The Journey to a Harley!

[djrose007]

Just done a search and the only things I've posted about, multiple posts though, were when I was rebuilding a mess of a 1989 Suzuki GSX750FK. Just thought I'd bring my profile up to date since then.
This is quite a bit longer than I intended but once I started I just couldn't stop!
My history started in 1974 when I bought my first bike, from Nettletons in Gloucester. It was a Honda CB175, passed my test one month later (it was a lot easier in those days!) because there had been a cancellation.
I was still in the RAF so with postings abroad, and marriage to an anti motorbiking wife, I didn't ride from 1975 to 1994 when I bought a second hand CB250N Superdream. Company cars intervened and in 2000 sold the bike after riding it throughout the six years, every weekend, sun, rain, frost, snow, ice, gales, whatever came, I rode from Maidenhead to Gloucester and back. It was a great little bike.
2009 made redundant from Nortel Networks (went bankrupt) and that was when I got the Suzuki GSX750FK 'for something to do'.
Worked on it for 4 years, until early 2014, got it on the road much to the surprise of my wife who said 'If you want to bike again you've got to get that on the road', also to my surprise I must admit.
Not my style of riding so quickly sold it, at an enormous loss financially but I obtained a huge amount of knowledge. That was when I bought my second hand Honda VT750C2 Shadow in October 2014. Had that for over two years but in 2017 rode 500 miles for the RBLR1000, and 2016 & 2017 with the RBL Riders Branch across to France and Belgium etc. I thought 'I need a bigger bike'.
Traded the Shadow in for a Honda CTX1300, INCREDIBLE bike. Had that for two years but I had to admit it was too heavy for me to push around by hand. I often dropped it, thank goodness I bought the pannier guards from the States. I did pass my Advanced Rider qualification with RoSPA on it though, riding was fantastic, just problem with the pushing around.
Looked for something 1000cc+ which was smaller and lighter.
Africa Twin - too tall
Crosstourer - great ride, liked the DCT but still a bit tall and heavy although lighter than the CTX
Even tried a Suzuki V800LT, vibrated like a pneumatic road digger but looked great
Thunderroad Gloucester also had a used Harley Davidson XL1200T Sportster Superlow just come in, booked a test ride although it hadn't even been cleaned up it was so new in. I'd never really thought about owning a Harley but thought it was worth a test ride. Nearly 100kg lighter and only 100cc less than the CTX1300.
When I first rode the CTX1300 I absolutely loved it before I'd gone 100 yards. With the Sportster I decided I liked it within 100 yards and after about 5 miles I also decided that we could get along just fine and I would learn to love it.
A year and a half riding the Sportster I now find myself thinking it's the bike I should have been looking for in the first place, but I'll never forget the journeys I did on the CTX1300, which included the 1,000 miles in 24 hours for the RBLR1000 in 2018. It was a breeze and after a thousand miles I got off that bike without a twinge.
I'll be 72 in 2 days time and looking forward to a few years of riding with the Sportster, particularly when this bloody Covid-19 virus buggers off!
 

Edited November 18, 2020 by djrose007

[Tiggie]

Thats some nice bikes you've had 

 

I quite like Sportsters myself and if I was to get a Harley thats the model I'd go for 

[XTreme]

55 minutes ago, djrose007 said:

