Note: Later contributions now at the top...
18/5/2000 From: Patrick F Cray (patc@cableinet.co.uk)
Does anybody have the e-mail address for Honda UK?. I can't help but think here is a body of Honda riders who clearly do many tens' of thousands of miles each year. Who better than us to provide accurate feedback to Honda of the Deauville's real world performance?.
The DV is not everybody's cup of tea, it appeals I think to riders who are not afraid of a bit of wind and rain (speak for yourself, I must admit that I do avoid riding if the forecast is for big rain, but I'll risk showers !), who value good mpg, low insurance and running costs. A biker who likes to ride and is not swayed by the appeal of the latest plastic rocket, seductive though they are.
As I have previously written I really rate the DV as a value for money tourer/commuter. I would just like to think that Honda has a means of obtaining our valuable views in order to make their product even better.
Safe Riding
Pat Cray
18/5/2000 From: johnrussell@csfc.freeserve.co.uk
I have now bought my Deauville. I was going to buy new but I managed to pick up a five week old bike for 4800. it was red, the colour I wanted. I had to travel from Scotland to Eastbourne to collect it but it was worth it. I drove it 535 miles without a hitch. But who would expect anything else. A fantastic bike which is greatly underestimated.
Five weeks old ? I guess someone didn't share our appreciation of the bike. Did you get it privately or from a dealer ?
I have discovered that Honda do a workshop manual for the Deauville. It is a photocopy of the original Honda manual and costs 20. It is available from Honda dealers. If any problems please contact 'Two Wheels' Edinburgh Tel: 0131 667 2573 - where I am getting mine.
John
15/5/2000 From: John Bell (john@johnbell.co.uk)
A 2000 model.
I know Carnells have a terrible reputation for service, but I guess that won't bother you too much as you'll have to use a local dealer for that anyway...
Or DIY ;-)
Your comment about unhelpful dealers rings a bell. Although I didn't come across anyone quite that bad when I was looking around for my bike, I was pretty unimpressed with the general level of service I got until I went to Lloyd Coopers.
Well, on the dealer front, I went into my local Kawasaki dealer (Scotbike - now an M & P subsidiary), to have a look round and buy a couple of new lids, and the service was excellent, very attentive, and the shop itself was very impressive: fairly expansive, tidy, in-house cafe etc. I just wish they were a Honda dealer :-) . The official Glasgow Honda dealer could do themselves a favour by popping along there to see how it should be done...
Cheers
John.
13/5/2000 From: John Bell (john@johnbell.co.uk)
Can I also add my thanks for setting up the site, I too have been ferreting about trying to find out information and this site was a welcome find.
I noticed one of the comments quoting a price of 5500 UK, well just thought I'd mention that Carnell are selling it for 5238 including delivery to your door. I went to my local Honda dealer (in Glasgow, Scotland) quite prepared to spend a bit more to support my local dealer, but, even though there was no-one else in the shop, I couldn't get anyone to serve me! They were too busy chatting amongst themselves, pathetic. Hence the Carnell deal was great for me, most other dealers down south wanted up to 150 quid to deliver, and the initial price wasn't as competitive. Hope this info may prove useful to other prospective buyers.
Keep up the good work!
Regards
John.
Sounds like a great deal. Do you know if it's on a 2000 bike or a 1999 one (although AFAIK there's no significant differences between them) ? The RRP this year is on the order of 6000 quid, so that's a pretty good discount. I know Carnells have a terrible reputation for service, but I guess that won't bother you too much as you'll have to use a local dealer for that anyway. And there was the other recent episode where one of their shops was found to be selling "secondhand" bikes that were in fact stolen...
Your comment about unhelpful dealers rings a bell. Although I didn't come across anyone quite that bad when I was looking around for my bike, I was pretty unimpressed with the general level of service I got until I went to Lloyd Coopers.
8/5/2000 From: Patrick F Cray (patc@cableinet.co.uk)
There seems to have been a lot of discussion about the Deauville's screen: personally having covered 3500 miles since last October, I can't say I find very much wrong with the standard version. I'm about 5 foot 10 in my boots and I find cruising at high motorway speeds in all but the strongest head winds quite comfortable. Maybe I'm a bit of a masochist as I've done some miles on naked bikes with my head nearly being blown off!! the Deauville is like a limousine in comparison.
