Alright folks, buckle up. Wanted to settle something real simple: which bike actually sips gas instead of guzzling it? Heard tons about the Honda NC750X being easy on the wallet, so I grabbed mine and decided to put it head-to-head against two buddies’ rides last weekend. No fancy labs, just real road time.
Gearing Up & the Plan
First thing Saturday morning, I rolled my NC750X out. Filled the tank right to the brim at my usual spot, reset the trip meter to zero. Called up Mike – he brought his Yamaha MT-07, the naked one. Then there’s Dave, who showed up on his Triumph Tiger 900. Both solid bikes, different beasts. Plan was simple: we ride the same 120-mile loop together. Mix of city crawling, some open highway stretches, and a bunch of those twisty backroads.
Made sure we all filled up before we started, completely full. Wrote down the starting mileage for each bike. Had this cheapo little notebook and a pen shoved in my jacket pocket. Felt kinda old-school, but hey, works.
Hitting the Road (& Hitting Snags)
We set off around 9 AM. Traffic downtown was garbage, typical stop-start nonsense. Felt the heat rising off the engines. Gotta admit, that NC750X’s DCT was pretty sweet crawling through that mess; just twist and go, no clutch work. Mike was grinning on the MT-07, loving the punch out of corners even in traffic. Dave? Man, that Tiger felt tall and comfy even when we weren’t moving much.
Took a break about halfway. Grabbed some lukewarm coffee at a roadside stop. Checked the trip meters. Numbers were… well, all over the place already in my head. My trip meter showed 58 miles. Jotted it down. Need more gas station time for the real numbers though.
The Big Fill-Up & Facing Reality
Finished the loop around 3 PM. Back to the same gas station. This is where the rubber meets the road… or rather, the gas pump. Did each bike one at a time.
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My Honda NC750X:
- Trip Meter: 122.3 miles
- Gas Pumped: 1.87 gallons
- Mental Math: 122.3 miles / 1.87 gallons = roughly 65.4 MPG. Whoa. That’s seriously good.
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Mike’s Yamaha MT-07:
- Trip Meter: 121.8 miles
- Gas Pumped: 2.95 gallons
- Mental Math: 121.8 miles / 2.95 gallons ≈ 41.3 MPG. About what I figured for a punchy twin.
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Dave’s Triumph Tiger 900:
- Trip Meter: 122.1 miles
- Gas Pumped: 3.42 gallons
- Mental Math: 122.1 miles / 3.42 gallons ≈ 35.7 MPG. Bigger adventure bike, it drinks.
Staring at those pump receipts, it kinda hit me. Mike’s MT-07 sounded awesome carving canyons, Dave’s Tiger felt like a comfy armchair cruising the highway… but my NC750X? That thing just quietly siphoned pennies out of the gas tank. Over 65 MPG on a real mix? That ain’t just good, that’s cheap commuting gold.
The Verdict? It’s About What You Need
So, was the Honda the most fuel-efficient? Absolutely crushed it in this little shootout. Blew the other two out of the water. If saving cash at the pump is top of your list, the NC750X is a monster. But let’s be real, bikes ain’t just MPG numbers.
Mike wouldn’t trade that MT-07 thrill for anything. Dave loves bouncing down dirt tracks on his Tiger. Me? I grin every time I squeeze 300+ miles out of that little Honda tank without breaking the bank. This test just proved what I kinda knew: for efficient, easy miles, especially with the commute grind, that NC750X is stupid hard to beat. Other bikes got their strengths, but frugal fuel? Honda wins this round hands down.
