Honda NT 600V Revere

Review

We'd just finished a leisurely couple of hundred miles and nothing hurt. The row of NVT600s weren't even creaking or pinging as they cooled down.

I had to admit, there was nothing much wrong with the bike. A bit crude and basic, perhaps, but practical and down to earth, a worthy follow-on from the VT500.

Then I was told the price. Honda's suave PR man gleamed in the fading twilight. "Bloody hell, Graham," I said, "you're speaking in typing errors. Still, I expect the panniers are expensive." I was assured that whatever the panniers cost was on top of the aforementioned sum.

That, and the optional rear carrier, would make it more than the GSX600F Suzuki, and very nearly as much as the CBR600. £3,199p/«sthe panniers and plus the carrier and no fairing.

It should be competing with the VT and with Kawasaki's Z550GT, both of which register less than £2600 on the finance scale.

Just as I was saying so, a large lady clutching a pair of binoculars loomed out of a clump of trees. In one breath she managed to convey that the NTV was the most stirring thing she'd seen in many a long week, that the strongest desire currently welling in her heaving breast was to be allowed to sit on it, that she in fact possessed a VF400 and had a friend who thought PB was the best magazine in the land.

It took my breath away and I was unable to finish what I was saying. Indeed, anything else seemed completely superfluous after that. It may behave been an extreme example, but the 600 did have this sort of effect on people. The styling is striking and elegant; the straight frame rails, the bulbous tank, the wide tyres and the subdued grey engine. It invites a trial sitting and it is comfortable.

The spec is real-world practical; a liquid-cooled V-twin, shaft drive, single-sided swing arm, a big fuel tank and panniers. A logical successor to the CX and the VT. And then we come to the new name. After calling the NTX600 the Dominator, I would have thought that they could at least have called this one the NVT 600. But it is called NTV and Revere.

In a world where nouns are increasingly used as verbs (in fact more words are verbed every day) it makes a change to find a verb being used as a noun. At first I thought that the Honda's name was another little Japanese joke. Perhaps they'd meant to call it the Leveller or something like that. Or was it named after he who | spread the word that the British a were coming? I" No, it was named Revere, to .. regard as sacred, to venerate, to £ hold in awe. The noun is 10 Reverend, which would have been a lot better, but you can't have everything.

In Germany it comes with 79mm pistons, which make it a 650, and it costs 9130 marks, which equates to £2870 and which seems a lot more reasonable. The lower-geared 600cc engine is a tractable little lump with a pleasant midrange and no top end to speak of. It uses three-valve heads  two intake, one exhaust, like the old CB twins — and the engine is configured as a 52-degree V twin, with offset crankpins to reclaim primary balance.

It has that chunky, uneven power delivery that characterizes V motors and has little vibration. On our bike, one footrest tingled at high revs and that was all. The engine is most pleasant to use in the 40 to 70mph speed range. Depending on the wind, its practical maximum is 95 to 105mph with the panniers fitted, although it is capable of 115mph when the luggage is abandoned and the rider gets flat on the tank.

Fuel economy varies between 45mpg and 60mpg under most conditions, although Mark managed to get it down to 34mpg once. We didn't like to ask how. With the 4.2 gallon tank, the 600 would usually go 150 to 180 miles before needing reserve, and a 200-mile range was quite possible.

The steel, perimeter frame is light but gives slow steering, because it has a long wheelbase and nearly 5 inches of trail. It gives the bike a leisurely feel, which is best suited to steady, 60mph cruising rather than trying to force a rapid line through twisty lanes.

Like the engine and the steering, the suspension is also set up to give its best behaviour at 50 to 60mph on B-roads and up to 70mph on dual carriageways. At both ends the springing is crude, slightly soft and under-damped. When the bike is ridden gently, it gives a comfortable ride; when pushed, it has a tendency to weave in fast corners.

Although the riding position is very upright, it stays comfortable for long periods; the only time it is uncomfortable is when it is struggling to hold a high speed against a headwind and then you really feel the absence of a fairing or a screen.

Part of the bike's vague handling is probably due to the fact that it is slightly over-tyred. The combination of a 110/80 on the front and a 150/70 section on the rear could cope with rather more performance than the NTV has to offer, but they do give it an abundance of grip. It can be confidently stuffed into corners on practically any line and speed and generates bad habits like waiting until you can see the exit of the bend before deciding whether or not to use the brakes.

Like the tyres, the brakes feel as if they could handle a lot more thrust, so in their underworked capacity they do pretty well, too.

Day-long comfort is important on a bike like this, and the large, soft seat stays surprisingly comfortable on long journeys. During short trips on the back, I thought that the pillion seat seemed good as well. The riding position is a bit feet-forward but there is stacks of room, a grab rail and the presence of the big panniers is psychologically reassuring. This contrasts with Mark's experience, in which the pillion came in for more criticism (see Guzzi test, for some reason  Ed).

The panniers, which will add at least £150 to the NTV, are made in Germany along the lines of the Krauser components, with similar locks and clasps. They are easy to fit/remove, hold 40 liters and, with judicious wiggling and shoving, will just take a full face helmet. There is also an optional rear luggage rack, which hadn't appeared when we ran the test and didn't have a priced fixed.

The width of the panniers would slow the bike in dense traffic, but most of the time they weren't a problem. At about 35 inches in the beam, they add 3 inches to the NTV's width at the mirrors.