I have retained the standard pannier lids, but I make frequent use of my Honda 45 litre top box which I highly recommend. The box will hold 2 full face helmets without any problem and it is a piece of cake to attach and detach. Whilst the panniers could be a bit deeper, I can still stow my riding boots in them; and they readily take a flask, sandwich box etc. The fairing mounted glove boxes are also useful and mine contain visor cleaner, disc lock, mobile telephone etc. etc.
As I have grown to know my machine I have come to really appreciate it's torque and around town when traffic is flowing reasonably well I find I can more or less leave the DV in 3rd which gives a good but effortless turn of speed when needed. I'm still not totally smitten with the instrumentation, and I feel that a similar layout to that found on the new Trans Alp would be better.
The fact that I am nit picking is really a backhanded complement to a motorcycle that does what it is supposed to do and does it well.
Safe Riding
Patrick F Cray
5/5/2000 From: Alrik Kraijnbrink (alrik@privemail.net)
This is a club for people owning or want to own a Deauville. Others are also welcome of course !
http://www.clubs.nl/community/default.asp?club=Honda+Deauville+Club
Thanks, useful if you can speak Dutch.
5/5/2000 From: Patrick F Cray (patc@cableinet.co.uk)
Thanks for the invitation to join your web site and very good it is too!. Thanks...
I have now owned my DV since 1/10/99 and I really can't find a lot to complain about. I have now got just under 3500 miles on the clock and the bike is returning 55 mpg in mixed riding and over 60 mpg on long runs. I don't know what I am doing right but my machine does not seem to have faired badly at all over the winter. The only corrosions being on the exhaust which I managed to scratch when I dropped it near Kendal, unfortunately no chrome attracts the rust. I do keep my machine garaged at home and usually at work as well, and it gets plenty of baths and copious quantities of WD40.
At least to my face I have had no adverse comments from the sports biking fraternity, in fact everybody that has viewed my machine has been most complementary. Like most owners of touring type machines I ride all year round and I don't have matching leathers either!. I believe in live and let live I happen to like tourers such as the Pan and I'll say it some of the BMW's. What I expect from a bike is comfort, reliability, reasonable performance and economy. The last item hardly gets a mention these days, but I'd sooner my bike didn't do 30 mpg or go through a 200 pound soft compound tyre in 1500 miles and I'd rather not pay 1500 pounds to insure my two wheeled friend!.
I think that the question you have to ask with any purchase after a reasonable period is would you buy one again?. In the case of the Deauville the answer is yes. It has proved to a good commuter and you can ride 200 miles on a single tank and get off at the other end not feeling that you have been on the rack.
Ride Safe
Patrick F Cray
Another satisfied owner...
4/5/2000 From: Nazim Mohammedi (ZimounN@netscape.net)
Hello There,
First, I think the site is great, especially after 2 days trying to get good info on the Deauville!!! Great job....
Browsing through the list, found Alrik from Holland and I am sure you can answer my questions.
I ride a Yamaha TDM 850 and as you know this is a very high, upright bike with not much in terms of Wind protection. In Holland the roads are pretty flat and windy and evry day I have to do about 70 Kilometers to work. Taking thewind day in day out is really not fun anymore.
Had a look at the Deauville and was impressed, I am due to have a test ride later tonight...can't wait.
My question to Alrik is about (obvioulsy) Wind. What is your experience riding the Honda on motorways? Do you get bounced all over the place by the wind, do you have to correct the bike evry second... Please please any info would be GREAT!!!
Thanks
Zimoun
p.s. I will let you all know how the test ride went and how it compares with the TDM
One of the sites referenced on the front page also has a quite amusing TDM850 review:
here. You might find the taller windscreen is helpful as well - quite a few of the Deauville reviews say that the standard screen doesn't provide much wind protection.4/5/2000 From: WDagger@aol.com
Thanks Eirik! I was so worried that they would be shim and bucket which would take hours for me to do. I'm a little spoiled right now that the bike I have has hydraulic self adjusting valves -but then again it's not liquid cooled and does not do well in heavy traffic. You can't wim 'em all.
