http://www.ctx700-forum.com/forum/images/styles/Movara/attach/jpg.gif Well, not JUST back: Took me (is still taking me) a while to figure out how to post photos - hope this one comes through.
Week before labor day weekend I took a trip on the CTX, putting on about 1,700 miles in a week. I've solo/motorcycle/camped in the White Mountains, Adirondacks and Catskills - on a 750 shadow - and have ridden up to about 350 miles in a day a couple of times on the ctx (I'm 61, so for me that's a long trip), but was curious about the Allegheny mountains in Pennsylvania and how this bike would do hauling all the gear and me for a long trip.
The photo shows the bike loaded up with tent, sleeping bag, duffel bag of clothes for a week, rain gear, and the rest. (sorry about the Bernie sticker - don't like injecting politics into this forum, though an older man stopped me at a gas station in PA and told me I'd alerted him to a stereotype he was harboring, as he thought any guy on a motorcycle must be a Trump supporter...so at least it serves a useful purpose in that regard, given the genuine diversity among us riders.) The stock side bags are really too small, in general, I think; and I wish I'd gotten a larger Kappa tail bag. I attached a pair of metal strips to the top of the box so I could affix an old ratty backrest Rally bag to the top of it.
From here in Rhode Island I first rode out to Wellsboro PA, just west of Scranton and near the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania - a canyon, but not so grand as THE grand canyon, then to further west to Kane (due south of Buffalo NY). Very pretty country but economically really desolate and a bit of an education for me. From Kane, I toodled around and eventually made my way to the suburbs of Philadelphia - a 425 mile day, with probably about 11 hours of riding. And from there, north up to Saratoga Springs and a long loop through the southern Adirondacks, and then back to RI through northern Mass. Two of the days of riding exceeded 400 miles.
A couple notable things about this bike: with the corbin seat and cb windshield, except for moments when I was riding directly into strong winds, the bike was wonderful. I did ride on some interstates - speed limit in PA is 70 on these roads - and the one problem I had was noise from the wind. I had an x-screen on the bike for a while, which really cut down on the noise from wind but.... I had to look through it, not over it, and at speeds over 60 it caused a kind of throbbing buffeting sound with the wind. I do use wax ear plugs, which helps a lot but not against that buffeting. Got caught in a rain/thunder storm outside Philadelphia, and there again, thanks especially to the Michelin Pilot tires, no issues at all. At the end of that day especially, both my hands were cramping - I do have a standard shift bike, and a cramp buster, but I think it was less from shifting and rolling the throttle and more from just holding on to the bar for so many hours.
All of which is to confirm that this bike, that serves me daily to get to and from work (about 40 miles daily), takes me on milk runs and short hops, performs really well as a touring bike no less.
I still have my heart set on a BMW, but until I have the money for that, this one is a keeper.
I did take pictures of the Grand Canyon and of other stuff, but none with the bike in classic pose....
Week before labor day weekend I took a trip on the CTX, putting on about 1,700 miles in a week. I've solo/motorcycle/camped in the White Mountains, Adirondacks and Catskills - on a 750 shadow - and have ridden up to about 350 miles in a day a couple of times on the ctx (I'm 61, so for me that's a long trip), but was curious about the Allegheny mountains in Pennsylvania and how this bike would do hauling all the gear and me for a long trip.
The photo shows the bike loaded up with tent, sleeping bag, duffel bag of clothes for a week, rain gear, and the rest. (sorry about the Bernie sticker - don't like injecting politics into this forum, though an older man stopped me at a gas station in PA and told me I'd alerted him to a stereotype he was harboring, as he thought any guy on a motorcycle must be a Trump supporter...so at least it serves a useful purpose in that regard, given the genuine diversity among us riders.) The stock side bags are really too small, in general, I think; and I wish I'd gotten a larger Kappa tail bag. I attached a pair of metal strips to the top of the box so I could affix an old ratty backrest Rally bag to the top of it.
From here in Rhode Island I first rode out to Wellsboro PA, just west of Scranton and near the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania - a canyon, but not so grand as THE grand canyon, then to further west to Kane (due south of Buffalo NY). Very pretty country but economically really desolate and a bit of an education for me. From Kane, I toodled around and eventually made my way to the suburbs of Philadelphia - a 425 mile day, with probably about 11 hours of riding. And from there, north up to Saratoga Springs and a long loop through the southern Adirondacks, and then back to RI through northern Mass. Two of the days of riding exceeded 400 miles.
A couple notable things about this bike: with the corbin seat and cb windshield, except for moments when I was riding directly into strong winds, the bike was wonderful. I did ride on some interstates - speed limit in PA is 70 on these roads - and the one problem I had was noise from the wind. I had an x-screen on the bike for a while, which really cut down on the noise from wind but.... I had to look through it, not over it, and at speeds over 60 it caused a kind of throbbing buffeting sound with the wind. I do use wax ear plugs, which helps a lot but not against that buffeting. Got caught in a rain/thunder storm outside Philadelphia, and there again, thanks especially to the Michelin Pilot tires, no issues at all. At the end of that day especially, both my hands were cramping - I do have a standard shift bike, and a cramp buster, but I think it was less from shifting and rolling the throttle and more from just holding on to the bar for so many hours.
All of which is to confirm that this bike, that serves me daily to get to and from work (about 40 miles daily), takes me on milk runs and short hops, performs really well as a touring bike no less.
I still have my heart set on a BMW, but until I have the money for that, this one is a keeper.
I did take pictures of the Grand Canyon and of other stuff, but none with the bike in classic pose....
Attachments
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Loaded up for a week of solo camping.JPG