Living with the Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer

[mpsmith4258]

Thanks for that good reply - sounds like a real love affair building up at your place! - I'm just about to buy a GTR1400 (new)- though it's a demo bike I am the only customer (so far) to ride it and it's on offer without any negotiation so far for 10,499 - that is such a good price for a bike as good as this - but after chatting to the salesman yesterday I walked across to the local Honda dealer to take about Pans - he said "why Pan's, take a look at this thing called a Cross Tourer - now this is a real bike!" - I must admit he got me thinking ...

[Loggy]

Well, what can I say, it's horses for courses. The RT and the Pan are large, lardy touring bikes, half the weight of the CT again, brilliant tourers but not for me.
It's compromise, that's the key. A bike that can take me hundreds of miles in a day, with all my luggage which the bikes you mention could manage with ease, but then the next day bungee my fly fishing rod on the back and cover miles of hard tracks to get to the best loch fishing. The CT is brilliant for this.
On the road, it's not quite the comfort and weather cover of the big tourers, although it certainly has the power and touring capability of them all. The beauty of the CT is its flexibility, that and it's so damned quick! LOL!
I love my Africa Twin and I'm having a hoot on it this month but I must admit, I am missing the Crosstourer! Roll on springtime!

Ah the Africa Twin.... I haven't ridden mine for 3 weeks now Jim and I'm getting very bad withdrawl symptoms. The weather down here today is glorious, not a cloud in the sky, but the bike is 50 miles away in my rented garage.... Where was the leak in the tank mate?

[snaphappy]

Found this, enjoy

[video][/video]

[waynecoluk]

Hi Africajim,
I own a Multistrada and recently took a Cross tourer for a test ride.
The big differences I found was initially the foot pegs are further forward than the Duke and the engine is very smooth. Really impressed with the turbine like smoothness though it isn't as quick as my Ducati. However plenty quick enough for these sort of bikes. I found the inital turn in to be really heavy and it caught me out initially but once in the corners it was rock steady and to be fair it was something I got used to by the end of the half hour ride.
Getting back on the Ducati straight after you could really feel the difference in weight and engine response but I do wish the CT and the Triumph Exporer were out when I bought mine, it would have given me a difficult choice. I certainly would not have regretted buying that over the Ducati had it been out.
I think it's great that there is now such a choice with this type of bike, as people are different and have different expectations and needs from their bike.

[africajim]

Well, what can I say, it's horses for courses. The RT and the Pan are large, lardy touring bikes, half the weight of the CT again, brilliant tourers but not for me.
It's compromise, that's the key. A bike that can take me hundreds of miles in a day, with all my luggage which the bikes you mention could manage with ease, but then the next day bungee my fly fishing rod on the back and cover miles of hard tracks to get to the best loch fishing. The CT is brilliant for this.
On the road, it's not quite the comfort and weather cover of the big tourers, although it certainly has the power and touring capability of them all. The beauty of the CT is its flexibility, that and it's so damned quick! LOL!
I love my Africa Twin and I'm having a hoot on it this month but I must admit, I am missing the Crosstourer! Roll on springtime!

Ah the Africa Twin.... I haven't ridden mine for 3 weeks now Jim and I'm getting very bad withdrawl symptoms. The weather down here today is glorious, not a cloud in the sky, but the bike is 50 miles away in my rented garage.... Where was the leak in the tank mate?

Well, the problem was when I filled the bike to the neck and left it overnight there was a puddle under the bike and the left side of the tank was wet with fuel. The smooth hammerite I painted the underside of the tank had melted off indicating petrol on the actual tank. When I stripped the tank I found a bit of corrosion at the mounting lugs but didn't find an actual leak. It might have been a leak at the pipes for feeding the carbs as one had a missing spring hose clip, this then running down the back of the tank? I repainted the underside of the tank and haven't found any further leaks since. Hopefully that's it fixed mate.
Shame about not getting out on the @T mate, yesterday was a hoot! I go stir crazy after a couple of weeks off the bike, next weekend I'm on call so 2 weeks with no bike! Doh!

I would have bought yet another new @T if Honda had continued to make them or replaced it with a similar bike. This would be easy to do now, a set of spoked wheels, longer travel suspension and a shitload of protection (crash bars and belly pan) on to the NC700X and I'd be in heaven! We'll see! Until then, the mighty Crosstourer is my weapon of choice!

[macvisual]

Fast forward now to 2026 from this old thread;

I’ve recently placed holding deposit on a 2015 CrossTourer, one owner from new with 13k miles.

Hoping to collect in early March. Very happy man.


Regards;
Peter