Long story need help

[Wavey Dave]

Hello all my name is Dave
Last month I was the victim of a very classic S.M.I.D.S.Y as a result I lost my beloved VTX1800. And broke my shoulder in to the bargain. Driver admitted fault straight away so that is a good thing. I am now in the recovery phase but unlikely to be able to ride for another month or two. So I have been scouring the t'internet looking at anything and everything as my next bike.

As a bit of background, I have been riding for 37 years now and have owned about 60 bikes in that time and ridden more. I do love custom bikes and once built my own soft-tail chop. The VTX was heavily modified and would have stayed with me for a long while. I do ride all year (other than snow and hard ice) I only have one bike at a time, I'm not a hoarder of bikes so there is only ever one for me (unless I can afford a cheap winter hack) I love all bikes all styles, apart from race-reps for which I am too stiff and not masochist enough to own. (Though did own a Gixxer 750 which I put 18" apehangers  on ) It is probably also worth noting that I do my own servicing spannering and bodging.

I now have a list of next bikes, although does go up and down as new thoughts waft through my
noggin. Just for info they are (in no oder) XV 1900 midnight star, another VTX18, XVZ1300 royal star, Honda Crosstourer,
I am a bit of a Honda man and have always liked the crosstourer and at the moment it is top of my list. I have been lurking for a few days going through the forum researching and gathering info on the big girl. I have few questions I am hoping you guys can help with that aren't really covered in the posts.

1/ what is the crosstourer like for spannering on? Is an easy home service or is it a P.I.A
2/ what are people's thoughts about the crosstourer as a year round bike.? Please bear in mind that I do clean but it's not my greatest joy (bikes should be ridden) i do set up for winter but then tend to leave it till spring
3/ what is she like as a commuter? I have happily commuted in London on Varedero, CB1300 and 865 Bonnie, done M25 on VTX and commuted in Yorkshire towns in it too (no biggy) ,

Well that's it for now all, hope I haven't bored you too much
Hope to be sticking round, going to see a crosstourer this weekend but likely that will not be the one as I will not buy any bike without a test ride and I am a few months off that yet. It's more of a how does it fit, look see etc
Thanks in anticipation. Dave

[Matlock]

Hi and welcome Dave, sorry to hear about your accident, hope you make a full recovery soon. To answer your questions:
1.   If you’re competent with the spanners, it’s fine for home servicing. The biggest pain is getting all the bodywork off to get at anything. That said, I haven’t done the valve clearance checks myself, so can’t comment on that task. Valve clearance checks are every 16k miles on the Crosstourer.
2.   I’ll leave this for others to comment as I take mine off the road for the worst of winter. I have a winter hack Yamaha TDM900 I use when things get salty. Build quality is good though, so I wouldn’t see it as an issue. Use plenty of ACF50, or similar to protect it.
3.   I’ve commuted on mine regularly, but she’s a big beast, so not the most agile. The bars are wide too, making filtering a bit tougher. I get around 45mpg on my commute which is 80% (congested) motorway and dual carriageway. If your commute is all in city traffic I’d look elsewhere, you’ll be a sweaty mess when you get to work on a warm day from manhandling it  . MPG is really bad in traffic too, she much prefers the open road.

[Dave56]

Hi Dave and  along to the colleCTive. 
First things first, great intro, made fascinating reading especially the Gixxer with ape hanger bars  I can sympathise with your injury as I’ve just had shoulder surgery to reattach two tendons (ouch) and I’ll be “riderless” for six months 
As to your three questions, I’m afraid I can’t answer the first one as I’m a total mechanical numpty. 
With regards to year round practically, it’s a Honda so it should be fine, especially if it’s had a ACF50 type  treatment, might get a few furry fasteners but I’d suspect that’ll be it. No chain to worry about is certainly an advantage.
As to using it as a commuter, no problems, she’s a truly comfortable girl whether over 2 miles or 200 miles and especially if you go down the DCT route - which I highly recommend - this makes commuting a doddle.
In closing I would highly recommend that you take a lengthy test ride of one, especially a DCT version and I’d look for a Highlander version as they are better equipped for the type of riding you have in mind.
Anyway Dave, good luck with the search.

