The technology and even some of the components come from Honda’s Jazz four-cylinder. The bore and slightly longer stroke (73 x 80mm) are the same as the car’s and so is all of the fundamental engine technology. The clue stares you in the face as you sit astride the bike: the rev counter’s red line is drawn at a lowly – for a bike – 6,500rpm. Engine designer Takanori Osuka says they had meetings with engineers from Honda’s car division once or twice a month for two years during the design process, the first time this has happened at Honda.

Why? Because the NC700X is the first modern motorcycle engine designed primarily for fuel efficiency rather than a high power density, without pandering to any outright performance pressures. The bike is aimed at being the motorcycle equivalent of the Cub scooter, a utility machine with low running costs, which in the modern era means exceptionally good fuel economy.