-Eliot
3/5/2000 From: eirik.skjaveland@bravida.no
Well, I must admit I've never laid wrench to the NTV in any way, but I would be surprised if the valve cover was any different from the VT and XLV. They feature one oblong cover over the inlet valves kept in place by two 6mm bolts, plus one large screw-cap over the exhaust valves. You will gain access to the valves via them. If these have been omitted, I suspect the front valve cover will come off as complete units, although it may be neccessary to remove the ignition coils or losen the radiator to accomplish that. Hope this helps.
Eirik
I re-read the magazine article, and the problem that the person had was that one of the radiator fixing bolts was corroded solid, and she couldn't free it - hence the inability to get at the front cylinder.
2/5/2000 From: eirik.skjaveland@bravida.no
Hi!
Noticed WDagger wanted to know how the valves are adjusted. Well, there are 4 inlets and 2 exhaust valves in total (3 valves per cylinder) and they all have threaded adjusters easily set by owner with a few tools. It can be wise to replace the adjusting screws every 24K miles to avoid bad screws messing up the valve tops, something that will require a much more expensive repair. Especially the rear exhaust valve is prone to having its end flattened.
Eirik
Thanks Eirik, that's very helpful. Although one of the recent UK bike mags had an article on a novice mechanic rather unsuccesfully trying to adjust the valve clearances on her Honda Bros (yet another previous incarnation of this engine). She couldn't get the cover off the front cylinder for a start...
2/5/2000 From: johnrussell@csfc.freeserve.co.uk
Thanks for creating the site. I am just about to sell my Triumph Trophy 900 95 N (The dealer has offered 3500 and a friend is interested at 3795) and buy a Deauville. The rrp is 6350 otr but I've had two dealers offer me the latest one (XY) at 5500 plus 10% discount off any accessories. I hope to push for a bit more nearer the time when I change in June. I wanted to know if there is a workshop manual available for the Deauville and how much it costs. Haynes doesn't list one yet. Anyone know what's available?
John
There must be a Haynes manual for the old NTV650, given its popularity with despatch riders. From what Eirik has said, most of the mechanicals are unchanged to the Deauville. So I'd suggest looking for an NTV manual. I know there's one for the Bros - see below.
I'd have thought something like a Sprint ST would be the next bike for a Triumph owner who wanted a touring bike, but they are a lot more expensive of course. I think 5500 quid is a decent reduction off the list price.
From: WDagger@aol.com
Hi again,
Would you be able to tell me about the valve adjustments on the Deauville? Are they hydraulic, screw and locknut, or shim and bucket? And how often do they get adjusted.
-Eliot
The adjustment/inspection interval is 8K miles according to the owners manual. I don't know what adjustment method is used - if anyone else can enlighten us, let me know.
From: Neil Eliot (neil.eliot@unn.ac.uk)
Keep up the good work
I took a bit of stick from my collegues when I got my Deauville but the stick soon subsided after they tried it out and after a few runs out to the lakes and back, the runs out were great fun and comfortable, they found it fun but found wrists and back suffering slightly,
All in all the bike does exactly what my wife and I want and does it well, touring two up is a dream.
NEIL
Thanks again. If you look at the ukrm archives, and the response when I announced this website (see entry off main page), it seems that if you're not a sports bike or performance oriented rider in the UK you have to put up with a lot of uninformed rubbish from self-appointed "real motorcyclists" who only use their bikes for speeding on sunny days, and keeping the paramedics and breakers busy, while at the same time ripping the piss out of Max Power readers whose philosophy really only differs in the number of wheels employed.
Rant over
From: Robert & Elizabeth (tobrown@adnetsol.com)
Greetings,For a few years we were able to purchase the PC800, a machine in the middle of the ST1100 and the NT650V. Now the ST1100 is the only shaft-driven sports tourer available in the US from Honda. What is involved in purchasing the NT and shipping it back to LA?
