[TennesseeSmith]

The Trophy has gone back to the shop for the last time.

I had asked the dealer to see if he could find a 2014 Yamaha Tenere. Those are a bit difficult to come by at the moment. He said it might take a couple of weeks to find one. We wandered around the shop and I sat on a couple of Ducatis and a Kawasaki Concours. The Ducatis are a bit over priced and the Kawasaki felt a bit too aggressive in the seating position. So I kept looking.

We wandered into the Honda section and there was a beautiful CTX1300 Deluxe in bright, shining Candy Red. This is truly the fastest color.

So I traded the Trophy for another CTX. I'll be able to get it serviced here in Corbin. Of course it won't need nearly the amount of attention the Trophy needed.

CTX1300D - TennesseeSmith

I'm done buying vehicles for a few years now.

 

[SoCalRyder]

that's awesome, 2 CTX's each in a different color for when one CTX isn't enough.

 

[coneye]

Gee you must like the one you got ,,, But tell me WHY another one , i would of waited for the Tenere , or maybee got a differnt cruiser , or the v strom 1000

 

[ManInBlack]

Nice, but I also have to admit 2 of the same bike seems like a bit much. Do you have other family members who ride?

I have so far resisted getting a second bike-- it would be a dangerous precendent for me to set-- but if I did it would be a Honda CB1100. So nice...

 

[ManInBlack]

...the Kawasaki felt a bit too aggressive in the seating position...

I had the exact same impression. Couldn't quite imagine sitting hunched over for 300 miles.

 

[TennesseeSmith]

I couldn't wait for a Tenere because I needed a way home from Lexington today. After riding the bike all the way to Lexington with the engine light on, I no longer had any faith in the Trophy to get me home.

That meant I had to buy something this dealer had in stock or go down the street and buy a Harley. I had a bad experience with the only Harley I've owned, so I'm reluctant to buy another one.

The Triumph dealer had close to a hundred new street bikes of many brands in stock. I didn't want anything with a chain drive. I wanted to get something that could be serviced in Corbin. That meant Honda, Yamaha, or Kawasaki.

The main reason I need two bikes is that service is slow in this part of the country. Honda's service schedule has the bike in for work every four thousand miles. That's six or seven times each year that I would be without the bike for a couple of days. With two bikes I can stagger the schedule and have a bike to ride every day.

I had two ST1100s for a long time. That worked out well. I set one up for touring and one for sport riding. I only had to keep one set of critical spare parts. This time around I'll set up the blue one for touring and the red one for cruising. I'll take turns riding them to work.

I really like the CTX1300. It is the best highway bike I've ever owned. As much as I enjoyed the performance of the Trophy, I really needed to get something with proven reliability. I trust the CTX1300 to be reliable and I trust the local Honda shop to maintain it.

 

[sleepngbear]

Just wow. :520:

The red with the black-out really looks killer. Congrats. Again.

 

[bob]

Oh, now you did it. Now you'll have to go buy another set of mirrors!

I seem to remember (without looking at the moment) the only maintenance that really needed a Honda drop off, if you don't do it yourself, is the every 8K maintenance and the in between is almost no more than a "look at the reservoirs" and "is anything loose" kind of thing which I seem to do as I ride anyway. My ST1100 was that way. Almost did nothing for the 4000 mile and then fluid/filter/plug changes at 8000 then nothing, then everything, etc. Since I do most maintenance myself the only wait is how long *I* take to get it done.

 

[TennesseeSmith]

Many years ago I had a nice set of tools and did all my own maintenance on my bikes. When I lived in Memphis all of the tools were stolen. Since about '97 I've been working long hours. When I get some time off work I'd rather ride than wrench. So I've never replaced the tools and I let the shop do the work.

I did my own first oil change on the blue bike because the local shop had a two week backlog when I was approaching 600 miles. I have a compressor so I can take care of my tire pressures.

My ST1100s seemed to go through front brake pads quickly, so I kept a set on hand and changed those myself.

The smaller services don't look like much, but I wouldn't want to miss anything that would cause issues later if I have a problem under the extended warranty. The experience with the Trophy has left me a bit cautious.

 

[flytrap]

Thumbs up.....twice!

 

[Ravgardner!]

I like the two bike plan. Wouldn't work for me cause the wife says so We also have fewer ride-able months in my local. Love the look of the pair together. Good with them.

How many miles to you put on a year?

Rav

 

[GermanMike]

Don't mess with your keys :520:

Congrats!!!!

 

[csdexter]

According to my previous analysis here and since now I have the bike and can confirm the key is symmetrical, maybe his keys just match either bike so he doesn't need to care which goes with which

 

[TennesseeSmith]

I checked the keys as soon as I got home with the new bike. They are different.

I think I'll paint one set blue and the other set red to match the bikes. I don't like to put the keys on a keyring. I don't like to have stuff dangling about while I'm riding.

 

[TennesseeSmith]

How many miles to you put on a year?

Most years I get a total of 20 to 25 thousand miles on the bikes. Last year was a down year due to long hours at work and the lack of a touring bike.

I can ride pretty much year round here. We get some snow and ice, but it's usually clear by the second half of the day. I have a car, but it only gets about 5 thousand miles per year.

 

[blakebird]

Most years I get a total of 20 to 25 thousand miles on the bikes. Last year was a down year due to long hours at work and the lack of a touring bike.

I can ride pretty much year round here. We get some snow and ice, but it's usually clear by the second half of the day. I have a car, but it only gets about 5 thousand miles per year.

I average between 25k and 30k miles a year too. Surprising to a lot of folks is that the Denver area has well over 300 sunny days a year, and I'm rarely snowed out of riding for more than a day or two at a time.

"Down" here on the front range (Parker is 6,100 ft) that is. Most of the good riding in the local canyons at any elevation above the high plains can be off limits, but I can head east or down to NM and get to the coast if the Rockies are impassable.

 

[Ravgardner!]

Wow, I don't know what to say just that, 20,000 + miles a year? I have averaged around 3,000 a year since I started riding in 1987. That would be 5 years in Minnesota and the rest in the Finger Lakes region of New York. But I've worked a lot of hours, raised two great kids and now have a granddaughter. She is a charmer.

I've opened the retirement door and will walk through soon. Then the miles should start to add up.
:smileygarden_de_ban

 

[bob]

I usually only average 7000-8000 miles per year, give or take some. Most of it is the commute to work. Temps don't matter to me, only snow and ice on the road. So I ride every day I can, rain or shine, with a couple of 800-1000 mile trips each summer. Warmest ride to work (or home) was +105*F and the coldest ride was -15.7*F. Just a matter of layers and my Gerbing heated gloves. BTW- the Gerbing gloves heat controller only needs 1.5amps, same as my Garmin GPS, so I can use the ACC connector to power them both

Looking forward to that retirement thing. Maybe I'll double my miles or more after that. I can see a few 2400 mile trips to New Orleans and Fort Walton Beach, or 2800 mile trips from central Iowa to south of Tucson, AZ, or maybe a 3600+ mile trip to Seattle per year to visit family in those places in addition to 5-6 1000 mile camping trips around the midwest (round trip miles including some riding the areas).