Honda Nx650

HONDA NX650

CYCLE WORLD TEST

Dual-purpose. With a difference

IT HAD BEEN A GOOD DAY OF RIDING. A VERY GOOD day, a day to remember. Morning had been filled with nothing more than a lazy, meandering exploration of the AnzaBorrego Desert State Park, a 600,000-acre plot of land 50 miles east of San Diego. The park is criss-crossed with over 500 miles of dirt roads-jeep trails, really-that lead to petroglyphs and botanical areas, abandoned mines and lookout points, rock formations and dry lake beds. A furnace in the summertime, the park is blessed with 70-degree days in late winter, and early rains had already left the landscape awash in a cacaphony of bright spring flowers.

The catch here is that the trails are considered highways by the state of California, so vehicles using the park must be fully street-legal. Trailer-in a motocross or enduro bike and the best you’ll come away with is a ticket, the worst a one-way trip to the impound pen for your machine. A street-only motorcycle is perfectly by-the-book, but the thought of wrestling a clip-on-equipped sportbike through a sandwash or dumping a touring bike emblem-side down on a rocky incline means that Anza-Borrego is effectively off-limits to most motorcyclists.

None of this was lost on our rider as he reached into his backpack for a canteen and a sandwich during a lunch break at Seventeen Palms Oasis, an unlikely grove of 60foot-high palm trees that rises out of the moon-like terrain in the northeast portion of the park. A few moments before, he had been happily hustling along the trail, a quick wheelie here and a short slide there, at a pace brisk enough to quicken the pulse but with enough safety margin to avoid being a CJ-7’s impromptu hood ornament. “This,” he thought, looking at the Honda NX650 framed against a backdrop of the Santa Rosa Mountains, “is definitely dual-purpose country.”

The NX650 is Honda’s nouveau dual-purpose motorcycle, a machine it hopes will rejuvenate America’s sagging dual-purpose market. There was a time, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when on/off-road motorcycles were the most-popular type sold in the U.S. Lightweight and low in cost, these bikes introduced thousands to the joys of motorcycling. But that was before the age of specialization, prior to narrow-focus sportbikes, turn-key touring rigs, factory-made cruisers and genuinely competent dirt bikes. The jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none dual-purpose bike soon faded into obscurity, relegated to bench-sitter status while more glamorous stars swung for the fences.

By the mid-1980s, dual-purpose bikes accounted for less than 10 percent of motorcycle sales in the U.S. Even more disturbing to Honda—which, with its XL series, had by far the most dirt-worthy dual-purpose motorcycles— was the fact that 80 percent of all dual-purpose riders never ventured off-road. Still, in Europe, where off-road riding is all but non-existent, dual-purpose machinesdone up in the large-tanked, mini-fairinged guise of Paristo-Dakar Rally replicas—were selling like slickers at Niagara Falls, outdistancing even sportbikes as some countries’ number-one sellers. Could it be that a more street-oriented dual-purpose bike would meet with success in the United States?

That question was at least partially answered for Honda by Kawasaki’s KLR650. Off-road, the KLR couldn’t keep an XL600’s dust in sight; but thanks to its great street manners and an electric starter (the XL sometimes was a reluctant kick-starter), the KLR was chosen by this magazine as 1987’s dual-purpose bike of the year. And while its sales figures didn't exactly light up the sky, the KLR was successful enough that Honda took note.

Of the two, the Honda NX is the slicker unit. The Kawasaki, despite its street prowess, still looks very much the off-road bike. But Honda’s designers wanted to distance the NX as far as possible from the dirt. It will be marketed as a versatile, practical streetbike—as one Honda official put it, a “back-to-basics town bike.” And you need look no further than the NX’s frame for an example of Honda’s commitment to this new dual-purpose philosophy: Similar in design to the round-tube frame on the XL600R, it instead comprises rectangular-section tubing, for no other reason than that the squarish tubes look more street-like.