Cheers,
Bob
Thousand Oaks, California
I wonder whether the Deauville wouldn't be "underkill" for the US ? Apart from the issue of cost, I'd have thought that an ST1100 (aka Pan-European in these parts) would have been ideal. After all, you have nice wide roads, so I'd have thought you don't need a really narrow bike for squeezing through traffic, and you do have potentially ultra long distances to cover which would be easier on a bigger machine.
That said, I don't know what'd be involved in importing a bike to the US - but I'd be willing to bet there's a website out there somewhere that can tell you how to do it.
From: Paul Sutcliffe (Paulsutcliffe@tesco.net)
Nice to see some info at last - I've been printing off specs in French so far....
I bought my Deauville in December from Bikeworld in Southend - an import, '98 spec, 4850 pounds. Only difference is a kilometre speedo and no immobiliser, and the big cost saving.
I use it to commute from Sussex to central London - a 100 mile round trip and I'm also getting 55mph to the gallon, and some corrosion - know anyone who sells WD40 by the gallon ?
I've ordered an aftermarket lower fairing (95 pounds), high flip screen (39 pounds, Powerbronze) and front mudguard extendor (12 pounds) from MPS to try and protect me and the bike from the elements and windnoise, will let you know how I get on when they arrive.
Until now the only addition has been mufflers to protect my hands, and these have been fantastic - I've ridden through winter with the mufflers and woollen gloves only. I also bought a nosemask for inside the helmet which has worked well at keeping it unmisted. Oh, I also fitted a top box left over from my last bike. I used a stack of washers and some chunky aluminium strip as a substitute for a top rack, but I might buy the official Honda box and rack at some stage.
I'm very pleased with it. I can carry a laptop in the topbox when visiting a customer, then stuff the helmet and boots in the topbox, jacket and overtrousers in the panniers, and roll up in suit and briefcase ready for business. It's fairly relaxed cruising, except for the windnoise.
Paul Sutcliffe
Why did you go for non-Honda parts ? It'd be interesting to hear how easy those aftermarket parts are to fit, and also to get some pictures if you have the technology.
From: Paul Sutcliffe (Paulsutcliffe@tesco.net)
Mainly on looks. The Honda screen did not look as good as the Powerbronze. The lower fairing from Honda is just a foot protector, I wanted a full fairing that protected the engine also. The MPS catalogue had a photo of the Deauville kitted out in all these extras and it looked impressive.
I hadn't realised how much the Honda parts cost until I saw your site but it appears the aftermarket kit is much cheaper also.
You can get the catalogue from MPS by visiting their website - www.thefastone.co.uk. It's also supposed to be issued free with the June issue of RIDE.
From: Stephen R. Graham (sgraham@fulcrumsolutions.com)
Nice site - thanks for creating it.
My Deauville has now done 11000 miles and has survived winter use pretty well apart from the odd bits and pieces of surface corrosion. The standard Macadam 90X's lasted 9500 miles (as did the rear pads) and were replaced with Pirelli Dragon GTS MTR23/24's (much better than the Michelins for grip but I doubt they will last as long). The only changes I've made to the bike are the addition of a 52 litre top box and a higher screen, although I'll probably add heated grips before next winter.
Regards
Steve Graham
Did you buy the standard Honda windscreen, or the Powerbronze one (or something else) ? Whichever one, do you find it effective (and how tall are you?).
I bought an aftermarket one from MPS (can't remember the make - it was about 40 quid) - it's a 2" flip, quite a lot higher than the standard one but not as upright as the higher Honda screen (which I saw on a police Deauville at the Scottish Bike Show). It's very effective and allows a fairly comfortable 110mph cruise while sitting upright, although I'm not particularly tall at 5'10".
Regards
Steve
Sounds like a good compromise between look and performance for someone who's not too tall. I find that the higher Honda screen keeps the wind blast off my chest but still generates a lot of turbulence around my helmet (ooh err missus), and it does look a bit pants, frankly.
From: Alrik Kraijnbrink (Alrik@privemail.net)
Hello,
I'm Alrik and i'm 24 years old and live in the Netherlands. Since last year I own a drivers license for bikes. I rented a few and then I saw the Deauville in a brochure from Honda. First of all i fell in love with the integrated side boxes and second the enclosed shaft as a final drive is a pretty option as the price of the bike is not really high.