Just done a search and the only things I've posted about, multiple posts though, were when I was rebuilding a mess of a 1989 Suzuki GSX750FK. Just thought I'd bring my profile up to date since then.
This is quite a bit longer than I intended but once I started I just couldn't stop!
My history started in 1974 when I bought my first bike, from Nettletons in Gloucester. It was a Honda CB175, passed my test one month later (it was a lot easier in those days!) because there had been a cancellation.
I was still in the RAF so with postings abroad, and marriage to an anti motorbiking wife, I didn't ride from 1975 to 1994 when I bought a second hand CB250N Superdream. Company cars intervened and in 2000 sold the bike after riding it throughout the six years, every weekend, sun, rain, frost, snow, ice, gales, whatever came, I rode from Maidenhead to Gloucester and back. It was a great little bike.
2009 made redundant from Nortel Networks (went bankrupt) and that was when I got the Suzuki GSX750FK 'for something to do'.
Worked on it for 4 years, until early 2014, got it on the road much to the surprise of my wife who said 'If you want to bike again you've got to get that on the road', also to my surprise I must admit.
Not my style of riding so quickly sold it, at an enormous loss financially but I obtained a huge amount of knowledge. That was when I bought my second hand Honda VT750C2 Shadow in October 2014. Had that for over two years but in 2017 rode 500 miles for the RBLR1000, and 2016 & 2017 with the RBL Riders Branch across to France and Belgium etc. I thought 'I need a bigger bike'.
Traded the Shadow in for a Honda CTX1300, INCREDIBLE bike. Had that for two years but I had to admit it was too heavy for me to push around by hand. I often dropped it, thank goodness I bought the pannier guards from the States. I did pass my Advanced Rider qualification with RoSPA on it though, riding was fantastic, just problem with the pushing around.
Looked for something 1000cc+ which was smaller and lighter.
Africa Twin - too tall
Crosstourer - great ride, liked the DCT but still a bit tall and heavy although lighter than the CTX
Even tried a Suzuki V800LT, vibrated like a pneumatic road digger but looked great
Thunderroad Gloucester also had a used Harley Davidson XL1200T Sportster Superlow just come in, booked a test ride although it hadn't even been cleaned up it was so new in. I'd never really thought about owning a Harley but thought it was worth a test ride. Nearly 100kg lighter and only 100cc less than the CTX1300.
When I first rode the CTX1300 I absolutely loved it before I'd gone 100 yards. With the Sportster I decided I liked it within 100 yards and after about 5 miles I also decided that we could get along just fine and I would learn to love it.
A year and a half riding the Sportster I now find myself thinking it's the bike I should have been looking for in the first place, but I'll never forget the journeys I did on the CTX1300, which included the 1,000 miles in 24 hours for the RBLR1000 in 2018. It was a breeze and after a thousand miles I got off that bike without a twinge.
I'll be 72 in 2 days time and looking forward to a few years of riding with the Sportster, particularly when this bloody Covid-19 virus buggers off!
 

Excellent.......and 72 in two days as well!

Keep going......you're giving me hope!

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

Nice work on the Suzuki

So what’s the weight difference between the CTX1300 and the Harley?

[Guest Swagman]

2 hours ago, djrose007 said:

Just done a search and the only things I've posted about, multiple posts though, were when I was rebuilding a mess of a 1989 Suzuki GSX750FK. Just thought I'd bring my profile up to date since then.
This is quite a bit longer than I intended but once I started I just couldn't stop!
My history started in 1974 when I bought my first bike, from Nettletons in Gloucester. It was a Honda CB175, passed my test one month later (it was a lot easier in those days!) because there had been a cancellation.
I was still in the RAF so with postings abroad, and marriage to an anti motorbiking wife, I didn't ride from 1975 to 1994 when I bought a second hand CB250N Superdream. Company cars intervened and in 2000 sold the bike after riding it throughout the six years, every weekend, sun, rain, frost, snow, ice, gales, whatever came, I rode from Maidenhead to Gloucester and back. It was a great little bike.
2009 made redundant from Nortel Networks (went bankrupt) and that was when I got the Suzuki GSX750FK 'for something to do'.
Worked on it for 4 years, until early 2014, got it on the road much to the surprise of my wife who said 'If you want to bike again you've got to get that on the road', also to my surprise I must admit.
Not my style of riding so quickly sold it, at an enormous loss financially but I obtained a huge amount of knowledge. That was when I bought my second hand Honda VT750C2 Shadow in October 2014. Had that for over two years but in 2017 rode 500 miles for the RBLR1000, and 2016 & 2017 with the RBL Riders Branch across to France and Belgium etc. I thought 'I need a bigger bike'.
Traded the Shadow in for a Honda CTX1300, INCREDIBLE bike. Had that for two years but I had to admit it was too heavy for me to push around by hand. I often dropped it, thank goodness I bought the pannier guards from the States. I did pass my Advanced Rider qualification with RoSPA on it though, riding was fantastic, just problem with the pushing around.
Looked for something 1000cc+ which was smaller and lighter.
Africa Twin - too tall
Crosstourer - great ride, liked the DCT but still a bit tall and heavy although lighter than the CTX
Even tried a Suzuki V800LT, vibrated like a pneumatic road digger but looked great
Thunderroad Gloucester also had a used Harley Davidson XL1200T Sportster Superlow just come in, booked a test ride although it hadn't even been cleaned up it was so new in. I'd never really thought about owning a Harley but thought it was worth a test ride. Nearly 100kg lighter and only 100cc less than the CTX1300.
When I first rode the CTX1300 I absolutely loved it before I'd gone 100 yards. With the Sportster I decided I liked it within 100 yards and after about 5 miles I also decided that we could get along just fine and I would learn to love it.
A year and a half riding the Sportster I now find myself thinking it's the bike I should have been looking for in the first place, but I'll never forget the journeys I did on the CTX1300, which included the 1,000 miles in 24 hours for the RBLR1000 in 2018. It was a breeze and after a thousand miles I got off that bike without a twinge.
I'll be 72 in 2 days time and looking forward to a few years of riding with the Sportster, particularly when this bloody Covid-19 virus buggers off!
 

