Honda Deauville

But - this is a real big but - if you use the bike for what it's designed for, you'll walk away pleasantly surprised. Okay, it ain't the fastest transport of delight in the motorcycling toybox, but it is one of the most user-friendly.

And in an age where bikes have become increasingly specialised, there's been some bemoaning of the death of the all-rounder. To paraphrase Mark Twain, that death is greatly exaggerated.

Wot's this then?
The basic mechanical package is a 650cc liquid-cooled v-twin four-stroke, claiming 55ps at 7750rpm along with 5.6kg-m of torque at 6125. Hardly hair-raising performance figures, but enough to get the machine over 160kmh without too much fuss, and overall the engine works best if you keep it loping along in the midrange . Low-end grunt is fine.

This is mated to a five-speed transmission with shaft drive and, if this is sounding familiar it should. Essentially it's the three-valve per pot package out of Honda's NTV series, with close relations to the XLV and Transalp series.

All up weight of 228 kilos is on the lump side, though the centre of gravity has been kept fairly low. Our shortest rider, at 163cm (5'4") managed it without drama - though she would have been happier if it was lowered a tad further.

Fuel capacity is 19.5lt, which gives an ample range when you take into account our fuel consumption figures of 17-20km/lt in city and touring use.

Wot's it like?
If you want a sports bike, get a FireBlade, but if an all-rounder or one-person tourer is your gig, this is well worth a look. It's exceptionally easy to ride, with light and very predictable controls.

Braking is linked - one front disc and the rear hooked up to the footpedal - and is inoffensive enough in this guise. There's ample power on tap. Steering is on the slow side, with the effort put into stability rather than precision. We particularly liked the suspension - soft, but very well damped.

However two large people will overwhelm it. We're guessing about 150 kilos as a max ideal load before you'll need to consider upgrading the rear shock.

In stock form, the panniers are perfect for a weekend away for one person, and are slim enough to make the bike a breeze for lane-splitting in heavy traffic. You can expand the panniers by buying optional lids at several hundred dollars and/or getting the Givi-made and Honda-branded topbox.

A very popular fitting was the Honda accessory heated handgrips which had an infinitely adjustable setting and made a huge difference to a cold 1000-km trip into the countryside.

Price is $14,990 (plus ORC), which we reckon is good value.

Story: Guy Allen