The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

I'm back with what is possibly another silly question. But I'm considering buying the Forza 300/350, and I live in a very mountainous area, which means riding for up to 20-30 minutes on continuous down hill roads.

That means that the brakes tend to get very hot if overused, which can be dangerous.

So I'm wondering how a Forza 300 would deal with that, is there some level of engine breaking with the CVT transmission or anything I can do to halt the speed without overusing the brakes? I've never driven anything with a CVT gearbox before so I honestly don't know how they work when going down long hills.

The Forza has very good engine braking in normal riding conditions. Even down hill, quite effective.
Your riding conditions will certainly be more of a challenge but, think the Forza will do better than most
in that regard.

Simple answer, yes there is engine braking.
BUT
Because the clutch is centrifugal, there is a speed at which the clutch will disengage allowing the scooter to freewheel and build up speed.
Think the disengage speed is around 12-15mph on the Forza, can't remember.
It is important to avoid freewheeling and building up speed because when you rev the engine it is not pleasant for the engine to go instantaneously from idle to high speed.
If the speed drops and the clutch disengages open the throttle and accelerate as normal.
So long as you stay above the disengage speed you won't have any problems.

I live in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada.

Where are you? Asia I presume.

The Forza handles the mountains quite well. I have hit the rev limiter a few times at 140 kmph and 9000 rpm.

I ride the Coquihalla Highway often up to about 5000 ft. No problems.

The Forza was really interesting coming down the very steep gravel switchbacks into Hedley from the gold mine. It would freewheel a bit and then the clutch would engage. The brakes would work and then the ABS would release the brakes to stop the front tire front locking up. This was a very extreme road. I came down thousands of feet in a short time.

I like the Forza in the mountains because you are always in the right gear.

The fuel injection also works well with the altitude changes. Mind you, I think I have only been up to about 1728 m (5669 ft) at Pennask on the Okanagan Connector.

The Forza brakes can take a lot of heat. The ABS works quite well and I have used it fully on a few occasions.

Going downhill just give it more gas and go faster. The tires are better than you think. Even in the rain. Or the gravel.

My 2014 Forza 300 has so far put up with 139,000 km of this abuse.

You asked if the Forza engine can break? Actually it is a very good engine. It runs with almost any oil.

The radiator is very good but it is not that hot here in Canada.

I am guessing the English is not your first language.

The Brakes are very good.

The engine will slow you down with no throttle but not by much. As others have said it will freewheel at very low speeds due to the type of clutch.

davenowherejones wrote:I live in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada.

Where are you? Asia I presume.

The Forza handles the mountains quite well. I have hit the rev limiter a few times at 140 kmph and 9000 rpm.

I ride the Coquihalla Highway often up to about 5000 ft. No problems.

The Forza was really interesting coming down the very steep gravel switchbacks into Hedley from the gold mine. It would freewheel a bit and then the clutch would engage. The brakes would work and then the ABS would release the brakes to stop the front tire front locking up. This was a very extreme road. I came down thousands of feet in a short time.

I like the Forza in the mountains because you are always in the right gear.

The fuel injection also works well with the altitude changes. Mind you, I think I have only been up to about 1728 m (5669 ft) at Pennask on the Okanagan Connector.

The Forza brakes can take a lot of heat. The ABS works quite well and I have used it fully on a few occasions.

Going downhill just give it more gas and go faster. The tires are better than you think. Even in the rain. Or the gravel.

My 2014 Forza 300 has so far put up with 139,000 km of this abuse.

I live in Norway, dealing with roads like this one though.
And I know that's an ancient picture, but the road is still pretty much the same and real easy to see in that image.

Not sure I like how the freewheeling sounds though, might be a point in favor of buying an NC750X instead of the Forza.

That is an extreme road. The Forza would do it easily but I would not want to do it more than once.

I have ridden the NC750X with DCT. I want one. The DCT should always be in the right gear also. I don't know.

The Forza freewheeling goes on and off. It makes a freaky ride. Not pleasant.

I have a similar road to a lookout in Manning Park near me. It is challenging and scary also. I need to do it again before the snow starts again. It is half paved and the upper half is gravel.

Have fun.

davenowherejones wrote:That is an extreme road. The Forza would do it easily but I would not want to do it more than once.

I have ridden the NC750X with DCT. I want one. The DCT should always be in the right gear also. I don't know.

The Forza freewheeling goes on and off. It makes a freaky ride. Not pleasant.

