Honda will ship a Euro-bike and a small bobber to the United States for their 2010 line-up, but at least one of them won’t be seen in Canadian dealerships.
The NT700V is a small displacement sports touring bike powered by a liquid-cooled, single-cam, eight-valve 680 cc V-twin similar to the one that keeps the strange-looking but functional DN-01 goin’ down the road, but with a five-speed manual transmission.
With available ABS, hard bags with a pass-through for longer objects, a reasonable 257 kg weight, and a $10,000 U.S. price tag, the bike they call "Deauville" in Europe is depending on something other than excitement for sales. For U.S. buyers who want an all-around touring-commuter that’s not scary-big and won’t bust the bank, it could be the ticket.
No word yet on Canadian availability for another new Honda, the Shadow Phantom, a bobber-style bike in matte black and polished aluminum that runs on a 745 cc V-twin Shadow motor with programmed fuel injection and will sell for $8,000 in U.S. dealerships.
The Phantom’s low 652.8 mm (25.7 in) seat height and shaft drive suggest it’s aimed at riders who might be intimidated by larger bikes.
We’ll know after the Honda dealers meeting if it’s coming here.
Maybe the reason they don’t plan to sell the NT700V in Canada is that the price would be to high. Based upon the Canadian to US conversion tables Honda seems to be using, a $10,000 US price would become a $15,000 Canadian price.
Wait – you mean it has been confirmed the NT700 is NOT coming to Canada? Was this confirmed at the recent Canadian Dealers meeting?
The NT700V is based on the original NT650 Hawk GT and I for one am looking forward to seeing it in Canada. Not he same bike, but if it comes anywhere near the Hawk, It will be my next tourer.
Oh WOW ANOTHER V-TWIN HD clone. YES! YES!
I apologize for my burst of sarcasm. :roll
I’ll bet that bobber equals or exceeds an 883 in most performance areas.
I tire of hearing the refrain of “if only they’d bring a mid-sized all purpose bike” only to see them tank at the showroom floor. We’ve shown our fickle stripes before, why would they think all of a sudden we’ve gone all practical? Beemers really took off when they became bizarre (the custom), SUV’s (the GS), or sporty (the S’s), not when they were underpowered and practical.
I couldn’t care less about the Shadow but the NT700V is very interesting. Bring it over Honda and keep the price reasonable!
I thought the Deauville was a great little bike, when I saw it at a dealer show years ago. If it does make it to Canada then I’ll have a choice to make between a Ninja 650 with Givi bags, or a complete fettled unit in the Deauville.
Handa has some Pacific Coasts still in the warehouse ?
Let’s hope that Honda has the good sense to offer their attractive new “ST700” (Deauville) through their complete dealer network and resist the urge to further punish the non-Powerhouse dealers once again…
Two very different bikes from the same manufacturer. I am sure that the 700 vtwin is designed to compete with the highly successful Vstrom 650. Honda certainly could use a bike like this to offer variety to its buyers. Right now, their motorcycle product lineup is quite limited. If the price could be made competitive with the Vstrom then they will probably sell. As far as the “Phantom” goes… lets hope it remains a phantom (ie. invisible) in Canada.