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Honda NS50 Little bike, big-time fun

FOR THE MOST PART, ENTRY-level motorcycles of years past have been pretty dull. But Honda's new tiddler, the NS50F, is anything but boring. Trust us on this: Having one of these things in your garage is like having a bantam RC30.

That’s because the little 50 has an eager, if slightly pipey, engine and a versatile chassis that is as content being flicked into a corner as it is just motoring down the road. The catch is this: Though the NS50 feels sharp and nimble, it answers its rider’s commands with a cool deliberateness. And that’s a pretty good catch for a beginner bike.

The Honda’s single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, reed-valve two-stroke engine develops sufficient urge to propel the NS to 60 miles per hour. That’s pretty impressive, considering the engine’s 49cc displacement works out, in Detroit-speak, to 2.94 cubic inches, and its carburetor venturi measures a paltry 18mm—about the size of a dime.

With those carburetor and engine dimensions, it’s no wonder that launching the Honda requires some work. To keep the engine from bogging. it’s a good idea to have it spinning above 4000 rpm during starts. But once it gets going, and the transmission has been shifted through all of its six gears, the NS will keep up with surface-street traffic without straining.

It’s as well that the NS50 isn’t any faster than it is, because instead of the disc-and-caliper sets we've become used to seeing on modern motorcycles, the NS50 wears cableoperated drum brakes front and rear. Nevertheless, with its gas tank full, the little Honda weighs just 210 pounds, and its brakes, retrograde though they may be, do a morethan-adequate job of stopping it.

The NS50’s manueverability is excellent, and steering it requires only small amounts of push on its handlebar. The bike’s short, 49.5inch wheelbase greatly aids its nimbleness, and its slim, 2.75 x 17 front tire and 3.00 x 17 rear tire also help. Its low, 29.8-inch-high seat makes it possible for riders of almost any height to plant both feet at a stop.

Stopping, for fuel, at least, shouldn’t happen too often, because with its 2.6-gallon fuel tank, the NS—capable of 53.3 miles per gallon—can travel up to 138 miles between fill-ups. And since the Honda has an automatic oil injector, the rider doesn’t need to hassle with the oil-and-fuel premix drill.

Buying the bike won't break the bank, as its suggested list price is $ 1798. That isn’t exactly chicken feed, especially when compared to used-bike prices, but it’s a far cry from the numbers on price tags of new, full-sized sportbikes.

One final point: If an NS50 owner would like to personalize his bike, to give it a more-sporting motif, Honda offers a color-matched mini-fairing, an engine cowl, a radiator shroud and a tachometer. Not bad: A lightweight, rider-friendly bike that looks sporty, and in doing so, makes its rider look sporty.

Honda just may be onto something here. —Doug Toland