Thinking of buying an NT700

[Russell]

I've owned 26 different bikes in my 50 year span of riding, a few of the favorites were the Goldwing, C10 Concours and the R100RT. One thing was the wind and weather protection, I am now older and want something lighter the Concours and Goldwing are to heavy, I bought a Bonneville and a used Wee Strom(650), the wind protection on the wee is fair with an after market windshield but still not up to par, tell me what you think of the fairing and windshield on the NT700 and is performance compare to the wee Strom.

 

[NewTo700V]

I've never ridden a wee Strom. But I have the National Cycle V-Stream installed on the NT for the winter and the adjustment set all the way up. At around 5'9", the wind is just brushing the top of my helmet. I can comfortably crack my visor open at highway speed if needed. You can also get the deflectors to keep wind off the hands. The legs will get a slight breeze when pinching the sides of the bike. Nothing bad.

 

[Chuck 500]

The wind protection on the NT will not be close to a GL1800. It can be pretty good though. I had a Laminar Lip on the stock screen and that worked well. If you go to Laminar Lip search for NT700, the photo is my old bike.

Keep the shiny side up.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Russell, I bought my first NT in March of '10 after putting 165,000 miles on a pair of '99 Kawasaki C10s. I had had four knee replacements and was getting older and decided it would be worth giving up 30hp to also shed 150 pounds of bike weight. I had seen and sat on an NT in Mannheim, Germany in 2008 and been impressed. When Mother Honda decided to import the NT, I decided to swap bikes rather than buy new tires. (Always looking for ways to save money! )

I did the first-ever Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000 (1000 miles in less than 24 hours) in the whole Western Hemisphere on an NT700V at the end of April. I farkled the bike fairly quickly. Top box, big pannier lids, Throttlemeister, wind deflectors, tank pad, tank bag, Denali LED lights, Fenda'Extenda, peg lowerers and bar risers. Over the next couple of years I added a different windscreen, Rostra electronic cruise control, and a Russell Day Long Saddle. I rode the bike on my 2013 "Epic Post-Retirement Ride to Alaska, the Four Corners of the US, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador." That was an 80-day, 21,000-mile jaunt. I've done three more SS1K rides and a Bun Burner Gold (1500-miles in less than 24 hour). The bike has been mostly reliable. I did have to have the final drive rebuilt twice, both times because Honda mechanics neglected to lube the splines after rear tire changes. That's a very rare occurrence, thank goodness! At about 125K, I started having issues that turned out to be the fuel pump, and I replaced a water pump at about 135K miles.



This is NT#1, "Dudley," SN 00079, taken in January, 2020.

In July of this year, a friend from this forum posted that he'd traded his '10 NT for a 2020 Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro. I knew his bike had been well maintained and called the Triumph dealer after checking with Joe to confirm that he'd had his bike lowered. He and I both have short, stubby, little legs. The dealer was willing to give me new tires and $1500 on the trade, so I rode to Spokane Valley, WA, and we made the trade. I swapped the Russell saddle, the windscreen, and a couple of other things from my old bike to my new one. It was actually 13 serial numbers older than my first one, but it only had 22,000 miles.



NT#2, "Horse," SN #00063, taken in August, 2010.

I've ridden in hard rain, light hail, strong winds, temps from 13F to 113F. The wind protection is not quite as good as it was on my Connies, and nowhere near as good as it was on my first bike, an '83 Honda GL650i Silverwing. The first 30 miles after I left the dealer in 2010 I was afraid I'd made a mistake, but by the time I'd gotten home 50 miles later, I felt good about the NT. I still do.

I've only ridden a Wee-Strom for 30 miles and liked it, but I've never been tempted to trade my "ST700" for anything else. Joe's Triumph would be great, but I don't have $16-17K for one of them!

Let us know what you decide!

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

I have a taller Cee Bailey windshield that has a slight curve at the top. Mostly ride about 3/4 up. It works pretty well. Hand wind deflectors too. Havn't ridden a v-strom so can't compare.

 

[DirtFlier]

The WeeStrom is faster than the NT but the latter is much more comfy for long distances and can go further on a tank of fuel. Pick your poison.

 

[Fredo]

I had an 1988 R80RT (same body then the R100RT less power). Compared to the RT the NT has less wind protection and lots more buffetings. I don’t have an aftermarket windscreen so not sure if it would make such a big difference. otherwise the bikes are very similar in general. The NT is more nimble for city riding though.

 

[ST1100Y]

The wind protection on the NT will not be close to a GL1800. It can be pretty good though.

Well, my GF switched from a naked (Kawa ER-5) to the NT in February this year...
(kinda forcibly, as I placed the NT700 in front of her, saying "there! Ride this!" ... I felt kinda bad on the comfy ST with her panting after me on the Kawa... :unsure
Alone this season she put more km on the NT, then she'd ridden the ER-5 in total in the past 5 years before that...
While already at it I also equipped her with a decent Dainese GoreTex 2-piece suit and installed a custum cut Givi screen...
So it's November now, morning temps barely above freezing, and she's still commuting on the NT almost daily...
She just likes it, cornering is easy and precise, shifting goes fluently, excellent brakes, brilliant fuel range (up to >370km), amazing payload,
her entire style canged from "life as an insect" to "competently filtering by and through the traffic"...

