Looking buy a Deauville - 2007 + where to look?

worded wrote: »

Looked on adverts and done deal ... anywhere else?
Thanks

Facebook market place? Seen a few older models, gumtree UK, autotrader UK.

any reason why just a 2007+ deauville out of curiosity

Usually, once you've found the sweet spot with the screen, you don't adjust it any further.

I have an 07 model and it's a fairly bulletproof machine. Have used it for commuting through all weathers and toured some of the continent with it too.

Pros:
- Reliable
- Frugal
- Fuel injection is really smooth
- Exhaust is stainless, unlike the 650
- Handles really well (surprisingly well)
- Can swallow a lot of luggage (esp with the topbox fitted)
- Great weather protection
- Easy to service
- Shaft drive!
- Larger pannier lids are available too to give Pan European rivaling levels of luggage capacity.
- Grand for two-up work, even if it does lack a bit of oomph.
- Easy preload adjustment on the rear shock with the remote adjuster but the shock may need to replaced or refurbed at this stage (MCT or Firefox in the UK are able to refurb these easily, can't find anyone in Ireland to do them as they're "officially" not rebuildable).

Cons:
- Engine needs more power
- Needs a sixth gear for cruising
- Pannier catches can break if the panniers are constantly closed with some force. Just be gentle with them and ensure both catches snap in to place. They broke on one of my panniers so I removed the rear plastics and used Araldite to build up the plastic pylons that the mechanisms screw in to. They're stronger than ever now.
- Removing the rear wheel for a tyre change can be a pain but you get the hang of it.
- Difficult to access rear brake caliper to clean it and grease it (pannier is in the way and they ain't removable).
- Rear wheel spline drive teeth can wear out if they're not greased when the wheel is removed for tyre changes. Plenty of debates on the forums about the right grease to use (Honda use a special molybdenum grease). Not a terribly difficult job to replace the spline drive and parts are shared with the 650 version so are plentiful.

worded wrote: »

Fairly detailed ...

Whats your view on ABS? You only need it when you need it ...

On some bikes the abs is cheap and crude (bandit for example) but the linked abs on the deauville is perfectly suited. I couldn't even get the back wheel to skid on my gravel back lane, hit the back brake and the bike would just stop.

I have a 2009 Deau. I have a pea gravel driveway.
No problem at all.
There was a few ex army ones about recently, all dark green, would have very low mileage on them, mostly being sold on by honda dealers.
If you caught one, you would never let one go. They were exceptionally well looked after, NEVER driven over 80km/h or on a motorway. I bought their earlier version in 2009, an 1998 650. Only 14000km on the clock, and it had another owner between the Army and me.
The 650 is slightly better than the 700 in some ways, particularly when it comes to basic maintenance, but the standard screen is useless, and the aftermarket tall screens are ugly as hell.

The ABS is actually fantastic if you do motorway speeds and there are plonkers about. Knocks the speed off safely.
What is your budget?

Done deal is good, most of the dealers use it too. Don't buy UK. The road salt there makes bits of the fasteners for the bodywork, and you'll have nothing but grief trying to do the most basic of maintenance. If you don't do your own maintenance, expect your mechanic to pass on his frustration and scraped knuckles in the form of extra labour costs.
Mine is the 2 position screen, I have it at the highest point all the time, I'm 5'10 and usually drive around visor up, no issues.
Back wheel is a pain to get off to change tyres, or brake pads. Either have a good bike lift, or get ready to take lots of bodywork off. I did it during the summer. Took me the best part of a week start to finish. Changing the oil filter is also unnecessarily complicated.

Upside of it all though is the shaft drive. if you want to do distance in all weather and not have to worry about whether the chain is too loose, too tight, too dry or too greasy, the shaft drive takes that worry away (and not as prone to failure as those found on BMWs).

Once those things are looked after they give zero trouble. I moved house last year, doing mostly diy at home this year (plus lockdown) means I have put up very little mileage in last 2 years, but Deau still starts on the button every time, no hesitation.

Its just a shame they stopped making them.