There are other, more-obvious signs that the NX650 is targeted for a different audience. A neat mini-fairing, one that looks like it had been lifted off a 250 sportbike, flows smoothly into a gas tank slightly larger than the one on last year’s XL600R. And while this combination doesn't offer as much wind protection or fuel capacity as the KLR650 setup, neither is it guilty of imparting the heavy, cumbersome feel that afflicts the Kawasaki in tight riding situations. The Honda also has a tire-hugging front fender rather than a high-mounted motocross replica. Even the

NX's tires were given a makeover. Gone are the semiknobbies, replaced with a grooved design that looks more like a roadracing rain tire.

Mechanically, the big news about the NX650 doesn’t center around its engine's 55cc larger displacement over the XL600R. arrived at by a 7mm longer piston stroke. Rather, live little letters—START—etched next to a button on the right side of the handlebar garner the headlines. Anyone who has been subjected to the time-honored kickkick-kick-curse starting procedure of an uncooperative big Single will welcome the electric starter. It alone makes the NX a much more practical streetbike than the XL.

As much fun as his morning had been, our rider was looking forward to taking advantage of the NX’s street capabilities on his way out of Anza-Borrego. There are any number of paved roads leading into and out of the park, but the motorcyclist will be drawn to S22 as the exit route of choice. A smorgasbord of swervery, S22 starts on the desert floor, but quickly gains altitude as it punches its way through the folds of the San Ysidro Mountains. The panoramic vistas the road offers are an added bonus.

Dual-purpose bikes have always been good choices for this kind of street riding, and the NX650 is no exception. With its torquey engine and relatively light weight, the Honda will carve up a section of back road asphalt as neatly as a 600cc sportbike. It's only when long straightaways come into play that the Ninjas, Hurricanes and Katanas will walk away. But since the NX Single spots those multis 40 horsepower and 30 miles per hour in top speed, that shouldn’t be too surprising.

It’s at this point in most dual-purpose road tests where readers are treated to a lecture on compromises. “Sure, it won't match top speed with a sportbike, but when was the last time you trail-rode a GSX-R?.” And, “No, it won’t win a hare-and-hound race, but neither does a CR250R make much of a go-to-work commuter bike.” That kind of thing. Compromise. It’s a word that has always hung like a stone around the neck of the dual-purpose market.

Well, here’s a new word to ponder when you think dualpurpose: Possibilities.

In the space of seven days. Cycle World explored the limits of the NX's possibilities. First, the NX was loaded up and trucked to Willow Springs Raceway for a weekend of club-level roadracing. The very next weekend, we entered the 650 in a 70-mile enduro run over some of the toughest terrain in the Mojave Desert. Feature Editor David Edwards was the pilot for the NX's roadracing debut:

The tech inspector was giving me and the NX a hard look. He had already checked that the turnsignals had been removed, the lights taped and all oil orifices safety-wired. The tires got a second inspection (some roadracing clubs don't allow dual-purpose tires on the track) before he slapped his OK sticker on the front numberplate. “I suppose, ” he said with the beginnings of a smile, “you've got a good reason for doing this. "

Well, during the first laps of practice I was starting to think that no, maybe I didn 7. The NX was worlds different than my usual racebike, a slightly modified Kawasaki EX500, and I wasn't having an easy time getting acclimated. My efforts at hanging-off only fed confusing inputs to the handlebar, and I ended up hobby-horsing around the track like a novice racer at a new-rider school. “Be smoother, " I scolded myself. The NX is lighter and has a higher center of gravity than a sportbike, plus it has a handlebar that is easily twice as wide, which results in lots of leverage. Hence, it doesn't need much of a push on the handlebar to snap into a corner. My cornering technique suitably modified, I began to feel a lot more confident.

Still, confidence has it limits, and mine called it quits when the tires started squirming in high-speed corners. Up to that point, the bike was entirely predictable, with a flex-free frame, stout front fork (stanchion diameter is up 2mm compared to the XLóOOR's) and a front brake that felt as if could haul down a Gold Wing with ease. Besides being limited by its tires, the NX was also held back by its low gearing. On Willow's long front straight, the 650 would only pull an indicated 100 mph, and most of the time around the track was spent with the tach at or above rediine.