[Wavey Dave]

Hi Chaps
Thanks for info. I pretty much figured for the most part just needed confirmation. If you can do London on a Vara you can pretty much do anything. Also vtx was a big girl and while not ideal could hustle and commute when required.
DCT  is a no-no for me for mostly personal and ideological reasons. Will be going with manual. Looking forward to Saturdays look-see. Any info on the CT and long term ownership is greatly appreciated.

[Dave56]

I seriously think your missing a trick not trying DCT Dave.
When I bought my first manual Highlander in 2013 I was offered and encouraged by the salesman to also try a DCT version but flatly refused thinking why the hell would I want an “automatic”, that’s for scooter riders etc etc.
But after three years of manual ownership I relented and while my manual was in for its annual service took out a DCT.
After only a few miles I was truly hooked and immediately made plans to change. I’m now in my third year of DCT ownership and under no circumstances would I go back to manual.
If I want to have fun with the gearbox I just use the manual override function.
Do yourself a favour Dave, put the ideology on the back burner for a while and at least give it a go. 

[Murphy]

Originally Posted by Dave56

I seriously think your missing a trick not trying DCT Dave.
When I bought my first manual Highlander in 2013 I was offered and encouraged by the salesman to also try a DCT version but flatly refused thinking why the hell would I want an “automatic”, that’s for scooter riders etc etc.
But after three years of manual ownership I relented and while my manual was in for its annual service took out a DCT.
After only a few miles I was truly hooked and immediately made plans to change. I’m now in my third year of DCT ownership and under no circumstances would I go back to manual.
If I want to have fun with the gearbox I just use the manual override function.
Do yourself a favour Dave, put the ideology on the back burner for a while and at least give it a go. 

AMEN! 

[Wavey Dave]

I knew that if I mentioned the DCT I would end having to do this:) A friend of mine  has an AT with DCT and he loves it. Now I am an old school biker and for me, I like the clutch I like blipping the throttle at lights. I like blipping the throttle in tunnnels. With a loud pipe I like rev bombing idiots on their phones or who need to be reminded you are there. Other than being stationary and in neutral at lights you can't do that with a DCT. I like having to think about rev matching when changing gear. I like having to think about being in and selecting the right gear with a clutch for any given manouver. It's a skill I learned a long time ago and it's a visceral part of my riding. For me it's a part of running a bike. I like the fact that smooth up and down changing and all that entails separates me from the novice or the weekend warrior. Take away the clutch lever and you take away part of the fun, part of the skill part of the experience. Oh and incidentally it has nothing to do with scooters! (I quite like some scooters)

I get it that having no clutch to think about makes something's easy. I get that you now have a part of your focus and attention freed for thinking about other things, I also get that if you get used to and happy with DCT you may have bugger of a transition to a clutched bike which could have serious consequences. If you never want to ride anything without DCT again then you are also limiting yourself to what may available in the future.
DCT is easy! We shouldn't do anything in life just because it is easy.
I think DCT is great if you have any issue with clutch of gear work which makes riding difficult or painful or unpleasant. I don't think DCT is great because it is easy, I don't think DCT makes you a better rider. Knowledge, training, practice and time do that.

Lastly as a biker who does his own work I think DCT adds a level of complexity I do not want. I really like the crosstourer because it has a minimum of rider aids and elastictrickery. I don't want riding modes and aids. I want to know that my direct actions, that my decisions, are the biggest controllers of my fate, and for me DCT represents a part of that. DCT is, for me like having automatic windscreen wipers or lights that turn on when it gets dark. I use a sat nav loads but really miss making route maps and sticking it to the tank (I still do this from time to time) Sat nav is easy.

I Fully respect yours (or anyones) right to have DCT if you want it. I also will not tell you my way is better (it isnt ! It's just different) it would be a sad, sad world of we were all the same.

I hope you will forgive my rant and not take it personally. It is merely my opinion. But at least now you know why I want a manual CT. Incidentally I would happily try out a DCT bike (But not for purchase) I would be happy to have a blast on yours when my shoulder is better. Just to try it out.
What ever we choose ride free and ride safe.

[Dave56]

Now, you really can’t beat a good old rant and Dave that was a good un. 
I totally respect your view and opinion mate and your totally correct, if we’re all the same it’d be yawn, yawn, yawn. 
So good luck with your search and I really hope you find what your looking for mate.