What's your budget?

listermint wrote: »

Seen plenty of army deuvailles driven on the motorway. I don't think they've shied from speed. I also don't think it has any bearing on resale. They're built for it.

The presidential escort ones or the MP ones? The Escort ones were minded. The striped ones were hammered, but they are all black.

listermint wrote: »

No idea all green clean looking ones no major markings I could tell.

Not that it matters speeding up a motorway should be bread and butter. Just the notion the bikes don't get a proper run out ever isn't a reality.

The don't that often. They had about, their normal usage was tiny, and usually just a handful of regular bikes, the rest kept, covered, indoors in Brugha.
To be fair though they aren't the kind of bike that attract hooligans winding the neck out of it to get the knee down at roundabouts.

I have a 650, great low maintenance bike, with the ugly touring screen but love its wind protection and comfort.
Built in panniers have served me well and the additional hand protectors are also great for sweeping wind and rain away from your hands.
I know a lot of people knock them but they were and still are an extremely popular bike for lots of reasons.

The 700 has a bit more punch with 680cc instead of 647, things to watch are bad plug caps which lead to rough running, replace with NGK versions for optimal performance.
Rear wheel removal is best accomplished by taking the back part of the mudguard off and putting the bike on a 2-3" lump of wood under the centrestand.

I haven't experienced spline wear but I do use Moly Paste on them, also make sure the O-ring seals on the hub are present and correct if doing wheel removal, they stop water and grit ingress.

Dohvolle wrote: »

I have a 2009 Deau. I have a pea gravel driveway.
No problem at all.
There was a few ex army ones about recently, all dark green, would have very low mileage on them, mostly being sold on by honda dealers.
If you caught one, you would never let one go. They were exceptionally well looked after, NEVER driven over 80km/h or on a motorway. I bought their earlier version in 2009, an 1998 650. Only 14000km on the clock, and it had another owner between the Army and me.
The 650 is slightly better than the 700 in some ways, particularly when it comes to basic maintenance, but the standard screen is useless, and the aftermarket tall screens are ugly as hell.

The ABS is actually fantastic if you do motorway speeds and there are plonkers about. Knocks the speed off safely.
What is your budget?

Done deal is good, most of the dealers use it too. Don't buy UK. The road salt there makes bits of the fasteners for the bodywork, and you'll have nothing but grief trying to do the most basic of maintenance. If you don't do your own maintenance, expect your mechanic to pass on his frustration and scraped knuckles in the form of extra labour costs.
Mine is the 2 position screen, I have it at the highest point all the time, I'm 5'10 and usually drive around visor up, no issues.
Back wheel is a pain to get off to change tyres, or brake pads. Either have a good bike lift, or get ready to take lots of bodywork off. I did it during the summer. Took me the best part of a week start to finish. Changing the oil filter is also unnecessarily complicated.

Upside of it all though is the shaft drive. if you want to do distance in all weather and not have to worry about whether the chain is too loose, too tight, too dry or too greasy, the shaft drive takes that worry away (and not as prone to failure as those found on BMWs).

Once those things are looked after they give zero trouble. I moved house last year, doing mostly diy at home this year (plus lockdown) means I have put up very little mileage in last 2 years, but Deau still starts on the button every time, no hesitation.

Its just a shame they stopped making them.

What's your budget?

Dohvolle - I'd say you might be doing the rear wheel incorrectly. Take off the rear mudguard piece that the reg plate attaches to. Put the bike up on a couple of inches of wood on the centrestand and the wheel will drop out easily enough. It's useful to have a helper wiggle out the axle while you hold the rear wheel and move it off of the spline drive and roll it out. As for the oil filter, that's an easy task, just pop it on the centrestand...make sure you're using the right oil filter size, some are slightly longer than others and can catch on the centrestand. An oil change is a 15 minute job when you're used to it.

I brought mine in from the UK - flew over to Gatwick, the guy was sound enough to actually collect me, I checked the bike over and rode it home. It didn't have very high mileage so salt wasn't much of an issue. It had a full folder of service receipts and MOTs (although it seems Honda UK don't bother greasing the spline joint connecting shaft drive to rear wheel).

