THE LAST RIDE: HONDA FORZA 750
We didn’t want to give this back. The 750 scooter is a great thing.
Even the most hardened scooter hater would be pressed to argue against the benefits of a comfy, high power, weather protected, twist-and-go on the dull A1, the tedious M25 and then the congested A3 for the 160 mile ride to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Honda’s Forza 750 has all the traffic splitting ability and ‘eat my dust’ acceleration of any decent Powered Two Wheeler, but with showerproof screen and footboards, underseat storage and a compelling ease of use. But it’s the way it works on the wriggly, giggly B2146/B2141 across the South Downs, the last few miles of the journey, that might surprise the cynics. With engine management and gearshifts set to ‘Sport’, and with the ability to also shift ratios manually (via small paddles on the left hand switch cluster) to get the benefit of extra engine braking, or instant shove, its also an absolute hoot on a twisty road.
Dive into corners late, using the double front discs to scrub off speed and then, when cranked over and suspecting that maybe this time you might have overdone it, you press the downshift button for a bit more engine braking reassurance; it’s such a smooth shift you can even do this in the wet without upsetting things.
And as a device for disposing of knotted clusters of cars it’s genius. Wait for the gap, press down a gear, open the gas and go. Festival bound supercars were left looking very silly. And then, when you arrive, drop the helmet in the underseat storage pod, and enter the event unencumbered. The perfect A1-M25-A3-B road device? Quite possibly. In the weeks before the Goodwood trip I’d been using the Forza for my regular rides, but also for dull journeys that might otherwise have involved a car; to a family holiday in the Peak District, an 80 mile mission to ageing relatives, the supermarket, the cinema, a horrible work related jaunt along the M6. Mrs W. seemed more willing than usual to travel by bike too.
The big scoot uses Honda’s well proven 745cc parallel twin engine from the NC750 range. It’s got a 270° crankshaft that delivers a pleasing exhaust note and produces 58bhp, with peak torque at 4750rpm. In Sport mode the Dual Clutch Transmission shifts ratios according to how aggressive you are with the throttle; pin it against the stop and the engine spins through to the 7000rpm redline before changing up. Downshifts get a similar level of ECU interpretation, slam the
throttle shut from speed and it’ll start shifting ratios rapidly, and with a pleasing blip of the throttle between the gears. I never really used the bike in any other mode, because… well why would you when this is fun? Ridden in this manner it averaged 71.3 mpg. Unfortunately the tank is only 13.2 litres which means that, after starting out with half a tank I ended up having to refuel twice during the 350 mile return journey. The fuel light comes on at around 160 miles.
There are other impediments to perfect practicality, mainly caused by the bulk of the thing – it weighs a whopping 235 kilos and packaging the engine under all the bodywork is tricky. The underseat storage pod is only big enough for one full face crash helmet, the width of the engine between the rider’s feet makes the footboards slightly narrow, exposing boot sides to the weather, and the width of the bike generally makes it a decent stretch from the 790mm seat to the floor. I dread to think about the cost of replacement plastics if it were dropped.
But it’s so easy… rolling out of Goodwood after a day at the Festival I detoured via supper in Winchester, then zapped back home and was still feeling fresh on my mid-night return. Seriously, get a test ride.
‘As a device for disposing of knotted clusters of cars it’s genius’