This week (14-03-2000) I can pick up my freshly bought second-hand Deauville and of course I went up the internet. I almost find nothing and then I bumped into this site. While I ride the the Deauville, I'll try to write my story about this bike and email it to this website.
Also a site about the deaville I found : http://www.vrijhoff.demon.nl/Deauville.html
Great stuff here and I'll keep coming back for more !!!!
Greets,
Alrik
From: WDagger@aol.com
On a recent trip to the UK I fell in love with the Honda Deauville. Unfortunately Honda is not selling the Deauville in the US.
Any ideas on how I can get one over here? I looked into importing one from Canada, but apparently Honda doesn't sell it there either.
I don't know any way of doing this myself, but since there are now two of you wanting to do this (see above) maybe you can work on it together.
Would you happen to know the name of the person at Honda responsible for the decision to only market it in Europe, I want to hunt that guy down and "convince" him otherwise.
From: Nigel Booth (Nigel.Booth@nationwideisp.net)
Bought mine last summer (just after getting married). New wife wouldn't entertain anything like cbr 600..she wanted comfort and practicality. Shopped around and found beautiful red deauville....all pals at worked mocked as I previously owned Suzuki gsx 600r. Well...surprise surprise...much nicer to ride...more comfortable...and more fun!!!. Didn't get out as far as would have liked due to whiplash injury sustained by wife when in car...but....this year am lookng forward to cruising around europe. love the bike!
Nigel Booth
From: JBardet1@aol.com
Thanks for your reply. Always interested in info. relating to Reveres and their successors. My '89 Revere has proved to be an ideal , all-year-round, commuter and tourer. I am interested in views and comments on later NTVs and Deauvilles.
J.B.
From: kosta elektro robert kobuszewski (postmaster@kostaelektro.atomnet.pl)
Subject: Greetings from Poland
Hello from poland ! My name is robert kobuszewski . My wife bought deauville for me as birthday gift. It was 01 07 1999 from this time i ride 6800 kilometers. No trouble , no komplications.
I assume "Kosta Electro" isn't part of your name ! Good to hear you've had no problems.
From: JBardet1@aol.com
Subject: HONDA REVERE-600K
HALLO .....IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE? THIS IS A 'REVERE' OWNER MAKING CONTACT WITH SIMILARLY AFFLICTED ADMIRERS OF 'REVERES', NTVs or DEAUVILLEs. ANSWER AND BE FRIENDLY. WE COME IN PEACE.
J.B.
So, any takers ?
From: shamling@csc.com
This is just a quick mail to say how pleased I was to find a web-site for the Deauville, I spent about an hour trying to find information & reviews about this bike with no great success. Until I came upon your site.
I am just going through the motions of purchasing one ( having taken an NTV 650 around europe in the tail-end of '98) and found that, thanks to your site, it would be wise to specify lower fairing & the additional "oversized" panniers.
I intend to use the bike much like yourself for a regular daily 50-60 mile commute each way and also want something reliable and economical whilst still being fun.
I know that this is a much underated bike ("based on the feedback from my biking friends") and when we did our trip around europe I managed to not only keep up (on ALL european roads) with my friend who was then riding a Ducati Monster 900, but also I had an absolutely trouble free journey, whereas he needed to replace both his hydraulic clutch fluid and his rear sprocket during the journey, not to mention his carbs freezing whilst crossing the alps. I on the hand thoroughly enjoyed the handling and responsiveness of the NTV and had the grazed foot pedals to prove it.
I am looking forward to owning my new Deauville & will keep a regular watch on your site for any updates. I would also be happy to keep your site informed of any interesting events/failures/updates I may come across during my ownership of this terrific all rounder
Shane Hamling-Hills Sussex, UK
Thanks - that's exactly why I set the site up, so as long as one person has been able to make use of it, it wasn't wasted effort !
From: Eirik from Norway
I'm very open to including NTV information if people want to share it. I haven't looked for existing NTV sites, and have no great wish to tread on anyone's toes.
From: Paul
From: David R Smith
From: Brian Keen