crosstourer versus its rivals

[whitegloss]

Its 2013 and all the rivals now have bikes on sale. I expect the Crosstourer to get a raw deal in the press, why? because its a Honda!! When the press talk about the BMW R1250 GS, it mentions its rivals i.e KTM, Yamaha and Triumph-what about the Crosstourer??? I bet its unjustly bottom of the pile by the bike journos, or maybe 2nd bottom if lucky-could be wrong 

I must admit that I was going to wait until 2013 to buy my adventure bike as I was also interested in the KTM, BMW and Aprilia.

This is how i weighed up the other bikes and choose the Crosstourer last year:

BMW 1250GS; Have previously had a R1200gs which I liked immensley, however I sold it due to the lack of power and mates choosing to go back to sports bikes (i got a last edition Honda SP2-damm wish Id kept it). I believe build quality is not good at BMW, and outside of excellent BMW warranty it could be unpleasant!. I also wrongly presumed the BMW R1250 GS  would be more expensive than it is!

KTM 1190 Adventure; Love V twins and I like the build quality of KTM. 2 negatives for me-no shaft drive and a leaked test drive which said the bike was awsome, however complained of high speed stability , which is a reported problem on the KTM 990 SMT which I have also considered in the past.

Triumph Explorer;  Bike looks pretty rugged and purposeful, is reported to have a good engine. The negatives for me are that  Ive never been a fan of British bikes-sorry, would be worried about build quality.

Ducati Multistrada; Very good looking V twin with monster power. The negatives are no shaft drive, complaints of poor low speed throttle when pootling about town (was a problem on my Honda SP2), and Ducatis past reliabilty problems-especially with all the high tech electrics. Im sure this has all been sorted out, however mud sticks!!

Aprilia Caponard; Fabulous V4, however no shaft drive and possibly a bit too thirsty?

Yamaha Tenere; Looks to have very good build quality, and for me personally a bit of a rugged looker. The only negatives for me is the low powered parallel twin engine which on paper seems to be its achilles heel, and its pricey.

Honda Crosstourer; Fabulous V4  engine, super build quality, and a bike that would be the most reliable of the bunch. Its looks have certainly grown on me which seems to be a trait with recent Hondas-just like the present Fireblade!! which was also given a rough time in the press when released. The only negative for me is the bikes weight , however the bike does feel light and agile on the road. I have no desire to take it off road, so really the weight shouldnt bother me-dont know why it does

Please note these are my own opinions and not really that scientific 

[thetrecker]

Fair summation Whitegloss, My additions to this are
R1200gs- in its new shape it is now PIG ugly, starting with its lights. Its previous reliability problems are legendary and the addition of tiny twin radiators ( cost a fortune) and even more electronics are enough to stay away, I hear the price is not going up much though.
Ktm, was a bit of a odd shape in the 990 guise,may be more appealing in the new shape, high speed stability is probably hampered by a 21inch front wheel, never was done before (150hp and 21 inch wheel)I think they will launch 2 versions, one with a 19inch front.
Explorer, well talked through here, May be a great bike but just not for me
Multistrada, ditto as above, past reliability problems, needing to have great relationship with your Ducati service manager and service intervals extended hugely are a bit worrying .
Aprilia, waited 2 years for this model(having owned previous one) but just got fed up waiting. It looks a bit of a parts bin bike with the RSV4 nose just not suiting a trailie.
Yam Tenere, simply too dear with average build quality and modest motor.
CT, yes yes yes
Going to the London show in Feb to look at the new crop with an open mind

[Doc]

The Crosstourer is a very underrated bike - I don't know what the Journos have against Honda. I've always been a Honda man, and paid the price for changing when I bought a Triumph - really bad rust on my then new 1993 Trophy 900. Liked the engine though.
To be fair to the Explorer, I rode the EX and CT before deciding this time and thought the CT's brakes and engine where far better. Something about the EX just wasn't right - the overall package with the CT is much better. And then there's DCT - awesome!
I don't like the BM's vibration and twins in general don't do it for me.

V4 is the way.

[Mika]

I think the CT is very under rated, perhaps the styling is a bit bland for the journalists.

To be honest i intended to ride it more for the sake of discounting it but after 50 miles started to really enjoy and after 200 miles I had made my mind up this was for me.

No regrets at all after 11 years of BMWs

[GS TRV]

I honestly don't anything the journos say that's seriously anymore. I used to hang on their every word and even buy a bike on the basis of what I had read alone particularly in the days when demo bikes were rare.

Approaching the CT is basically tried all the options and my decision went as follows:

GS twin came - wheezy and flat but good suspension
Explorer - dodgy quality and crap throttle sensitivity. Decent motor.
Ducati - way too dear
ST - way too dull and overpriced
KTM- too old hat
CT - stonking engine with exceptional build quality and cool DCT along with 3 yr warranty meant it was the winner for me.

This year I will you the new GS for curiosity but doubt they will manage to bring the motor up to scratch.

[Feet up]

I think everyone who ride’s the CT has the same opinion and doesn’t give a toss what the Journalist print.

I live a couple of miles from the Triumph factory but at the moment I wouldn’t consider a British (or European) manufactured machine as my tourer.
It has to be Jap crap, toured on Honda for the last 15 years without a single mechanical issue and can’t see me changing.
 
Use the link that Doc posted the other day and check out the issues the Explorer owners are suffering, makes complaining about the rear view of the mirrors very trivial

For me it has to be Honda quality, the fantastic V4 engine and the smooth lines of the CT over the agricultural offerings from Honda’s competitors.

[thetrecker]

Yea Feet up, just had a look at the Explorer forum, its obviously much more busy than ours here but an interesting note, in the Mechanical, maintenance issues section we have 314 posts and they have 3552 posts!
So many stories about returning to dealers and leaving the bike with them to see if they can detect the intermittent fault, remap ( which drives me nuts) etc etc. It seems that Triumph has used the public to do the test/fault miles on the bike and then put the recalls and repairs in place  and expect everyone to accept the inconvenience . Most of us here hardly know the CT dealer, only to pick up the bike the first day and for servicing...

[Mister B]

So true........