The feedback you receive via the bars and foot pegs is phenomenal; every bump, ripple and join in the road is conveyed back to you in intimate detail, even changes in tarmac texture are detectable. Bumps do little to upset her steering; a big bump at speed may produce an occasional waggle of the bars, just to let you know she's still there, and you're starting to push it. But the bike will quickly settle rock-steady again. This serves to give you great confidence; the feedback is constant, like a conversation between you and the bike every time you ride.

As darkness begins to fall it becomes apparent that the headlamps on the NC30 are far from useless. A good spread of light is provided on dipped beam, the instruments light up beautifully, it's not just functional; it looks great. Flipping the lights to main beam illuminates the world in front of you, the twin headlamps carve through the darkness like laser beams. Riding after dusk is brilliant. Some of the light from the headlamps spills back into the fairing, providing you with some comforting illumination. Roads are frequently deserted, and the numerous distractions found in the daytime are shrouded by darkness. As a combination this makes for smooth, rapid, and very focused riding. It really is just you and the bike. In the cool, refreshing night air it has to be one of the most fantastic feelings in the world.

On arriving home and switching off the engine in the garage, the bike clicks and ticks as she cools. The garage soon fills with the pleasant aroma of warm oil and some other smell, unique to the NC30. There is something about the bike, like motorcycling itself, it gets under your skin, into your blood and burns in your veins. The NC30's charm and character will leave you wanting to take her back out onto the roads, or clean her meticulously! Each time you take the polishing cloth to the bike, the build quality becomes apparent. She comes up as good as new, as if she had just rolled out of the showroom. It's easy to see why Honda decided this bike was worthy of the original six grand purchase price.

Riding an NC30 well is challenging. Pottering around is fine, but you always feel like you are letting the bike down, it's not until you have had the bike for a few months that you realise what is possible. The constant attention required by the gearbox, choosing lines for corners, planning ahead (the faster you go the further ahead you must plan!), maintaining the high level of alertness needed to ride safely and the more physical side to riding a motorcycle can all be quite draining. That said, get it right and at the end of each ride you find yourself grinning like a Cheshire cat on morphine, even when the woes of the world leave smiling the last thing on your mind.

Riding Restricted

What is an NC30; restricted to 33bhp, like to ride? This is something that a lot of people e-mail me about. Well, the answer is exactly the same as a full power bike, yet completely different at the same time.

Commonly, restriction is achieved by inserting washers in the inlet ports from the carburettors, limiting the airflow (see Technical for more details). Effectively, you are giving the bike asthma. This leads to some 'interesting' engine characteristics. Power becomes scattered throughout the Rev range, with flat spots separating it. This gives the engine a rather irregular and somewhat 'lumpy' feel. Opening the throttle hard in First, Second, Third or Forth the bike accelerates slowly but cleanly. However, with the scattering of the power this is occasionally interrupted by a feeling of 'nothing much happening', and a drop in engine note. Eventually you get to know where these flat spots are and are able to work around them. Until then they can catch you by surprise, so it pays to be careful, especially when overtaking.

The engine will never be able to reach its 14,500rpm redline either. The engine has a new ‘redline', realistically somewhere between 10,500rpm and 12,000rpm. Again, check out the Technical section for a detailed explanation as to why. The 60mph First gear drops to about a 50mph First gear (still a fairly insane proposition!) Maximum speed is also down to around 110mph. The bike feels to struggle at anything over 100mph; it will get there, just slowly.

Overall, the bike has a bit less performance everywhere. It certainly isn't an uninspiring ride, unless you have ridden a full-power NC30 first. On the plus side, fuel economy does appear to improve slightly with restriction; I calculated about 45mpg, rather than the 40mpg I'm consistently getting with full power.

What you have yourself is a reasonably tame little bike to start building confidence on, with all the looks and appeal of a full-power bike. When your two years at 33bhp are up, remove the restrictors and you have, well, a new bike!

 

 

10 Great reasons to buy an NC30… and 10 not to.