Your first motorcycle is likely one you will never forget. While folks in the U.S. are free to start their two-wheeled journeys aboard whatever motorbike they please, over in Europe, newbies have to start aboard an A1-compliant motorcycle. This means no more than 125 cubes and 15 or so ponies. That being said, Neco, a Belgian scooter manufacturer, has launched a beginner-friendly motorbike that wants to capture the hearts of young, sporty riders.
Neco has been in the two-wheeler game for quite some time now—more than 30 years, but has predominantly focused on scooters. It flips the script with its newest offering, however, the NC-N01, which is a naked sportbike aimed directly at beginners. It gets angular bodywork and a supermoto-esque stance made popular by machines like the KTM Duke. Adorned with LED lights, sharp lines, a trellis frame, and an underbelly exhaust system, the bike follows the perfect recipe for a fun, good-looking, urban machine. From some angles, it even looks like the bike has borrowed a few styling cues from the MV Agusta Brutale.
From a performance standpoint, the Neco NC-N01 packs a 124.2cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected engine delivering 15 horsepower at 9,500 rpm. Top speed is in excess of 62 miles per hour, so it’s no slouch, and is faster than most scooters of similar displacement. As is the case with most A1-compliant beginner bikes, however, this is the maximum performance beginners are allowed to start with. Having said that, Neco makes up for the diminutive performance with the bike’s proportions which are close to full-size bikes. At two meters long and 830mm wide, it gives newbies a good idea of big bike proportions.
As for its underpinnings, Neco has equipped the NC-N01 with a tubular steel trellis frame, premium aluminum swingarm, inverted front forks, and a preload-adjustable rear monoshock. Just like most street-focused machines, the NC-N01 rolls on 17 inch wheels, and comes to a stop with disc brakes on both ends. These features surely position the bike in the premium category, and are found on higher end models from bigger manufacturers. As for pricing and availability, Neco offers the NC-N01 in two colors—Gray/ Yellow and Black/ Orange, and has priced it at 3,499 Euros, or the equivalent of $3,491 USD.
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Sources: Le Repaire Des Motards, Neco