Pondering a new adventure with the CTX700

I came across the CTX line totally by accident to be honest. However the looks of the bike caused me to do a bit of research which only heightened my interest. From looking at the 700 my next move was to research the 1300CTX, only to discover that the 700 would be the better fit for me for various reasons.

Over the years I have owned many different bikes from full dress tour to on/off road KLRs. My latest being a Kawasaki 1600 Vulcan bagger which I felt was a tad on the heavy side and sold after only putting on a few hundred miles.

Now the CTX700 from all that I have read while weighing in at around 500 pounds feels much more light and nimble greatly due to the low center of gravity. It seems to be very dependable in the long run. Delivers high mpg and loads of smiles to the mile. Reports also say that while it is no road racer that it will get up and move with ease with the understanding that 6th gear is more of an Overdrive gear.

The greatest downside that I have read is that the CTX700 depreciates quickly, which is not a concern as I would take advantage of this in purchasing preowned.

Now to the punch, I have not had the opportunity to ride one, lease of all sit on one. I do have one that I am interested in going to take a look at however. It does have the front fairing and taller windshield, but no luggage/bags.

Based on being a young man in my early 60s, at a height of 6', and weight of 235 pounds would this be a good fit, both in physical means as well as casual riding of back roads seldom seeing the trials of Dallas traffic if ever.

I am looking to have fun and relax. But, I also what to have adequate power. And don't want to look like a monkey humping a football due to my size on a smaller sized motorcycle.

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated,

Thank you

We are about the same, went from a Vulcan 1600 Nomad to the CTX700 DCT, Young almost 60, 6' and weight of 250 (was 235 when I got the CTX700). I had the same thinking that if I got the smaller bike I would look funny riding it.
I hurt my back almost 2 years ago and could not move my left foot without having pain and so I had to get a automatic or stop riding. Before this, my plan was to keep the Nomad and when it became to heavy I would just trike it. I ride for fun in a relaxed, enjoying the road kinda way sometimes alone but mostly with a group that I lead. We ride back roads under 55MPH most of the time for 50 to 150 mile long trips to no where and back.
After looking at the CTX700 with fairing at a shop used, before I got hurt, I remembered it because I liked the look of the bike, I even sat on it, my friend who was with me, did not like it at all and said "What are you going to do with that toy". I thought it was great, just would need a better seat (Bigger wider with backrest) a talker windshield, floorboards, bags, radio, etc). At the time I was not looking for a new bike but after getting hurt it was that bike or nothing.
I ended up with a used 2014, CTX700, DCT, with bags and ceebee taller windshield. I had to redo the seat, making it wider and adding a backrest, the rear sock/spring had to be adjusted (adjustment ring all the way down), changed the front pegs to floorboards, added raisers to the handlebars, has I sit back more and the bars where too short, plus I added a radio and top case.
All said and done, I have about $2K invested in the bike, plus what I paid for it. It fits me fine do not think there is room for a passenger or that the bike would hold my weight plus one. Everyone has said I look fine riding it, just need to keep the smile off my face to keep the bugs out.
The bike has good power, off the line (with the DCT) it will out run my old Nomad and most of the people I ride with. At speed (under 60) it can go for hours, if you hit a big hill you may have to down swift but otherwise it is great.
I have been riding over 35 years, had over 38 bikes, did teach beginner to advanced riding skills to 100s of people and I can tell you this is (if not the best) one of the best bikes I have ever owned. It is my last one.

It is best as a one person bike mostly because of the rear shock capacity. From what I have been told the pinion rider suffers more than usual on longer rides. I replaced the rear shock with an aftermarket shock. Other than that, it is a good bike. I believe, Poneydriver has traveled the "4 Corners" with it.

jonrjen said:

Based on being a young man in my early 60s, at a height of 6', and weight of 235 pounds would this be a good fit, both in physical means as well as casual riding of back roads seldom seeing the trials of Dallas traffic if ever.

