How would you rate the overall ride quality of the CTX700?

Does anyone else think the bike runs a little bit on the "buzzy side? I only have 3 thousand miles on my bike so I don't think it is the valves or tune up related, but who knows? I am thinking that maybe it is the DCT that makes it feel that way?

Merlin III said:

Does anyone else think the bike runs a little bit on the "buzzy side? I only have 3 thousand miles on my bike so I don't think it is the valves or tune up related, but who knows? I am thinking that maybe it is the DCT that makes it feel that way?

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If by "buzzy" you mean the vibration coming from the engine, I would venture that there's a problem with your particular ride. I grant you that I have a 6 speed, not a DCT, but I recently got out on it and finally ran it up to full highway speeds (70+ mph). I'm amazed just how smooth it still is even at those speeds. The images in the mirrors were still rock solid, which is my first test for vibration. I find our CTX to be one of the smoothest available.

Sometimes it feels that way and sometimes it's ultra smooth, but then my car feels the same way too and so does my stereo. I think it's in my head, but I can't be sure. For a 2 cylinder it's not bad, but compared to a Glodwing or a car, it's buzzy.

no issues at all with mine
I do find it runs/feels better when I am in a good mood.

What we're probably all experiencing is the 270º twist Honda put on this engine to give it a little "maturity"... AKA a little vibration or to appease the Harley Davidson crowd. Check it out here.

An excerpt:

To concretely arrive at a "ride to suit mature tastes," a choice had to be made between even and uneven firing intervals. Uneven-interval firing with a 270º phase crank was chosen over orderly and smooth even-interval firing in order to achieve a throb close to that of a 2-cylinder V-engine, because this would result in an emotional yet comforting means of daily transportation.

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Now who's 2- cylinder V-engine you think Honda was trying to duplicate.

At times I can feel the vibration, mild but it's there.

Having ridden V-twins for a good number of years, I find 'Flicker' to be quite smooth. My prior bike, a Victory, shook like the dickens in 4th, but was quite good in the others for what it was. Go figure.

Now, the lugging I get when 'Flicker' goes into 6th gear at 38 miles per hour is a whole different kind of buzzy!

Do you notice it in a particular gear, Merlin, or at a particular speed?

Woodswoman said:

Having ridden V-twins for a good number of years, I find 'Flicker' to be quite smooth. My prior bike, a Victory, shook like the dickens in 4th, but was quite good in the others for what it was. Go figure.

Now, the lugging I get when 'Flicker' goes into 6th gear at 38 miles per hour is a whole different kind of buzzy!

Do you notice it in a particular gear, Merlin, or at a particular speed?

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I seem to notice it in all gears. It is kind of difficult to describe the feeling and I have nothing to compare it to, only faint memories of other bikes I had in years past. Too bad the get-together didn't materialize. It would have been nice to try someone's bike or had them try mine for comparison. It may be that I are listening and feeling too hard.

I also remembered a thread on the dark side site dealing with someone using a very expensive oil in their bike that smoothed the mechanical operation out.

Check/change the oil. That will smooth it out quite a bit. Remember it's a wet clutch, so everything is bathed in the same oil. Some Rotella T6 and you're set!

Merlin III said:

Too bad the get-together didn't materialize. It would have been nice to try someone's bike or had them try mine for comparison.

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I'm sorry, too. You'd have been very welcome to take my bike for a ride.

Is it possible that your chain is looser than it should be? Just tossing out the thought; I'm no kind of expert when it comes to setting a chain properly. Frankly, I stink at it.

But Shanghai Dan -- whom I am delighted to see has joined us -- may have the right of it.

Good point Woodswoman. I haven't owned a chain driven bike for a very long time. I will look at the chain very closely and take corrective action if necessary. Also, it may be the Rotella T6 that I remember people recommending for quieting down the bike.

Late today I checked my chain slack on my bike with 3000 miles on the odometer. As Woodswoman inferred, It was on the loose end at approximately 1 1/2 inches of play. I started to adjust it only to find that you need a 21mm and a 27mm crescent wrench and a 21mm socket for the torque wrench. I guess it is a trip to Harbor Freight sometime this week. I did manage to loosen the 21mm nut with a 22mm wrench I have. I adjusted the chain to a little over 1 1/8"" slack. I then got a piece of cardboard and wrote "Do Not Ride" on it and taped it to the handlebars. It would be just like me to forget that the axle is loose and jump on the bike for a quick ride.

I read the service manual and they don't seem too concerned about the resulting alignment not being perfect. Relying on those little hash marks doesn't seem as precise as I would like. I know you can take stuff off the bike so you can see both chain bolts, but that seems like a lot of work everytime you adjust your chain.

It gets easier and quicker every time you do it.

If you really want to align or check the chain alignment you might consider this little tool:



It is made by MotionPro ($13.50 @ Amazon) and Luster Care makes a laser version for $108



I use the MotionPro, it works great, simple and keeps the sprockets and chain from premature wear.

Thanks Ponydrvr. I just ordered the Motion Pro from Revzilla.

One of the first thing I bought for the CTX700 was the MotionPro, it works and makes the chain adjustment easier. Slip a long straw on the rod to extend it.

Merlin III said:

I seem to notice it in all gears. It is kind of difficult to describe the feeling and I have nothing to compare it to, only faint memories of other bikes I had in years past. Too bad the get-together didn't materialize. It would have been nice to try someone's bike or had them try mine for comparison. It may be that I are listening and feeling too hard.

I also remembered a thread on the dark side site dealing with someone using a very expensive oil in their bike that smoothed the mechanical operation out.

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If you are by my way anytime, I would be happy to let you ride my bike. And for the record I had the get-together but no one came from this forum.

Yes, I wanted to attend and actually contemplated spending a few days in that area, but things just got too complicated here (dog care, dealing with sub-contractors, etc.) Kudos for stepping up to the plate. I hope someone tries again next year. Maybe we could all meet at Americade or some other event?

mjc said:

And for the record I had the get-together but no one came from this forum.

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I know ... I am still sorry I had to cancel. Hate it when my job gets in the way of my life.

Merlin III said:

Yes, I wanted to attend and actually contemplated spending a few days in that area, but things just got too complicated here (dog care, dealing with sub-contractors, etc.) Kudos for stepping up to the plate. I hope someone tries again next year. Maybe we could all meet at Americade or some other event?

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Woodswoman said:

I know ... I am still sorry I had to cancel. Hate it when my job gets in the way of my life.

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Hi, I understand things get in the way, I just wanted to stay, the get together had happened. Maybe next year the forum could vote on having a get together, the where, when, and who would attend. Maybe over Feb/March when there is not much riding going on.
Merlin, the new England riders are coming to my area, 9/7 to 7/10, and we will be riding Dutchess and the Catskills. and I will be riding this labor day weekend from west ct, to the Catskills, to N Dutchess. So if you care to join us or meet me somewhere to check my bike (and I could check yours) just pm me.

Update on chain tightening. I went to Harbor Freight and bought sockets to tighten the axle. I researched the sizes needed to be 21mm on the bolt side and 27mm on the nut side. The sockets I bought were actually impact wrench sockets with a 1/2" drive because it was that or buy a 40 dollar set of the larger sizes of wrenches that I will never use.

It turns out that the bolt side 21mm impact socket wrench doesn't fit the bolt head? It is too small. Was I correct in my research that the spec on that bolt is 21MM?