2006–2013 · Tourer · Buyer's Guide
Shaft-Driven and Genuinely Wired
The NT700V Deauville is Honda at its most sensible, and I mean that as praise. A liquid-cooled 680 cc 52-degree V-twin makes 66 hp and 48 lb-ft, which is modest on paper. It is tuned for flexible, easy running rather than big numbers. Shaft final drive means no chain to clean or adjust. The bike comes standard with integrated luggage, an adjustable windscreen, a center stand and preload adjustment on the rear shock, all wrapped in a full fairing on a steel backbone frame. It is a middleweight tourer built around low running costs and ownership you don't have to think about.
This is a bike that keeps going. Reliability is where it's strongest, the engine is built to last, and at 46 mpg from a 5.2-gal (19.5 L) tank it's cheap to run. It suits a rider who wants to cover distance and commute year-round without fuss. What it won't do is excite you. The fork has no adjustment, ABS was an option rather than standard, and the equipment is basic: no cruise control, no USB port, no ride modes.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 66 hp (48 kW) @ 8,000 rpm |
|---|---|
| Torque | 48 lb-ft (65 Nm) @ 6,500 rpm |
| Displacement | 680 cc |
| Engine | 52° V-twin |
| Cooling | Liquid-cooled |
| Gearbox | 5-speed |
| Final drive | Shaft |
| Fork | Telescopic |
| Front brake | 296 mm |
| Front tire | 120/70-17 |
| Rear tire | 150/70-17 |
| Seat height | 31.7 in (805 mm) |
| Wet weight | 560 lb (254 kg) |
| Fuel capacity | 5.2 gal (19.5 L) |
| Top speed | 115 mph (185 km/h) |
| Fuel economy | 46 mpg (US) |
Equipment check
Chassis
Comfort
Safety
Swing a leg over and the 31.7 in (805 mm) seat feels normal rather than tall, so most riders can put their feet down with confidence. At 560 lb (254 kg) wet it's no featherweight, yet it never feels like a handful at walking pace in a parking lot. The fairing does a lot of quiet work. Raise the screen on the highway and the wind pressure on your chest drops, and your legs and hands stay out of most of the weather. The controls are where you expect them and work without any learning curve, which you appreciate at the end of a long wet day. At an ordinary road pace it's calm and settled, and that sets the tone for the whole bike. You stop thinking about riding it and start thinking about where you're going.
Over the years the Deauville has come up again and again: in paddock conversations, in owner chats at club nights, and in the emails and messages riders send me directly. The picture those owners paint is consistent. They value the bike for what it does day after day, and most of their complaints are about its character, plus one fiddly detail, rather than anything that keeps it off the road.
Owners usually mention the engine first. Riders describe the V-twin as friendly and flexible, with plenty of pull in the midrange, so passing slower traffic takes little effort and relaxed cruising comes naturally. Fuel economy comes up in the same breath, and many owners count it among the reasons they keep the bike. Reliability follows close behind. Owners consistently talk about high mileages with few issues and give Honda's build quality the credit. A few also mention cheap insurance and being glad to have no chain to look after.
Riders keep coming back to how well the bike copes with bad weather. They say the adjustable screen and the fairing work together to keep wind and rain away, and plenty of owners ride the Deauville in every season. The handling surprises people. Several expected the weight to dull it and found a stable, capable chassis instead, with good feedback from the modest rear tire even when the bike is fully loaded. The color-matched panniers get a mention too, with owners using them as secure, weatherproof storage for touring trips and the daily commute.
There are fewer complaints, but the same ones keep coming up. Some riders feel the bike's focus on practicality makes it feel like an appliance, short on excitement. Others call the acceleration adequate and no more, and wish for extra power on fast highways. The pannier lids draw one specific complaint: owners report the plastic latches breaking even when handled gently, and some have replaced them with aftermarket parts. A few riders also say the bike feels cumbersome at low speed and needs careful balancing when they move it around by hand.
Pannier lid latch failure
The pannier lid latches can break, with plastic mounting posts cracking over time. Some owners install external latch kits as a permanent fix.
Electrical issues
Some owners report miscellaneous electrical problems, but no specific pattern identified.
Where this Honda NT700V Deauville pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Wet weight
Top speed
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the NT700V Deauville is actually built for.
If you want dependable, cheap long-distance travel, this works: real luggage, good weather protection and shaft drive. With a passenger and a full load in the high passes, 66 hp will feel modest.
Made for Beartooth Highway · Blue Ridge Parkway · Going-to-the-Sun Road
For 200 to 400 mi days on the Blue Ridge or Highway 1, it's comfortable and easy to live with. Just go in knowing it's a relaxed tourer, not a sharp sport-tourer.
Made for Black Hills · Blue Ridge Parkway · Cherohala Skyway
It handles predictably and won't punish mistakes, but a 560 lb tourer with a non-adjustable fork is not a tool for sharpening your skills on the Dragon. Ride it there, but buy it for the ride home.
Made for Back of the Dragon · Blue Ridge Parkway · Cherohala Skyway
If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
