The Honda Revere is one well weird
motorcycle. But I had to have one. Back in '88 I saw a couple
in my local Honda dealer's and fell instantly for its butch looks.
I have always wanted a vee twin but could not contemplate the
idiosyncrasies of wop machinery, couldn't afford the price of
a Vincent and certainly didn't want to be lumbered with some ill
making Japanese custom.
The VT500 was, rationally, an
ideal machine for my needs but I just did not like its looks at
all. The Revere had class but it also had a three grand plus price
tag new. I knew that the VT500 was a reliable piece of kit and
saw no reason why the Revere, basically a VT with capacity increased
to 585cc, should not fare just as well.
When MCN revealed a six month
old bike for £2250 I was on the phone in an instant. Turned
out to be owned by an OAP who had decided it was a bit too fierce
for him after doing only 2500 miles. Basically, he had done the
tedious business of running the bike in and offered me a grand
off the new price. How could I refuse it?
The bike feels really good as
soon as you sit on it. Low seat, knees clamp a neatly sculpted
tank, flatish bars and slightly rearset pegs. The narrowness of
the vee twin engine allows it to sit low in the flash beam type
frame, the resultant low centre of gravity and 385lbs of mass
means steering is very light but yet perfectly stable. The shaft
drive, I soon found, did not interfere with the bike's ability
to whiz through the curves.
And what of the trick single sided
swinging arm, I hear you cry? Well, that's all part of the weirdness.
Undoubtedly, it's a strong item - that kind of design needs to
be - but I suspect not much better than a more conventional set
up. If my first reaction was that it's a bit of a gimmick, later
thought and experience (wonderfully easy to remove rear wheel,
for instance) allowed that in a shaft drive set-up a single sided
swinging arm that used the shaft's housing as it structural member
was quite efficient - the Revere is a light motorcycle for a shaft
drive tourer.
Make no mistake, this is a tourer
in the BMW mould. Indicated top speed is only 120mph, worse still,
it's jolly hard work to push beyond 100mph. But any speed below
that can be dialled in and the bike left in top with no need to
flick up and down the gearbox. Incidentally, the box is quite
slick for a shaftie, better than many a chain driven race replica
Honda, even though you don't actually have to make much use of
it. In a race with a VT, the Revere will only just pull ahead.
Disappointing.
Another item that did not overwhelm
me with its results, was fuel economy. Many a punter would be
satisfied with an average of 50mpg, but not me. Not when that
average was a result of fairly restrained riding and when the
more gung-ho stuff dropped that figure down to an all time worst
of 35mpg. I never achieved 60mpg but got damned near it on a couple
of occasions when I was rumbling down some deserted A roads.
I think such poor economy comes
from using a shaft drive with an unsuitable engine - that extra
twist in the transmission must lose some power - and the poor
routing for induction and exhaust. The rear header pipe is bent
very sharply as it exits the cylinder head whilst the narrow space
between the vee of the motor demands a single carb rather than
the two items fitted to the Honda.
Extracting a mere 55hp from 600cc
is the kind of trick manufacturers of British twins could achieve
in the sixties and they did not have the benefits of the Revere's
watercooling and three valves per cylinder. In fact, power delivery
of the Honda is very similar to a Triumph 650 that I used to own,
which used to average 60mpg. Admittedly, the British twin could
not match the reliability of the Honda and at least the Revere
is blessed with a large tank that allows 160 miles of riding before
the need to stop for a refill.
And that's where the pleasure
of the bike lies. It inspires one to take to the road and cover
long distances in a day. Again, it's similar to a BMW twin in
the way it will eat up distance. The seat aided by that riding
position is one of the most comfortable I've come across - I've
survived one 800 mile in a day bash with just a little stiffness.
Between 70 and 95mph the engine purrs along in contended vee twin
mode.
It's when you are tired that bikes
like the Revere really come into their own. It's so easy to ride
that I often have the impression I don't really need to be there.
Just stick it in top gear, use the throttle to roll on and off
the power, she will run around corners as if on rails - wonderfully
neutral and light steering. Even braking, changing gear or backing
off the throttle halfway through a corner would only produce the
slightest twitch at the back end, as if to say wake up you silly
bugger.
Over distance its sheer ability
at the speeds most people are restrained to ride by road conditions
and traffic laws means it will eventually catch up with the race
replicas and leave their riders in its wake, screaming in agony
from their contorted riding position. I really do feel sorry for
them sometimes. In very tight going the bike can actually stay
with CBR600s and the likes, until the road straightens and the
race reptiles disappear off into the distance.
It's on long runs when the relative
softness, but well damped, suspension comes as a great blessing.
