MCN Fleet: NC750 disco dash driving me dizzy

When Honda gave the super practical NC750X a face lift for 2017, included on these updates was an all-new colour changing eco dash to inform you of just how economically you are riding at any given time.

While the multi-colour dash can be used in a number of ways, including to determine which gear you’re in or which rider mode you’re in (on the DCT version only), set as a solid colour from a choice of nine options, it’s function as delivered is primarily to inform you of fuel efficiency.

It ranges from green, which means you’re doing pretty well, through to light blue, which is still quite good, to dark blue, less good, orange, not that efficient, all the way to red/pink which is basically banging off the limiter. 

Yeah, I’ll be honest, it’s a little confusing and even after four months and over 5000 miles with the NC, I still don’t quite get it. 

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For example, if you want to stay ‘in the green’, you pretty much have to stay below 2500rpm and while the NC is a low revving bike, at 2500rpm you aren’t really going anywhere! On a motorway to be in the ‘green zone’ at 2500rpm you’re travelling at 56mph. It’s not much better if you go up a notch to light blue, there you’re at 65mph at about 3500rpm. Surely you don’t need an all-singing, all-dancing disco dash to tell you if you ride at 2500rpm you’re going to be saving pennies on fuel?

Not only that, but it wasn’t until I first rode the NC at night that I even realised there was a difference in colour between the ‘very efficient’ green and ‘efficient’ light blue…

Admittedly, this is a bike built for commuting but at those speeds and revs, the only benefit you’re going to see from riding THAT economically is in the city? I guess it looks pretty… and you can turn it off… 

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