I first rode a Deauville around a year ago when Honda had a single model in Australia for evaluation purposes. That was just a quick squirt around the confines of Phillip Island, but recently I utilised a Deauville for my transport needs while in Victoria for the second round of the Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship.

After arriving at the airport early on a Thursday morning I headed out to see the nice guys that work at the Tullamarine Honda Australia Rider Training centre and picked up my steed for the weekend.

The integrated panniers came in very handy, swallowing my shoes and spare clothes etc. I couldn’t squeeze the backpack I use to carry my laptop and camera gear in to the standard panniers but the optional top-box would have been able to take care of that. The panniers are locked using the ignition key which adds a little peace of mind when parking.

After jumping aboard my immediate impression was of how well the Deauville hides its claimed 228kg weight. Changes of direction require very little effort, as does manoeuvring the machine when parking.

Motivation is provided by a 647cc V-Twin engine. Liquid cooling ensures the three valve per cylinder mill keeps its cool.

Fuel is provided to a pair of 36mm CV carburettors from a generous 19.5 litre fuel tank which provides a touring range of over 350 kilometres at legal speeds.

The Deauville will happily sit at the national speed limit, even with a pillion, and still has enough performance in reserve to make country road overtaking a safe affair. It will never pull your arms out of their sockets, but it flows along nicely enough and revs quite freely. It is stronger than the Rotax based single used in Aprilia’s Pegaso or BMW’s F650, but no match for something like the SV650.

Power is transferred through a smooth shifting five-speed gearbox before driving the rear wheel via an enclosed shaft-drive system. As you would expect from a motor of this size, brisk progress does require a little gearbox shuffling.

There are plenty of fans of the shaft-drive system, but on something like the Deauville I do think it is perhaps a case of overkill. Good chains these days rarely need adjusting, a decent chain lasts at least 30,000 kilometres and costs less than $200 to replace. Shaft drive also adds complexity and weight to the machine, while robbing it of a little power. But many consider that a worthy price to pay for not having to adjust or lubricate a chain. In fact, many potential buyers will no doubt see the shaft drive as one of the main reasons which has attracted them to the machine.

Speed and revs are displayed by traditional round faced analogue gauges; these are flanked by the normal bank of idiot lights. A small LCD insert atop the gauges displays the time. This all resides below a small tinted screen. In keeping with the touring design of the machine, I feel a more substantial screen would have been welcome. I did have a little trouble with wind buffeting, but strangely enough the higher I sat in the seat the less troublesome this became.

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