I am looking to have fun and relax. But, I also what to have adequate power. And don't want to look like a monkey humping a football due to my size on a smaller sized motorcycle.

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I've also owned a few bikes and have ridden a few more and while it lacks ultimate power, it's adequate. More importantly with it's low end torque and DCT it moves off the line quicker than most bikes I have owned with less effort. My other bikes would beat it, but not without making a conscience effort to do so. I am just a little shorter than you and heavier. All things considered, it's a very easy bike to ride and more fun than most/any bikes I have owned. One of the best things about it is that it handles great. It sits next to an GSX1100G in the garage and it doesn't look any shorter in length. It does look shorter in height, but the GSX has taller wheels.

I spend most of my riding in the country by myself where it's safer and at lower speeds and it's very comfortable and very relaxing. I've also ridden at 85+ mph on the Interstates and it's rock solid at those speeds. I did upgrade my suspension (front and back) due to my weight. At your weight you might have to shim up the rear shock to get the right sag adjustment.

While not perfect in every way, there isn't a bike that I'd rather own.

Thank you all for the replies. Sounds like I need to go take a look and give it a fitment opportunity.

The bike I am going to take a look at is a 2014 CTX 700E with the fairing and tall windshield sporting 2,200 miles on the odometer, white in color.

The asking price is $4,500 or best offer. It is being offered by the original owner and has been on the market for 2 months. Clean/Clear Title with current state inspection and registration.

What would you place as fair value or shoot for as a purchase price if in fact it is as described "AS NEW"?

Thanks again,

If the bike is "AS NEW" it will still be 3 years old in a few weeks. Without the hard bags, rear rack, and front floorboards, which I think you will end up adding, I think $3500 is a good deal, $3700 a fair deal but any more then that I would by a new 2016 or 2015 leftover which I have seen at dealers going for $5000. Since you want the 6 speed manual and not the DCT there are many great deals out there. I checked ebay for sold auctions and many sold for $3700 to $4000, some used and even some new. I think if you can find one with factory hard bags, rear rack, and tall windshield used for Under $4500, just look a little harder. Just my 2 cents.

BTW, I have never rode a CTX700 with the 6 speed trans, but that is a small engine and the gears more then likely are short. What I am saying is, that will be a lot of shifting. I love my CTX700 with DCT but think there are better bikes out there if you want a manual. To me what makes the CTX700 a great bike is the DCT. If I had a Vulcan 1600 and just wanted a lighter bike, I would get a Vulcan 900LT which is light, ez to ride, has a big frame and add on's are cheaper to get.

$4500 is not a bargain.
The 6 sp sell slowly, but the faired version is more desirable than a naked which have sold for the prices mjc mentioned.
The manual CTX is a great bike, good spacing on the gearing-not short at all. Shifting is not an issue. The torquey CTX engine lets you not worry too much about what gear you're in. And it can be a lot of fun to work through the gears to feel the pull from 3000 to 4500-I always get a grin.
The Vulcan manual is probably a decent bike but 5 sp. not six. It's almost a hundred lbs. heavier than a CTX and won't handle as well. It won't be as easy to move around the garage either. A friend has one and he is not comfortable cruising at 70 and above because the engine just seems (in his opinion) to be working hard.
At 3800 bucks or so you'd be getting a great bike in the CTX.

Once again the replies and feedback are much appreciated.

I was going to negotiate down to $4,000 or walk, but it sounds as though my low may be on the high end of the value.

Maybe I need to wait for the Texas winter weather to come into play and hope that I'm not busy on the day that happens. Sometimes our winter days only last a few hours, of course at other times it could last a few days.

On the local, which the Dallas/Ft Worth north Texas area is not all that local, this was the lowest advertised model with the fairing. There are a few others but all of the naked edition. A few dealerships do have a couple listed, but at stupid prices.

