What Katherine said about "not being married" to your first bike got me thinking about my progression and rethinking the CTX.
I learned to ride on a friend's '86 Honda Shadow 600. I assumed that when I bought a bike I'd get a metric cruiser. But when the day to buy came, the first bike I looked at was an '83 Honda GL-650i that was advertised in the Rocky Mountain News. All the ad said was "For Sale: Honda GL-650i. $2500. 970-867-xxxx."
That 970-867-xxxx let me know it was in Fort Morgan and the $2500 was about all I could afford so I called the guy. I had ridden a PC800 that a church member wanted to sell and absolutely love it but he wanted $4,000 and that was out of my league since I was going through a divorce.
When I got over to the seller's place there was a PC800 parked next to a wine-colored big-looking touring bike. I wondered where the bike that was for sale was until the guy came out and told me that it was the "touring" bike he was selling. He told me to go for a ride and insisted that I ought to take it for at least 50-60 miles. By the time I got home I was sold.
The farthest I'd ever ridden the Shadow had been about 160 miles in a day. On the Silverwing I headed out on a 360 mile jaunt to Colorado Springs and back the 2nd day I had it. The riding position was perfect and the bike had a huge pocket of still air (the seller had put the biggest windscreen I'd ever seen on the bike -- it was the biggest one JC Whitney sold and it was at least 6" above the top my helmet).
I quickly decided I liked having a way to carry stuff and keep it dry. The SilverWing had small panniers and a small (one-helmet) trunk, and I could carry enough stuff to take a 3-4 day trip if I packed light. I learned it would keep up with my Associate Pastor's GoldWing 1200 up to about 75mph and that it was drag-limited to a 94mph top speed.
I put 19,000 miles on that bike the first year I owned it, but riding CO-92 between Crawford and Blue Mesa Dam made me realize that it didn't have the stiffest frame or best brakes. After I got onto US-50 on that trip, I passed a couple on matching BMW R1100RTs and we passed each other about 10-12 times in miles between Salida and Colorado Springs. That's when I knew that I needed an RT.
I realized I wouldn't have what I needed when I learned that a new RT cost about $18,000 and used ones weren't that much cheaper. Then I found the Kawasaki Concours ZG1000 and bought a brand-new one for $7200 and sold my SilverWing for $2200.
The Connies I had served me well for the next 165,000 miles until I got the NT700V.
When I think about that Silvewing, I realize that its luggage wasn't as good as what's available for the CTX. The CTX is bound to have better brakes, handle better, and be just about as comfortable. All of a sudden it doesn't look as bad as I'd been thinking. If someone has a CTX and uses it the way I used the SilverWing, they'll learn whether or not they like long-distance riding and will learn what they need to know before they buy their next bike.
It's just too bad that if they decide they want a better mid-sized sport-touring bike they won't be able to find it from Honda. And, like me, they might not want to spring for a BMW's cost and reliability issues.
I'm waiting for the sport-touring version of the Yamaha MT-09 triple!
Some like it, Some don't. No big deal. I got both. Nothing more to see here folks, Move along.
