I was thinking the other day about buying a project for this winter. Since I haven't had a motorcycle in quite some time, I thought one might fun to work on this winter. Here's my basic criteria for what I 'think' I'd want.

1 - Adventure / Dual Sport type bike.
2 - Less than 1000cc (i.e. no BMW GS1200's, Ducati Multistrada's, or the like.)
3 - Something relatively light, nimble, and tossable primarily for around town commuting, but that could still work for short trips.
4 - A bike that's been damaged or neglected, giving me something to wrench on.
5 - Inexpensive (don't want to sink a ton of cash into it. Would be nice if I could maybe break even on selling it later.).

I was originally thinking Suzuki DL650, and I may still look for one of those, but I ran across this Honda that intrigues me 2015 HONDA NC700X. It seems to check off all the boxes above, and Honda's are usually reliable, easy to find parts for, and not terribly expensive to repair.

So what can any of you tell me about this Honda?

Would a Suzuki or other option be better?

Really curious to see what you guys would suggest or recommend.

No direct experience, but the general consensus seems to be that performance-wise, the NX is a snoozer.

In your case, that may be a Good Thing as you may be able to pick one up at an attractive price.

I have bought, fixed and re-sold several motorcycles over the years and lost my shirt on every one of them. And that's just actual cash outlay all my time was free. I enjoyed the process and look at the time as recreation, but going into it expecting to make money (or even break even) is, IMHO, unrealistic.

That's not to say "Don't do it", I had a ball, just have realistic expectations financially.

Between those two I’d go with the Suzuki, it’s engine is bulletproof. That is the same engine that was in my SV650. It’s a wonderful little mill, torquey, great on gas, reliable and pretty dang good sounding thanks to the 90° V-twin. A mechanic friend of mine had a DL650 with almost 200,000 miles . I’d take it over the Honda but that Honda is probably a great bike too.

I’d take a look at the Kawasaki KLR650. Avoid the 2008 models as they were prone to ring failures and oil consumption. (Prob not a bad idea to avoid 2007 & 2009 too) A friend of mine scooped one up for a $400 but he had to put a new top end on it. He bored it out and modified the heck out of that thing.

I’d be looking for a V-Strom, KLR650 or if you want more serious off-road capability without sacrificing all of the road capability the XR650 or DR650 are also great dual sports.

Good luck man! Fixing up motos isn’t the most lucrative endeavor but I enjoy it. It’s a truly wonderful feeling when you hear a bike fire up for the first time after being written off and collecting dust for years.

Agree with stickman, V-Strom is a wonderful power plant. Tons of torque for its size and very narrow center of gravity. A really nice package overall.

You could go small bore BMW GS. Something like a 90s-early 00s G650GS/F650GS.
I see examples in good condition in the ~$3k range so a project should be considerably less.

A friend of mine has a 700x and I've ridden it. It's a perfectly boring Honda motorcycle. In the DCT version it might be the best commuter motorcycle to be had in my opinion. It does everything well but doesn't do stand out in any way to me.

Suzuki vstrom 650, Kawasaki versus 650, Yamaha tenere 700 or there is another model that I cant recall (900cc triple).

Vstrom. Lots of great support in the aftermarket.

Ditto V-Strom. This was my bike before I bought my BWM S 1000 XR. It was a fantastic bike. I put 10K trouble free miles on it.

My suggestions:
KLR650 = Dirt bike that you can ride on roads.
VStrom = worthy road bike you can take off road.

Be real about what you want to do with your "adventure" type bike though. All the fancy big BMW's adventure bikes I see, never actually get ridden in the dirt because whenever you really go off road, you start breaking stuff and making it look ugly from crash scars. And replacement BMW parts aint cheap. I can't imagine picking up one of those 1200's by myself. My 500+lb loaded KLR650 is bad enough. If it's going to be your only bike, it's going to be likely 90%+ road.

The beauty of the KLR is it's simplicity and fixability almost anywhere. It's the same carbureted bike they have made for 30 years. They only quit making it because it likely wouldn't pass newer strict emissions anymore. It's drawback is that with the knobby tires that make it such a good off-road dual sport (AKA the original adventure bike), make it really suck at highway speeds. Sure it'll keep up with traffic, but it's way up there in RPM (because only a 5 speed), the suspension is all soft and loose and chases road lines, the knobbies are humming like mad, and the engine is making a serious racket from the single big piston that comes right up through the fairing space and into your ears, and the seat is not very comfortable. Sure you can put more smooth road-worthy tires to help with the tire noise and wobble, but then it sucks in the dirt and it still isn't great on the roads (albeit much better than with knobbies). Plus there's a TON of aftermarket Farkle available to set it up as you would like and parts are plentiful and cheap. Idaho's interstate speed limit is 80, and while the KLR can do 80, it aint very happy about it for long periods of time and there's not much spare left in the stock gearing or engine power. One thing that does set the KLR apart from other Dual Sport class bikes (i.e Suzuki DR's), is that it has a big 5 gallon fuel tank for longer range. Most Dual Sports have smaller <3.5 gallon tanks.

