4 days, 800 miles - mini review!!

[Bayleaf]

Evening all,

Well, I collected the red Crosstourer on the 15th March, some 50 miles from my house from Dobles Honda in Coulsdon and rode it home in the dark, pissing down, salty M25.

I had the Garmin Zumo 660 fitted by the dealer and the Givi full trekker luggage - the givi crash bars and lights are on back order, so will be fitted on the 19th April along with the first service and also a Pyramid rear hugger, duck tail and fenda extender (more on this in a bit!).

Good friday, 9am, full Rukka gear on and additional thermals, I set off for an Easter weekend away with two other lads. I went to Peterborough first and met up with my first mate and then onto Scarborough where we spent the first night in a rather sh#te hotel....

I packed an Ortileb 89 litre bag and left all the panniers at home - they would impede filtering in the UK. Like a twat, I bungeed the bag too quickly and now have permanent scars on the rear of the bike.

We set off on sat morning across to the Yorkshire moors  - I forget where we went exactly, but it was way too cold, the roads were great though!

Sunday was around lake Windermere - stunning.

Anyway - about the bike....but a brief history of my biking 'career' beforehand....

I'm now 41 and passed my test some 20 years ago. Some 12 bikes later, I have the Crosstourer.

Last few bikes were a GTR, 2011 Hayabusa, 2010 BMW S1000R, DL1000 VStrom. I took my Rospa advanced last year and passed at Gold first time, I also raced in the ACU Suzuki GSX600R trophy in 2007/8/9 - with a couple of wins at Cadwell and support series for Moto GP and world superbikes at Donington - so a very mixed and experienced rider.

OK - the Crosstourer.....

Engine? Probably the best lump I've had the pleasure of riding. Mammoth torque, great induction roar and very powerful. Im still running it in, but stretched it a few times -although it's got the all the power required under 6000 revs anyway....

The bike is very comfy - 800 miles and no aches and pains! Seat very good and no vibration at all through the bars.

I had the taller Honda screen fitted and whilst it's ok, I'll be changing it for the Givi adjustable one that you guys appear to like. I fitted oxford heated grips myself and they work perfectly.

The amount of crap now on the underside/shock area is crazy - hence the rear hugger etc.

The handling is very good, as is the traction control and the abs. This write up doesn't really do the bike justice, as I need to tweak a few things to make it perfect, but the package is all but there.   

To do list:

First service, Givi crash bars, Givi lights, Givi screen, move Garmin to top of dash (yolk mount is crap for viewing) rear hugger, rear duck tail and front fender extender. I have purchased some decent cycle handlebar type tape, which will be wrapped around the rear handle etc to minimise bungee damage.....!

May also fit a centrestand. I'm off to France/Spain/Monaco in July for a 10 day, 3000 mile blast, so will write up a lenghty report when I return.

To summarise, I'm blown away by the bike - great build quality and extremely comfortable and capable.

Can't wait for a bit of sun, a decent buffer free screen and dry open roads......

Edit - I have a few pics I can email someone if you can post them up? I'm crap with the techno stuff...!!

[Mika]

Well done taking on this cold weather and getting to enjoy the bike

Your to do list contains the same as many others on here to get the bike to suit our own needs, can I say that I fitted the Honda wind deflectors after a 990 mile trip in 3 days last October when the temp never got above about 7c if i remember correctly. They make a big difference keeping the tops of the legs warm and out of the wind chill 

[Bayleaf]

Cheers Mika, but even at -1 on the moors, my legs and body were toasty!!

[Doc]

Hi Bayleaf,
The write-up doesn't need tweaking, we get the drift, the bike is awesome

Agree with you about the sh#te all over the back end, I need a hugger too - it's next on the list.

I think, like the rest of us, you're well and truly smitten!

 

Cheers,
Doc

[Bayleaf]

Yeah - It's a cracking bike - just needs a few mods to make it my own - which is all part of the fun, although fekkin expensive!!

[scotsy]

Great you got out and have chosen the CT, those road testers must be riding different bikes when they do their appraisals

There is a FREE, reversible and invisible mod to the touring screen brackets which cured the problems for me (takes about 15 minutes). It angles the screen back and 50mm closer to the rider which seemed to cure it for me https://www.crosstourer.com/index.php/topic,1186.msg12172.html#msg12172

Harry H also did some experimenting on this issue

Its gotta be worth trying the mod out before spending loads of money on 'another' screen that isn't universally well thought of (some owners do seem to like the Givi but many don't)

 

[Bayleaf]

Nice one Scotsy, I'll have a go at the screen mod this weekend. Cheers!

[thetrecker]

Happy for you Bayleaf, and good post.
I damaged the rear cargo/ silver area just as you did last July when I hastily bungee on a  dry sac and headed for Poland for a few thousand miles. The previous bike ( Caponord) had a 2 piece seat and hard plastic hand grips and I never put a mark on it in 9 years.
Kinda mad about that and sad that Honda painted these key areas silver!!
If you are a little vertically challenged like me, I can confirm that the plain Givi tall screen is about 40mm taller than the Honda one and suits me fine, My brother has a CT also with the Honda tall screen fitted and when we swap occasionally I find his whips up a buffet and is tiring after an hour.
Are you getting a stiff gear shift or a false neutral between 5th and 6th in these early miles?
Cheers