Slow and under-tired as it was, the Honda had a few surprises in store when the D Production race was flagged off the line. Although the competition wasn't exactly numerous or of national caliber, the NX actually won, putting me in the DProd series point lead. (Okay, so it was the first race of the season; let me have sonte glory.)

Now, this doesn 7 mean that starting grids around the country will soon be filled with funny-looking dual-purpose bikes; but it does show that an NX owner who wanted to give roadracing a try could go out there, have some fun and not be embarrassed. And with taller gearing, firmed-up suspension and real production-racing tires (an 18or 19-inch rim would have to be laced to the front hub, replacing the standard 21inch hoop), I wouldn't be at all surprised if the NX made a good account of itself in Singles-only races, especially on tight, twisty courses.

The very next Sunday, the NX650, having been put back in street-legal condition during the week, found itself smack in the middle of the Candy Ass Enduro. Associate Editor Camron Bussard, still flushed with adrenaline from his latest desert race (”Barstow to Vegas, the Hard Way,” CW, April, 1988), was at the controls:

Am I having fun vet? I can 7 tell, because every last neuron of my concentration is focused on the next turn, which is bouncing, bumping and grinding its way toward me. I slump forward onto the fuel tank, roll off the throttle, twist the bars to the left and close my eyes, hoping for the best. Only 25 more miles and the Candy Ass Enduro will be over for me and the NX650.

What surprised me most about riding the enduro on the NX, bone-stock right down to its tire-pressure settings, was that, all things considered, it handled the event remarkably well. Before the enduro, Honda's claim that the NX had "more street savvy than any previous dual-purpose machine" had me worried; I had ridden Kawasaki's KLR650 and knew that it wasn't much fun in the dirt. But the NX hasn't lost much in the way of offroad capabilities. It has only about a half-inch less suspension travel than the XL600R, and ground clearance has been lessened by the same amount. The fairing and electric-start hardware have put an extra 50 pounds on the NX: and while that added heft is all but unnoticeable on the street, it is clearly evident when walloping the bike though sandy whoop-de-doos.

The offroad Achilles' heel of all dual-purpose bikes is their lack of true knobby tires: and the NX's street-biased Bridgestones are likewise a handicap, forcing you to take it easy in the corners. The front tire has a hard time finding traction, so it pushes toward the outside of the turn. And the rear tire simply doesn 7 let the hard-pulling Single hook-up very well, so it spends a lot of its time spinning. But ridden smoothly and deliberately, the NX will scoot right along: just leave the bermshot antics to the motocross kids.

To be sure, no one is going to ride an NX650 in the next ISDE. But for someone who satisfies the urge to go dirt riding with one or two offroad excursions a year, the NX would be a great choice. The engine is perfect for playing around in the dirt, with loads of easily controllable power. And the suspension, sprung and damped too softly for racing speeds, is more than up to the tasks of recreational riding.

I finished the Candy Ass, never once coming close to houring-out, although one rocky uphill did have me sucking wind for the next few miles. I didn 7 win my class, but I did do something a lot of riders who rode the event on genuine dirt bikes didn 7 do: get a finisher pin. I also did something that no other rider in the event did: I beeped the horn every time I passed someone.

Most NX650 owners will never enter the bike in a roadrace or enduro, but there’s something nice about having a motorcycle that can handle anything in between with a certain amount of grace. That’s not to say that the NX is the perfect dual-purpose bike; its seat is too tall, higher even than an XLóOOR’s, and that forces shorter riders into tip-toe mode at stoplights. Besides being tall, the seat is too narrow to be comfortable on rides longer than 50 miles. And, despite a counterbalances the NX never lets its rider forget that big-Single vibrations are coursing through the frame.

Still, if the NX is a forerunner of a new kind of dualpurpose motorcycle, then there is hope for the genre after all. Compared to the previous type of dual-purpose bike, the NX has given up very little but gained a great deal.

It is not, you see, just a better dual-purpose motorcycle; it’s a better motorcycle. Period. 0

HONDA

NX650

$3498