Great story, if the red Honda in the first pick is the one you mentioned it was the cd 175 single carb version  I took my test on a blue one.

[fastbob]

Same start and end points as me . Mine was a CB 175 closely related to the CD in your first picture . Most of my main bikes in-between were big Suzuki Fours . 

Edited November 19, 2020 by fastbob

[djrose007]

On 18/11/2020 at 23:14, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Nice work on the Suzuki

So what’s the weight difference between the CTX1300 and the Harley?

 

Apologies for the late response, you've probably found out by now but here you go.

The spec weight of each is 
XL1200T 263kg (511.5 lb)

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/h-d/harley_davidson_xl1200t_17.htm
CTX1300 338kg (745 lb)  but mine was the deluxe, only the deluxe was sold in the UK, and I added a couple of bits so was probably about 345kg.

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/Honda/honda_ctx_1300_14.html

The combination of lower weight and height really makes a difference when pushing it around. I do still miss the performance of the CTX1300, absolutely fabulous bike to ride. Only big criticism is the panels. The fitting 'pins' are susceptible to breaking.
If you did get a CTX1300, I think you can still get them new as they weren't big sellers due to the price but some distributors still have them crated. They were only built for one year as a test bed for the upcoming modified GL1800 Goldwings.

 

[djrose007]

On 18/11/2020 at 22:23, Tiggie said:

That's some nice bikes you've had 

 

I quite like Sportsters myself and if I was to get a Harley thats the model I'd go for 

Some people knock the Sportsters for their size but at 1200cc it's certainly big enough power-wise. I would certainly go for forward pegs though unless you aren't very tall. I'm about 5' 11'' and find it very comfortable with the forward pegs.
I went for the 'T' model because it has the bigger teardrop tank, rather than the peanut tank. Even a salesman at Cheltenham Harley said the peanut tank is smaller than a gnats bladder!! You'd have to be refuelling every 70 miles or so.
 

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

3 minutes ago, djrose007 said:

 

Apologies for the late response, you've probably found out by now but here you go.

The spec weight of each is 
XL1200T 263kg (511.5 lb)

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/h-d/harley_davidson_xl1200t_17.htm
CTX1300 338kg (745 lb)  but mine was the deluxe, only the deluxe was sold in the UK, and I added a couple of bits so was probably about 345kg.

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/Honda/honda_ctx_1300_14.html

The combination of lower weight and height really makes a difference when pushing it around. I do still miss the performance of the CTX1300, absolutely fabulous bike to ride. Only big criticism is the panels. The fitting 'pins' are susceptible to breaking.
If you did get a CTX1300, I think you can still get them new as they weren't big sellers due to the price but some distributors still have them crated. They were only built for one year as a test bed for the upcoming modified GL1800 Goldwings.

 

 

Very interesting. About 100+kg too much for this flyweight!

[Steve_M]

1 hour ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

 

Very interesting. About 100+kg too much for this flyweight!

Shame.

 

I used to lead out test rides for a local dealer. We used to go out in groups of five or six and us volunteers used to get what was left of the fleet once the potential customers had their choice. The CTX1300 wasn’t a popular choice for test rides so I got to ride it quite a lot. I rather took a shine to it. It was smooth, easy to ride, and relaxed (ie. not fast, but it no-one complained about the pace of the test groups i led, so it must have been adequately quick).

 

The only time it caused me a problem was at once of the stops where we offered to swap rides around, I ended up with a CBR600RR. Cramped and painful the luxurious feel of the CTX.