NC700X (MY2012)

What stands out steering this Honda is its forgiving streak. The generous wheel travel at both ends stops broken pavement from upsetting it, and the character leans toward reassurance rather than sharpness, handing you confidence early instead of asking for skill to unlock. Lean on it harder and the honesty surfaces. Find a quick bend laid over torn-up surface and the chassis has to graft to stay tidy, and it makes no secret that spirited backroad work sits outside its brief.

My trust here comes from numbers that don't flatter themselves. The economy figure I logged on test landed right about where Honda said it would, and at an unhurried pace the claimed target stays realistically in reach; that kind of straight dealing from a manufacturer isn't something you can count on. Finish is the mixed note. Stand back and it all reads clean, but up close a few pieces, the swingarm, the fork bridges, the shift lever, are built to work rather than to impress.

For what this bike is, the brakes caught me out in the best way. There's genuine bite waiting when you need to scrub speed in a hurry, and the lever gives you the feel to meter it smoothly rather than snatch at it. ABS comes standard, so the backstop is always in place. The full-size wheels earn their keep here too, holding the bike steadier through a hard stop than a scooter's smaller wheels ever could.

Comfort is where this Honda quietly does more than its hardware promises. The seat carried me through long stints with no urge to fidget, and the tall suspension travel keeps scarred town pavement from jarring its way up to the rider. First contact is easy: the bars land under your hands, the levers reach your fingers without a stretch, and the fairing pulls its weight at a highway cruise, so an unfamiliar rider settles fast with nothing left to fuss over. The clutch is light and clean off the bite, and the gearbox drops into every gate on the first ask, which strips the friction out of a long day. My only real gripe needs a passenger aboard: hold road speed two-up and the engine is working near its limit, and the effort reaches both of you.

This is where the whole design quietly makes its case. Where most bikes carry the fuel tank, Honda sank a storage compartment roomy enough to take a full-face helmet, then tucked the actual tank beneath the pillion seat. That means no top case, no tankbag, nothing bolted to the frame; you drop your kit in, latch the lid, and ride. It reads like a small thing on paper. In daily use it's the feature I reached for most.

Judged at the speeds most riding actually happens, this bike genuinely delivers. Away from a stoplight, picking through traffic, tipping into a corner at a sensible clip, it feels willing and alive in a way the raw figures never suggest. The very low-revving nature that fences it in up top is exactly what makes it feel right down here, where I spend the bulk of my miles. Ask it to shine below highway speed and it obliges.

The heart of it is a long-stroke parallel twin that makes its case down low. Peak pull shows up early and simply stays put, so in traffic I never had to wind it out; roll the throttle from low in the range and it gathers speed without complaint, whatever gear I'd left it in. The catch is how soon it's finished. The rev ceiling arrives fast, the usable band is genuinely short, and the tall gearing sharpens the feeling of running into a wall. Riders raised on free-spinning engines will need a little while to recalibrate their instincts.