I have a similar road to a lookout in Manning Park near me. It is challenging and scary also. I need to do it again before the snow starts again. It is half paved and the upper half is gravel.

Have fun.

I got like 6 locations within 150 radius km which are like that.. ^^ And some of them I need to ride on a regular basis.

With the NC750X though, you can choose gear with levers on the handles if you want to. So you can pick a good one for going down hill.

Are you considering changing your Forza to an NC750X yourself?

davenowherejones wrote:That is an extreme road. The Forza would do it easily but I would not want to do it more than once.

I have ridden the NC750X with DCT. I want one. The DCT should always be in the right gear also. I don't know.

The Forza freewheeling goes on and off. It makes a freaky ride. Not pleasant.

I have a similar road to a lookout in Manning Park near me. It is challenging and scary also. I need to do it again before the snow starts again. It is half paved and the upper half is gravel.

Have fun.

I got like 6 locations within 150 radius km which are like that.. ^^ And some of them I need to ride on a regular basis. So that Forza 300 freewheeling sounds like a scary prospect.

With the NC750X though, you can choose gear with levers on the handles if you want to. So you can pick a good one for going down hill.

Are you considering changing your Forza to an NC750X yourself? Or is it more like you just "like the bike and want one"?

I have no money.

the engine breaking on my 2020 Forza is good except when the engine RPM goes below 3000 RPM then it doesn't uses the engine as break and you'll have to use the hand breaks

Nope, too steep, bends too tight, too often, too far!
A nice 300-500cc motorcycle with a set of gears is what you need.

Fish

Is the road paved or gravel?

Winter??? No way.

Summer, hell yeh, just once.

What is the distance from the nearest gas station to the top? Times two.

My Forza can do about 300 km on a tank.

fish wrote:Nope, too steep, bends too tight, too often, too far!
A nice 300-500cc motorcycle with a set of gears is what you need.

Fish

Yeah, but that makes it way harder to carry luggage. I'll be using whatever motorcycle I buy for everything from quick grocery runs to fishing trips.

Both the NC750X and CRF250 Rally are on my list, but the simple truth is that they'll only be more useful for about 5-10% of my riding. For the other 90-95% of the driving I do the Forza will likely be the more convenient option.

Can you rent a 300cc scooter and try your olympic category slalom course?
Each time you need to slow for those very tight corners - you'll be 100% brakes. Engine braking will have just vanished at that slow speed.
Brake disc warp might pay you repeated visits?
Boiled brake fluid with air, now?
Seriously doubt anyone on here has dealt with roads exactly like your photo!
And they make all kinds of cases to match anything you can install on a Forza.
Fish

Norway seems to be 40 segments up, Hedley to Mascot Mine is 28 segments.

I find going down switchbacks a lot more scary than going up. Going up is fun!

Manning Park Lodge to the look out seems to be about 22 segments but they are paved and quite easy to do. The very top is gravel.

The Norway road is incredible. I would do it.

You probably get away with it occasionally, but on regular basis, not a good idea. If you have to slow down to 30 or 20km to go around tight bends the CVT disengages. I have been up and down a lot of hills , but not that extreme and only 10-15min continuous down hill only...

NC750x with DCT is a better option for this job, has auto and nanual gear and more powerful engine for up hill..., just lose to Forza on comfort and room under the seat a bit...

Austins wrote:You probably get away with it occasionally, but on regular basis, not a good idea. If you have to slow down to 30 or 20km to go around tight bends the CVT disengages. I have been up and down a lot of hills , but not that extreme and only 10-15min continuous down hill only...

NC750x with DCT is a better option for this job, has auto and nanual gear and more powerful engine for up hill..., just lose to Forza on comfort and room under the seat a bit...

Yeah, I'm quite likely to end up with the NC750X (or the likely NC850X). But once you include a pannier set, top box, USB charger and so on you're easily talking twice the price of the Forza 300, and I'm just not entirely convinced that it will actually be worth it.

That said the CVT disengages sound quite scary, since I'm very frequently going to be traveling down hill around bends at speeds around 20kmph.

Silversmurfer wrote:That said the CVT disengages sound quite scary, since I'm very frequently going to be traveling down hill around bends at speeds around 20kmph.

They're absolutely not scary at all, just open the throttle to re-engage the clutch.
Same as you would do on flat ground.

Can also consider used NC750x, the prices of new bikes are becoming quite unreasonable comparing to say a 2 year old with low mileage...