 

[Phil Tarman]

I had an 1988 R80RT (same body then the R100RT less power). Compared to the RT the NT has less wind protection and lots more buffetings. I don’t have an aftermarket windscreen so not sure if it would make such a big difference. otherwise the bikes are very similar in general. The NT is more nimble for city riding though.

Bob Higdon, a recovering lawyer and the unofficial historian of the Iron Butt Association and I met in August of 2010 at the IBA's National Meeting in Denver. He had bought his NT in October of '09, and by the time we met, he had put 36,000 miles on it. When he left Denver, he rode to Savannah, GA, to be present at the end of the Iron Butt Lite Rally. Then he rode back to Brookhaven Honda in Mississippi and traded his first NT for another one identical to it. He's still got that NT and a 2011 NT as well and keeps one in Daytona and the other in the DC area. One of Bob's accomplishments is riding to every courthouse in the entire US. Bob had over a million miles on BMW, most of them on the K75RT. He had a final drive failure somewhere in Montana in '09, and the nearest BMW dealer was close to 400 miles away. When he got there, it turned out that there wasn't a K75 final drive in the US and it would take 4-5 weeks to get one from Germany. Bob says that the NT is the K75 BMW should have built.

He and I have stayed in intermittent touch. He did buy something else (can't remember what) for a ride that he, Mike Kneebone (the President of the IBA) were planning from the US to Ushuaia. He had originally planned to take the NT on that ride, but Kneebone convinced him that it wasn't the bike for the deserts and the Andes. Ended up that they didn't make the trip after they rode to the US/Mexico border.

I've got the National Cycle V-Stream windscreen on my bike and really like it. There is much less buffeting than I had with the stock screen or the Cee Bailey screen I used for a long time. I had two of the Cee Baileys and both of them cracked. I stop-drilled the cracks and that extended the life, but both of them eventually broke off.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Well, my GF switched from a naked (Kawa ER-5) to the NT in February this year...
(kinda forcibly, as I placed the NT700 in front of her, saying "there! Ride this!" ... I felt kinda bad on the comfy ST with her panting after me on the Kawa... :unsure
Alone this season she put more km on the NT, then she'd ridden the ER-5 in total in the past 5 years before that...
While already at it I also equipped her with a decent Dainese GoreTex 2-piece suit and installed a custum cut Givi screen...
So it's November now, morning temps barely above freezing, and she's still commuting on the NT almost daily...
She just likes it, cornering is easy and precise, shifting goes fluently, excellent brakes, brilliant fuel range (up to >370km), amazing payload,
her entire style canged from "life as an insect" to "competently filtering by and through the traffic"...

I'm glad to hear that your GF is enjoying her NT and riding so much more. Finding the right bike for the person and the job makes a big difference.

 

[Bear]

I think that the NT is a bargain. They are grossly underpriced and are a great touring bike any way you cut it. I have been riding since 1958.

 

[97af]

Russel, you and I are in the same boat, but.. you may or may not have few years on me. I did a fairly decent, very spirited 560 mile day ride that I took my FJR on with a couple guys at the end of Sept.. I also own a C-10, a C-14 and a RT so i'm not unfamiliar with the workings of the larger sport-tourers. After flogging the FJR for most of the day, I started to feel this fatigue feeling that I had never experienced before. Started slowing way down and was absolutely roasted by my buddies at our last stop for gas for falling so far back. Well, I just got tired and and didnt feel like throwing a land barge of a bike down the road. From that moment on, I wanted a light "Sport Tourer" that wouldn't kick my A** so my hunt was on.
I knew nothing about the NT but through some research I eventually narrowed "The Bike" down to the NT and BMW F800GT. Obviously I opted in on a 2010 red non ABS NT and I'm SO glad I did. The BMW would of been really nice to have but the one that I narrowed down in my selection would have been a little over twice the $$ that I let loose of for the NT and the BMW is NOT a Honda. I've been there and done that with several BMW's over the years and all their "character" so opted for inexpensive and have enough left over to ride and race with next summer. Since I've owned the NT, I've put about 2700 miles on it (I have had a little over a month) and am loving every minute of being on it. Nope, It's not a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination but what you lose with not having 150HP you gain back with a feeling of riding a weightless bike..In comparison.. You can park anywhere you want without having to worry if you'll be able to back it out, turn on a dime, move it around without a thought, easy peasy up on the center stand ... you get the idea. Its wind protection is is great with the stock shield, better with a V-Stream Stock seat is acceptable, the Corbin Is better and its got enough electrical output to run all my heated gear that I burden the system with. It gets a solid 50 MPG and I can do 300 mile days on it and get home and not feel like I was at work all day. In ending, Just get it. Mine will be with me for its duration.

