It’s the Little Things

I’m a fan of elegant design. So, when I saw the way Honda handled windshield adjustment on the NC700X, I was delighted. It’s a simple system, with four sets of paired holes offset vertically by 20mm. Which set you thread the screen’s four screws into determines the height of the windscreen.

You could do it the easy way and populate half of those holes with well nuts and call it a day. You would see the open holes through the screen, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Maybe you’d tint the screen in that area to hide the mount and the gaping holes.

But Honda chose instead to provide oblong clips that serve several functions. First, they cover the unused holes. Second, they provide solid footing for the small flange on the rubber well nut. We all know these well nuts, the work of the devil, are prone to pushing through the hole and getting lost on top of the cam cover or down between carburetors. Third, these clips make it much easier to extract the well nuts when it’s time to move the shield.

Nicely done, Honda.