Although it’s not stated anywhere on Honda’s web sites, I’m led to believe that the NC nomenclature is for New Concept, but I have also seen New Commuter. The bike is aimed at three targets – the new rider, the commuter and the ‘returning’ rider, which all makes it seem a little boring. But really it’s not. It’s more than adequate as a general purpose bike. Here are the selling points:

• Reliable – a low stressed engine that’s easy to maintain
• Frugal – claimed over 80mpg in normal riding
• Cheap to maintain – 8000 mile service intervals
• Easy to handle – low slung engine for low centre of gravity
• Storage – the fuel tank is fake, it’s for storage
• Feel – the engine is designed to drive like a V-twin
• Easy to ride – lots of torque from way down the rev range
• Easy to monitor – colour LCD display with lots of info
• DCT – easy to ride gently, or, in sports mode, to get a hurry on!

As you can see, the emphasis is on getting around with minimal fuss, which sounds kinda boring, but really it’s not. Although the power is quoted as 54HP (not a lot for a bike that’s quite heavy – near 500lb), the torque is what moves this bike along. Technically, it’s a long stroke engine that thrives on low revs. Peak revs is around the 6,500 mark, but there’s really no point in revving it, but you can if you want – bit like a Harley really.

With the fuel tank under the seat (lift the rear seat up to access the fuel cap) the dummy fuel tank is left for storage and can hold a full face helmet, or lots of other stuff if not a helmet. I haven’t used it in earnest yet, but a bit of general grocery shopping or clothes for a weekend away should all be possible. Nice.

The DCT transmission does all the gear change and clutch thinking for you, and the computer has a few modes to choose from – Drive (for just getting around frugally), Sports (for a bit of fun) and Manual (just because). The manual mode just allows gear selection as and when you want, but no clutch control – that’s still automatic. The Sports mode has three additional modes of various sportiness, basically allowing the engine to rev higher. When in any of the automatic gearbox modes you can still temporarily override the gear choice to suit whatever you like, so if you want to change down early for a corner then just press the down button once or twice. It always selects first gear when the bike stops whichever mode it’s in.

So, ok, it’s got lots of features, but what’s it like to ride? Click here to find out.