I have been amazed at some of the pot-holes the suspension has
eaten up without the mildest of twitches as a reaction in the
chassis. Lately, the rear shock has begun to pogo under hard going,
so a replacement will be high on the shopping list. Its says a
lot about the stiffness of the chassis that the bike is not perturbed
by the combination of worn out tyres and soft suspension!
No bike is perfect and the Revere
is no exception. I did not like the disc brakes very much. One
is fitted at each end. The rear is grabby and there were times
in the wet when if the chassis was not so good and the tyres not
so sticky that the way it locked up would have had me eating tarmac.
The front tended to fade when used in anger going down Alpine
passes and the like - very disconcerting indeed, I thought I had
left that kind of thing behind with drum brakes. Even under mild
use the front disc gets hot enough to fry one's lunch upon.
I also managed to fry the clutch
at 21000 miles. I was in France at the time but luckily it was
still usable if I kept speeds below 65mph. The journey home was
slow and tedious, the gearchange becoming disturbingly clunky.
No great problem to relieve a nearly new one from a bike in a
breakers and fit it to my pride and joy. The rest of the motor
has been rock solid, even with 37,600 miles up. The three valves
per cylinder are both easy to adjust and infrequent in their need
for adjustment. The carbs haven't been touched and seem no worse
for it. After chain driven bikes, that shaft is a wonderful indulgence.
Apart from a very occasional oil change it has needed no attention
whatsoever. Yes, I know if it breaks in the middle of nowhere
I'm in deep trouble, but how likely is that?
Consumables are okay. A set of
tyres around 7500 miles and brake pads 8000 front and 12,000 miles
rear, the latter because I try to avoid using it. All the cables
are still original. Electrics have been dead reliable save for
a loose wire in the rear right-hand indicator that meant it went
through half a dozen bulbs before I traced the fault. The original
battery is still there and still able to churn the motor into
life first caress of the starter button.
Unlike a Kawasaki GPX600 I once
owned, which seemed to turn to rust before my eyes, the finish
on the Honda is almost up to BMW standards - better in some areas
as the exhaust shows no sign of demise and the wheels are much
easier to clean. The bike gets its fair bit of tender loving care
but it also gets thrashed through all weathers and I once set
off in November for a two month cruise down to Spain - it was
coming back to the UK that was the real shock to the system. Even
at its mileage the bike polishes up as new.
Honda offer a set of panniers
but unlike BMW they fit them so they stick out miles from the
chassis. A very strange thing to do when one of the bike's main
advantages is the way its low mass and narrowness allows it to
be filtered through traffic like a 125. I would love a RS type
half fairing, that would make it perfect for me. Quite simply,
if you want a light, narrow shaft drive tourer that handles like
a race replica in the curves there is only one bike to buy!
Derrick Jones
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Now that Honda have produced a
650cc model at 75% of the price of the old version you can imagine
how pissed off I feel. My solution is to keep the NTV for much
longer than I intended and never buy a new Honda again! Not that
the NTV is such a bad motorcycle that it makes lengthy ownership
a tiresome business. Just that after a couple of months the Honda
was becoming a little, er, bland.
The 72 degree vee-twin has been
around in various guises long enough to ensure a reasonable reputation
for reliability.....the only problem I had was a burnt out clutch
at 14500 miles. The dealer refused to replace this under warranty
as I had refused his kind offer to take loads of my money for
regular servicing as dictated by the guarantee. I could have hassled
Honda for a replacement but it was easier to hit the breakers
for a spare unit and do the job myself rather than write pleading
letters to large corporations.
Why a clutch should fail at such
low mileage is way beyond my ken, but I know some NTV's that have
gone all the way around the clock under despatch riders' abuse
with nary a moment of concern. I am even quite conscientious about
changing the oil, checking the valves and setting the carbs every
2500 miles. Working on the engine is straightforward apart from
some of the valves being hard to get at.
Running in was not so tedious.
I set 4000 revs for the first 250 miles as a suitable limit. Torque
from the engine was sufficient for staying clear of the cagers
in town and puttering along our pleasant highways at 50mph. Fuel
proved to be around 70mpg under such gentle riding.
As the engine loosened up the
gearbox became less lumpy and starting easier. By the time 500
miles were on the clock it would whirr along quite happily at
70 to 80mph, although fuel didn't better 60mpg. There was a slight
buzz between 5 and 6000rpm, whose resonance hit the footpegs in
a worrying frenzy. By the time 1000 miles had been done, this
effect either disappeared or faded into the background.
