De pers over de NC30:
(Dit stukje vind ik machtog!!
)
There he is, circulating your favourite roundabout atomising his kneesliders, when all of sudden he becomes alert to your unfamiliar sound. A droning noise, varying in pitch and coming closer on his offside. A tiny flash of colour, the briefest glimpse of a single sided swingarm and you’re gone; off hunting for more big bore bikes to humiliate. Nope, no matter how much he tries to convince himself it was a stray RC30/45 he knows in his heart of hearts – he’s been done by a VFR400.
Rest:
Honda really knows how to make smaller capacity bikes desirable. Their beautiful CBR400 and VFR’s NC30+35 are products of their domestic market’s demand for good looking, high performance 400s. But it is the VFRs that have really captured the hearts and minds of the bike buying British market.
They have made millionaires of grey importers who recognised that not everyone under 5’10” wants to ride bikes wearing built up shoes or sporting sawn down seats. But the VFRs are much more than sports bikes for shorties. Delicately pretty but suprisingly powerful it’s like a Kung Fu fighting Kate Moss.
They don’t just ape the styling of their RC siblings (and the NC35 is a dead ringer for the RC45); they handle, stop and go just as sweetly. Derestricted the V-4 motor punches well above its weight and takes you to over 140mph, and as the trademark drone rises as the bike hurtles to its 13,500 redline I defy you not to play at being Aaron Slight or Carl Fogarty circa 1996.
But it is the handling which is the real draw. Anybody passing their test, or indeed looking to improve their riding, would do well to give the NCs a second look. They carve around corners like virtually nothing else this side of a race bike and both experienced and recently qualified riders find plenty to reward them in the surefooted steering and suspension.
Build quality is well up to the usual high Honda standard and the V-4 motor is bullet-proof. Gripes? Well none really, the seat is a wee bit hard and long journeys can be a pain in the neck for taller riders, but this is small beer really. Nobody will ever confuse this with a tourer, but you’d be surprised how practical it is, particularly if you’re less than Lurch-like.
What you will have to get used to when you own this bike though, is a high pitched and incessant whining. Usually most noticeable on track days…“Yeah you came past me but my Blade/R1 etc…normally I’d whip your butt, but today my tyres, suspension, head is wrong and that VFR is too blah, blah, whine, whine….”. Just live with it.