Being that it's Black Friday and everyone will be out shopping every where but the Honda dealer maybe I'll take a drive over and take a look at the dealership in Ennis, TX.

I have been reading the forum with interest as to the load rating on the rear shock. Boy was I astounded at the price of the aftermarket shock mentioned. Is there any other options other than the Penske available?

Unfortunately, no. As of this writing, the Penske is the only aftermarket upgrade for the rear shock absorber.

Try it on in person. It's pretty comfortable, and once you're moving it feels incredibly light - more like a scooter than a motorcycle, in terms of where it carries its weight. Makes it feel nimble and react a lot faster than a bike its size should.

Only downside for me when I got it was the rear suspension. I'm a big boy, and even at full preload I would bottom it out when I had it loaded with some gear. I did the Gonzo Mod (modification to the shock) and that solved the problem completely. Now I bottom only on the worst bumps (ones I really should avoid but couldn't/didn't). It's a great bike overall!

Do the Gonzo Shock Mod: Mod your rear shock. Take the spring off, add a washer (I used some off-the-shelf washers from McMaster Carr) to the spring cup to increase preload, cut down the rubber bumper (in half - it artificially limits travel) and then reinstall. You're good to go! Much more preload, much more comfort, and a LOT more travel.

jonrjen said:

I have been reading the forum with interest as to the load rating on the rear shock. Boy was I astounded at the price of the aftermarket shock mentioned. Is there any other options other than the Penske available?

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Another option is to use spacers on the shock. I would do this only after setting the shock preload all the way and it's not enough. I found it much easier to remove the shock from the bike to do this. I installed the center stand which makes this possible (highly recommended). Even when the shock is set for a heavier person it may be inadequate for a heavier person on rough roads. Still, it's well worth doing.

Center stand (from Japan): http://japan.webike.net/ps/08M70MGSJ10/#!search&p.k=08M70MGSJ10
Center stand stopper (from Japan): http://japan.webike.net/products/20531216.html

You will not regret getting the center stand.

If you need spacers they should be 2 inch ID and about 3 inch OD. You can stack them to whatever thickness you need. Here is a picture of the shock with the spacers installed. The oem shock is on the right, the Penske is on the left.

You guys are a great wealth of information, Much appreciated!!!
Jon

jonrjen said:

I am looking to have fun and relax. But, I also what to have adequate power. And don't want to look like a monkey humping a football due to my size on a smaller sized motorcycle.

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IMHO the CTX700 manual is a great motorcycle... if your looking for "fun and relax with adequate power", you want a CTX700 DCT a great motorcycle with steroids.

ponydrvr said:

I haven't owned as many bikes as many of you have. I did look long and hard at many other bikes and asked my friends with other models many questions. And no I have not stayed at a HI Express recently. However, I don't believe there is a better light cruiser/sport/touring bike available.

Despite not riding all summer I have nearly 35,000 miles on mine.

Someone mentioned I rode an SCMA Four Corner Tour. Yup, did that in 2014, the way I did it was a bit more than 11,000 miles in 28 days total. It was 16 days for the 7,300 miles on the tour, 5 days in NOLA for an MV rally, 3 days to get to NOLA and 4 days for a day of rest and then return from Key West, FL to Louisville, KY.

I am a little on the big guy side being 6'2" @ 275 lbs. I had to modify the rear shock with the Gonzo mod and my mod to use 4 of the 2"X 3"-10 ga flat washers @ $1.15 ea, since my weight plus the loaded luggage needed more support and movement. In addition, I raised the unloaded ride height by 2 5/8" by shortening the shock connecting links this resulted in a net gain of 1 inch seat height. These mods improved the ride quality immensely and were very easily done.

The rear shock mod cost slightly less than $12. I used some scrap 1" strap steel for the connecting links I fabricated myself.

I've added a few other things to make long distance travel enjoyable. The suspension mod was worth every penny and is the reason I continue with the CTX. That and all the fun it brings me.

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Was this ride on your CTX700?