Someone mentioned fuel pumps - not an issue on the 700. They're fuel injected so no carbs and the pump is built into the tank. I've never heard of one needing changing.

Someone else mentioned ABS - the linked brakes with ABS are very good. Not as sharp as Brembo monoblocks or something but very good for this bike. They're not as intricately linked as earlier Honda systems. On the Deau if you use the rear brake, it adds a dab of front brake (you'll only notice in town and it keeps the bike nice and level). If you use the front brake lever alone, it doesn't activate the rear.

Calipers are easy enough to maintain (bar the rear one) - they're good quality. I use ACF-50 on the pistons (just a smear) and it's kept them corrosion free for 3 years of winter riding. Changing brake fluid is a pain, I usually ask the dealer to do it if I drop it in for tyres. Clutch is cable operated and very light, lovely to use. Valves are screw/locknut, easy enough to do yourself but really don't need doing at the actual service schedule, they can stretch out to double the official mileage. If you can find yourself the plastic lower bellypan kit, your feet will never get wet again! I'd say those are hard to find now though. Mine had that and the fairing hand guards on already.

I think the 700 is a far better machine than the 650 but I actually found the 650's seat to be better! Each to their own though, they're both good. Don't expect to be doing some work on it and to be stopped by a beautiful weld or a lovely piece of machined aluminium, it won't happen. Take a look at the swingarm if you take the rear wheel off...ugly and utilitarian but it works. Same holds true for the rest of the bike. It's not the prettiest but it does it's job with aplomb. Some items aren't as high quality as, say a VFR (I'm biased, I have two!), but there's a reason why police, army, rescue services, all loved the Deauville.

Dohvolle wrote: »

To Get the wheel off just involved removing the rear mudguard, but the issue I had was the brake caliper. Swinging it out of the way required rhs pannier movement. A block under the centrestand would work in the normal way but I needed to do pads& service caliper at the same time(last owner changed rear pads and didn't notice pistons were totally seized), so I had to move the pannier anyway.

What is this "helper" thing you mention? Do M&P sell them?

I made a video of this a while ago, it might be of use: https://youtu.be/RKpGurm0OVo

You can rotate the brake caliper around, it's a tight fit but you can see what I mean in the video.

Dohvolle wrote: »

Yeah, the bolt holding the caliper i couldn't remove without moving the exhaust.
This is what I ended up with.
Pity I didn't see your video back in June. Have subscribed.

Did the disc crack from removal or was it cracked beforehand?

Dohvolle wrote: »

Beforehand, 4 cracks at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o clock. Caliper had not seized (surprisingly) but pin is slightly bent, which caught pad .One piston remained mobile, enough to engage the inner pad, while only one corner of the outer pad made contact.
Lots of brake cleaner and acf50 and it is back working good as new (that and new disc and pads, and pin....).
My excuse is I don't go out often enough. I had been on the bike twice this year before that happened.

Thanks for subscribing to my channel...I'd been meaning to actually throw some videos up there for a long time and your post gave me the shove I needed!

As for your job there - well done on sorting it out, it looked like a real mess. I dribble a teeny bit of ACF50 on the pistons and then push them. I think it gives enough of a coating to the piston outers to keep them fairly clean and corrosion free. It's worked well on my front brakes for a long time and has never caused any issues with the piston seals.

I hear you on lack of use. I used my Deau every single day until the beginning of the lockdown. Once the work from home started, I barely get out .

Seeing as the Army Bikes were mentioned, there seems to be two for sale on Donedeal at the minute;


https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/honda-nt700-deauville/26562913?campaign=14


08 D 67945 33k Miles. No price, but he has 3 grand on both a 2000 and a 2001 Model



https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/honda-deauville-700/26056876?campaign=14


08 D 67941 12.7k K. Asking €4k.

Theres a lad on FB selling his late fathers Honda Deuville.
It's in immaculate condition too.