ABS version for $9499 ($1500 off list) and they'd pick you up at the Little Rock Airport. When I learned that Sun Honda in Denver had one, I called the guy who handled the internet sales and agreed to go in and talk to them. When I got there, he had had to go to the hospital to be with his dad who was having emergency surgery. He had told a kid (maybe 20, maybe 21) to work with me.
The kid asked what they were competing with and I told him about Russellville's deal and told him that I was tempted to take that because I could fly to Little Rock fairly cheaply and then the bike would be broken in by the time I got home to Colorado. The kid went and called his boss at the hospital, and they met Russellville's price. They also talked me into paying $500 for a four-year extended warranty that covered the first two services (600 mile and 6,000 mile). That warranty saved me probably $3-4000 in maintenance costs before it expired when I had about 96,000 miles on the bike.
Now, how's that for thread wander!