The motor has offset con-rods
in a way that convinces the engine it's really a ninety degree
vee twin. I wasn't that persuaded, there was always a distant
impression of an engine working away, but not until I was taking
the motor beyond 8000 revs did any frenzied complaint make its
way from the engine, through the various insulation to my mitts
or feet.
The NTV was perfectly capable
of cruising at 90mph for as long as the fuel held out, but going
any faster was pushing the limits of the motor's power output,
not much more than 50 real horses. Pushing the machine to its
limits put 115mph on the clock, the engine taking on a frenzied,
revvy feeling, losing its more normal robust, laid back nature.
Head winds and inclines could
rapidly rob the Revere of its hard won turn of speed. Cruising
at 90mph, there was little power left for acceleration should
some cager decide to amuse himself by trying to run me down. There
was also the perfidious gearbox which when changing down from
top with 90mph on the clock would throw the bike into a false
neutral. It's just as well that these are tough engines, what
with the motor screaming at 15000 revs!
That said, the riding position
was near perfect for my 5'9" frame, with well thought out
ergonomics that BMWs used to possess. 90mph cruising was perfectly
feasible with very little arm or neck pain - it'd take more than
300 miles in a day before the seat or my muscles started to go
off. Riding through traffic was just as easy, the narrowness of
the bike from the vee-twin engine means it'll go through C90 type
gaps.
Despite being watercooled, the
clutch seems to overheat after excessive town use, making some
ominous noises and throwing the gearbox into a temperamental fit.
The solution is to stick the box into second gear, which will
let the bike go down to 5mph with the clutch fully home, producing
only the slightest amount of shudder from the shaft drive.
The latter, housed in its high
tech single sided swinging arm, intruded a lot less than BMW's.
There was a slight shudder on vicious take-offs and just a touch
of rear wheel hopping on down-changes in bends, especially on
quite bumpy surfaces, but these were minor irritants rather than
major concerns. Given that it obviated all the nasty mess and
maintenance of a drive chain, I would not seriously lodge a complaint
in its direction. My friend with a FJ1100 was looking longingly
at the NTV600 after spending a weekend disassembling and reassembling
his back end just to fit a new O-ring drive chain.
The chassis was thoroughly modern
with a wraparound frame (made easier by the narrow engine), mono-shock
back end and fat tyres. The wheels were profoundly ugly but overall
appearance was somewhere between functional and beautiful.
Handling was reassuring rather
than dynamically overwhelming as per the race replicas. It's a
question of taste whether it's worth swapping the Honda's secure
stability for quicker steering that often verges on the twitchy.
Weighing about 420lbs, despite all its high technology, the NTV
breaks no new barriers - you could've enjoyed similar performance
and less weight from any number of late sixties British twins.
Albeit, without the Honda's lack of vibes and sterling reliability.
It's perhaps pathetic that whilst
those old twins would regularly turn in 60mpg, the Revere, when
used in anger, only does about 45mpg. Milder use will often return
not much more than 50mpg. There are two obvious reasons for this
- the extra set of gears in the shaft drive as the shaft and crankshaft
aren't in line; and the convoluted route of the exhaust. The three
valve cylinder heads never did much when they debuted in the Superdream
series and probably don't help the NTV.
Durability has so far been reasonable.
Finish has stayed good everywhere except on the wheels which are
heavily into the white rash; and around the petrol cap where the
paint has faded, even bubbled, slightly. The brakes proved less
resistant to age, with the calipers seizing up twice and the discs
themselves now looking perilously thin.
The brakes were tolerable rather
than shocking in their retardation, worked better in emergency
situations when desperation gave extra muscle to my right hand.
They could provide enough braking force to twist up the front
forks which were sometimes marginal in their effectiveness. Used
to relatively old hacks, it was nothing I couldn't cope with.
It was harder to deal with the
worn out OE Japanese tyres, at about 8000 miles. They had been
rather good in the early days with none of the horrors of older
Japanese rubber. But once down to the legal limits they became
quite nasty in the wet. The front would slide away with a rapidity
that almost caught me out a couple of times. A set of Metzs revived
the secure feeling but they only last about 6000 miles; at least
they were still safe with 1mm of tread left - don't tell me about
it being dangerous to ride on worn rubber, tell the tyre companies
to make their tyres cheaper or longer lasting.
I feel I can sling a leg over
the NTV, hit the button and ride off on a 5000 mile tour without
any worries about the bike getting me there and back. The only
thing that concerns me over such a prospect is that a 1000 miles
down the road I'd become so bored with riding the bike that I'd
start to do something very silly just to liven up my day. This
is a very sensible motorcycle!
Alan Kay