On my four-hour ride from Long Beach to Las Vegas, I stopped hourly to top off the 3.7-gallon tank and assess the mileage. From sea level to roughly 4,000 feet in the Cajon Pass on Interstate 15, I recorded 61 m.p.g. I considered that impressive, as it was uphill much of the way, and I wasn’t sure the tank was full when I picked up the bike.

For the next hour, across the Mojave Desert, the bike averaged 70 m.p.g. For the final two hours, over four mountain passes, the NC700X managed 72 m.p.g. (A tail wind may have helped.) Undoubtedly, riding at a lower average speed, with more prudent throttle use, would have produced even gaudier numbers.

On a wide array of motorcycles, ridden along the same test route over the course of several years, I’ve seldom observed fuel economy of more than 50 m.p.g. Something around 40 m.p.g. is more the norm. The Honda’s result is all the more impressive because of its heft. At 474 pounds, it is no lightweight for a bike with two cylinders.

The NC700X is powered by a fuel-injected parallel twin that lays its cylinders forward at a 62-degree angle rather than placing them nearly upright. The undersquare design of the engine — its 670 cc displacement is the result of a 73-millimeter bore and an 80-millimeter stroke — helps assure a smooth delivery of torque, which peaks at a very low 4,750 r.p.m. Cost savings were realized by the use of branched passages for the intake and exhaust: only one throttle body and one catalytic converter is needed to serve both cylinders.

The placement of the cylinders, along with design possibilities opened up by a new steel trellis frame, offered plenty of space for a handy lockable storage compartment where the gas tank would normally be. It is large enough to fit a full-face helmet or backpack. (The fuel filler is in a small storage area atop the rear wheel.)

When outfitted with hard bags and a trunk — also options offered by Honda — the NC700X can be a real pack mule. Adding that equipment is not cheap, though, taking the bike beyond the $10,000 level when fully loaded. Two-up touring is possible, but the bike seems a bit small for that.

No doubt Honda or an aftermarket supplier will offer a more comfortable seat — the stock cushion is hard as a park bench, and would be a pretty miserable perch if one tried to sit through the bike’s full 250-mile fuel range.