My buddy has a VStrom and it's a very nice comfortable road bike, and can do fire roads and other packed dirt as well as the KLR while cruising 100+mph on the paved roads easily if he wanted. That being said, add some loose dirt/gravel, mud, sand, and roughness and it starts suffering fast. You could get tubeless knobby tires, but a 19/17 knobby setup is not as good or cheaply available as the KLR's 21/17 wheel sizes in dirt, and I'm sure the road riding characteristics would suffer a lot.

I do love my KLR650 though even with it's quirks and weaknesses.!

I have 21k miles on my 2012 NC700x. I bought it brand new in 2013. The engine is basically half of Honda’s Fit hybrid car engine. Long stroke parallel twin. I think mine is rated at 51hp. I have the manual model so it has a six speed transmission.
The only mod I’ve done is a taller windscreen.
I use it for pretty much what it was designed for, a commuter bike.
It goes to work and back nearly every day, year round. My commute is only about 10 miles and it handles it beautifully.
It has been on a couple of longer weekend 500-600 mile round trips and it did ok. It’s no GoldWing but it was comfortable.
I have seen 70mpg on these longer trips and it averages in the low 60’s around town.
The storage compartment will spoil you. You can fit a full face helmet in it and close/lock it. I have used it for a grocery getter more than a few times. A gallon of milk, some eggs, a few apples and maybe a steak or two will fit in there if you’re good at Tetris.

Maintenance? Well, I had to put swingarm bushings and a new chain on at around 14k. I blame that mostly on my lack of maintenance. That and I have a 1/2 gravel driveway before I get to the dirt road. My bikes get a lot of mud on them
Other than that, just oil changes and regular stuff every 5k. And I’ve gotten lots better about chain lube.

It really is a typical boring Honda UJM. Upright seating, good handlebar geometry, fair suspension, solid reliability. Just keep the chain lubed if you live on a dirt road.

I have thought more than once about swapping out tires, doing some suspension work, adding bags, and turning it into a “poor man’s Africa Twin”. But it’s been paid off for several years, and it works so well in its niche...
Plus I pretty well spent all my modification money on my 2016 HD Roadster...bikes and guns, can you have too many?

My friend has a DL650 and NC700x DCT and is selling the Wee Strom because he enjoys riding the NC more. He's ridden both on local rides as well as extended multi day camping trips. He really likes the NX's low COG compared to the Wee also the DCT and enormous under tank storage. He wishes it held a bit more gas and had a little more suspension travel (like the Wee has) for riding on bad roads though.
Used prices on both of these bikes in nice shape should be pretty cheap, and dirt cheap if in a project condition because heck you can buy brand new leftover NC's from dealers for $4,000 all day long. And they've been selling Wee's for around 20 years now so there'll be loads of them.
I've had a couple each DR650's and KLR650's and prefer the DR for its gear driven counterbalancer and overall better build quality but used ones seem to be holding their value pretty well now.

For a rebuild project, I would be looking at an XR650. Air-cooled, simple, no radiators to replace, and Honda racing piston kits available for a nice power upgrade when you're rebuilding that simple top end.

Bruce

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Would be nice if I could maybe break even on selling it later.

Good luck with that been riding since mid 70s had many bikes it has never happened to me.

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A bike that's been damaged or neglected, giving me something to wrench on.

Most in this category end up being money pits.

The problem with the Suzuki SV650 / V-Strom is the engine is an absolutely pain in the ass to check and adjust the valves.

The valves on the Honda NC700X / NC750X are fairly easy to adjust. The NX700X is a boring bike and could use a bit more power but if you ride one you begin to see why they are Honda's best selling bike in Europe. Good riding position & MPG and that integrated storage is real handy.

I'm a Honda guy but am pretty impressed with my Versys 650 KLE650. Basically a Ninja with longer suspension and shorter gearing. I find the parallel twin way easier to maintain than my Honda vtwins. I call it an adventure-commuter, you buy it with dreams of going camping across the mountains and desserts, but end up riding it to work every day with an occasional weekend trip somewhere in the nearby hills. It can do a gravel road or hardpack well enough. For more off roady with some street usage I would go with the KLR650. I see a lot of both decent KLE and KLR at 3-4 grand with luggage racks and gear.

I looked at the NC, but the motor is too unconventional and if you put gear on the back you gotta unpack to refuel, although the front trunk looked awesome.

Pick an old Harley Davidson Pan Head. It'll be a life time project.

Just buy a new Enfield Himalaya

I know you’d like a project, however....

I broke even when I sold my SV650S. It was in a gorgeous one year only color and I didn’t budge on price. I got lowballed at least 20 times before a serious buyer came along.

I should (fingers crossed) make money when I sell big bird (my yellow BMW R1150GS).

Wait until winter, buy it up north and bring it here, we ride all year in FL, so you have plenty of bikes but no short riding season..

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Originally posted by GWbiker:
Pick an old Harley Davidson Pan Head. It'll be a life time project.

I'd be LMAO if that wasn't true. I've won The Gold Flashlight Award for throwing wads of money down that pit, and would and may do it again.

On a more practical note, check with your insurer to see if they'll touch a motorcycle with anything but a manufacturer title. Some will not touch "rebuilt" or "salvage" titles.