Honda NC 750X

AUTOMATIC

Since its launch in 2012, as the NC700, it hasn’t been the super sexy, poster bike that adorns teenagers’ bedroom walls but the Japanese firm has sold 33,000 of them in that time and it was Honda’s best-selling ‘big motorcycle’ in Europe in 2015.

The bike’s popularity stems from having a handy combination of decent performance, particularly mid-range torque and its quirky storage solution where the traditional area reserved for a fuel tank is replaced with a large and lockable void. Add into the mix its reliability, build quality, ease to ride and mega economy – with figures of 80+mpg on the cards with a tank range in excess of 250 miles from the 14.1 litre tank. Oh, and it comes with quite an attractive price point too. 

In 2014 the original model was revised gaining an extra 6 extra horse power and capacity was increased to 745cc. This time around, Honda haven’t worried about amending the liquid-cooled, parallel twin power plant and its 54bhp at 6250rpm. It remains housed in a low position in the frame giving the tall bike a lower centre of gravity, handy for stability, agility and cornering. Not something you’d initially expect the NC750X to rank highly on if you’ve not ridden it but more about that later.