 

[Frosty]

... I eventually narrowed "The Bike" down to the NT and BMW F800GT ...

Good choice. The NT is a very comfortable mid sized ST.
I owned the NT that Phil now has since new. The complaints about the NT that people expressed were .... wish it had more hp, lighter and 6th gear. That described the BMW F800GT. I got a great deal on a new 2015. I intended to keep both until I sat on a 2020 Triumph 900GT. The Triumph made camping loading much easier and ticked the boxes for weight, handling, HP, torque, etc. The NT and BMW are very close in purpose of use. It seemed that I was riding the BMW more so I traded the NT.

I am glad that Phil got the bike and I hope they both have plenty of miles left in them.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I am glad that Phil got the bike and I hope they both have plenty of miles left in them.

Me too! I'm making a couple of changes. I had some difficulty maintaining 80mph on my way back from Spokane. This was mostly in Wyoming at altitudes above 5500' and while bucking headwinds. That made me miss my Throttlemeister. Even with the Rostra electronic cruise control on Dudley, I'd use the Throttlemeister a surprising amount of the time. The McCruise has a vacuum operated throttle servo. They have an electric throttle servo that's reasonably priced, but I don't think it can be used with the model of McCruise I've got. So, since Throttlemeister has gone out of business, and since I'm not going to spring $874 for a total replacement of the McCruise that's already on and working well most of the time, I'm spring for the Kaoko throttle lock.

Joe never rode at night and, at least in the past, I have ridden quite a bit at night. Since I bought Horse, I've only ridden at night once. I was surprised at the difference in the light output between Dudley's original Denali D1s and Horse's Denali DMs. I did quite a bit of researching and ended up choosing Clearwater Darla LEDs. Each Darla puts out 2000 lumens, while a pair of DMs puts out 2190 lumens. Both Clearwater and Denali have the capability of using full intensity during high beam operation and less than full intensity during low beam use. I ended up choosing the Clearwaters because the intensity while on low beam can be adjusted between 10-90% of max performance.

I'm going to get a new Russell Day Long. They've introduced a new version of their saddle that doesn't have the suspension spring. My current Russell has their heavy-duty spring that is recommended for people who weigh over 235. I got up to 295 before I started Nutrisystem almost two years ago. Now I'm down to 210 and definitely don't need the heavy-duty suspension. The Sport seat, without suspension, is thicker than the standard Russell when new, but they say that after about 500 miles it settles down to the height of a stock saddle. I'll be happy to have my butt an inch closer to the ground. My build date for the new saddle is January 6, 2021.

I've also got a fender extender that's waiting to be installed.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I am glad that Phil got the bike and I hope they both have plenty of miles left in them.

Me too! I'm making a couple of changes. I had some difficulty maintaining 80mph on my way back from Spokane. This was mostly in Wyoming at altitudes above 5500' and while bucking headwinds. That made me miss my Throttlemeister. Even with the Rostra electronic cruise control on Dudley, I'd use the Throttlemeister a surprising amount of the time. The McCruise has a vacuum operated throttle servo. They have an electric throttle servo that's reasonably priced, but I don't think it can be used with the model of McCruise I've got. So, since Throttlemeister has gone out of business, and since I'm not going to spring $874 for a total replacement of the McCruise that's already on and working well most of the time, I'm spring for the Kaoko throttle lock.

Joe never rode at night and, at least in the past, I have ridden quite a bit at night. Since I bought Horse, I've only ridden at night once. I was surprised at the difference in the light output between Dudley's original Denali D1s and Horse's Denali DMs. I did quite a bit of researching and ended up choosing Clearwater Darla LEDs. Each Darla puts out 2000 lumens, while a pair of DMs puts out 2190 lumens. Both Clearwater and Denali have the capability of using full intensity during high beam operation and less than full intensity during low beam use. I ended up choosing the Clearwaters because the intensity while on low beam can be adjusted between 10-90% of max performance.

I'm going to get a new Russell Day Long. They've introduced the new version of their saddle (called the Sport) that doesn't have the suspension spring. My current Russell has their heavy-duty spring that is recommended for people who weigh over 235. I got up to 295 before I started Nutrisystem almost two years ago, but now that I'm down to 210, I don't need the spring and the Sport seat has one attribute I can can definitely use. Russell says that after about 500 miles of riding, it "settles" to the height of a stock saddle. That will gain me about an inch less seat height and I can use that.

I've also got a fender extender that's waiting to be installed. Then I think I'll be set for many more happy miles!

 

[Phil Tarman]

I've only ridden a Wee once. I hadn't had the NT for too long, maybe 10-12K miles when a friend bought a Wee. We took several rides together and on the first one, we swapped bikes for about 30-40 miles. When we swapped back, both us felt as if the bikes were very similar in their performance and the way they rode.