New Honda 1200 V4 CrossTourer!!!

[droid]

Still sorting out the suspension and waiting on an mra screen as both Honda screens are crap

Getting some grip puppies because my right fingers went numb yesterday on that run

It is really well balanced, I have a loose, soft, stone driveway and I can squeese past the cars and into the shed just riding the rear brake for balance. It is heavy to haul on the soft stuff by hand but under throttle at very slow speed it is surprisingly capable

Well the motor is a no brainier, it's fantastic!

Seat is great, ergos are good

Can't fault it really
O

[droid]

There has been a problem with the Honda heated grips, I don't have them but the electronic gizmo gets water in it and does strange things some guys are waterproofing them and moving the unit to somewhere better on the bike

Someone has had a radiator weep and steering head bearings loose

[twinrider]

Originally Posted by droid

Getting some grip puppies because my right fingers went numb yesterday on that run

Do the handlebars get pretty buzzy at certain RPMs?

[doggrell3000]

dear forum

honda hates the united states . there are good reasons to hate the usa . but i am not going to move to japan just to own a new all black 2013 automatic dual clutch crosstourer with optional footshifter . please honda . sell me a crosstorer even though i am a rude fat american . once you get to know us the usa has nice motorcycle riders . ( the hell's angels for example ) .

doggrell3000
new york ny

[droid]

Originally Posted by twinrider

Do the handlebars get pretty buzzy at certain RPMs?

it was weird, i've been up that road quite a few times and on bikes with steeper arm angles/harsher on the wrists and the last bike was a 1200bmw boxer which some make mention of buzziness and not a problem for me

i didn't notice until i got back and sat down that the tips of my fingers on my right hand, actually pinky, next one along and middle had pins and needles just in the tips, i wondered if they were cold but there was blood in them, they weren't white

the throttle to me is touchy (an emmissions based conundrum that likes to run on the LEAN side of things) and jerky and you can clearly hear the snap on of the throttle on the vid even though my actual operation of the throttle is well, i would like to think - a bit smoother, but yeah for me nothing happens and then bang and i've tried loose fingers, palm grips - everything

so don't know, can't put my finger on it - pardon the pun...grip puppies apparently help with buzz and aid in throttle control

the suspension has recently been set up alot firmer so it could even just be the harsh front end

going down to the GP this coming weekend which will put another 600kms on the clock and then hopefully another 1200kms going up to the Snowy the following week - i have used a throttle rocker and if the puppies dont get here in time then i will have to break out the old throttle rocker for GP - will fiddle with suspension during those trips

when someone brings out a spoofer or map to get rid of the leaness i will be on one *like a fat kid on a cupcake! but again - i haven't heard anyone else complain too much about it - i cant hold it a constant rev in low gear without it surging...

*no offense intended doggrell

[twinrider]

Originally Posted by droid

when someone brings out a spoofer or map to get rid of the leaness i will be on one *like a fat kid on a cupcake! but again - i haven't heard anyone else complain too much about it - i cant hold it a constant rev in low gear without it surging...

*no offense intended doggrell

Depending on how strict Oz's emissions are, the CTs imported there might have leaner settings than bikes in other markets. At least that's how it is here in Japan. Sounds like an FI tune and higher flowing air cleaner combined with your Akras would fix the surging and boost performance.

[bross]

Originally Posted by droid

when someone brings out a spoofer or map to get rid of the leaness i will be on one *like a fat kid on a cupcake! but again - i haven't heard anyone else complain too much about it - i cant hold it a constant rev in low gear without it surging...

*no offense intended doggrell

Originally Posted by twinrider

Depending on how strict Oz's emissions are, the CTs imported there might have leaner settings than bikes in other markets. At least that's how it is here in Japan. Sounds like an FI tune and higher flowing air cleaner combined with your Akras would fix the surging and boost performance.

Could you maybe load the "US" or "EU" tune if in fact they do have different tunes for the different countries? I know when I ordered my BMW R1200RT back in 2006. It had a real bog when you went WFO which the demo bike I rode did not have. Long story made short. My bike was loaded with a restricted HP France tune and as soon as they loaded the proper tune my now 100% Canadian spec bike ran fine.

That boxer would also put my right pinky to sleep after 20 mins of riding, but only when the throttle bodies were out of sync. That's how I knew it was time to balance the throttle bodies. I'm not sure if it's even possible to balance the throttle bodies on the Cross Tourer, I know you couldn't on my CBF1000, the balance was all handled by the ECU. Good luck.

[Sock Monkey]

Originally Posted by droid

it was weird, i've been up that road quite a few times and on bikes with steeper arm angles/harsher on the wrists and the last bike was a 1200bmw boxer which some make mention of buzziness and not a problem for me

i didn't notice until i got back and sat down that the tips of my fingers on my right hand, actually pinky, next one along and middle had pins and needles just in the tips, i wondered if they were cold but there was blood in them, they weren't white

I wonder if you're more sensitive to higher frequency vibes, and that's causing the issue? I know that's a big deal for some, myself included, and is a big reason why I shied away from the Tiger 800 after test riding it....after just a few minutes my hands were tingling due to the higher frequency vibes. I have no issues with a big twin, but since the CT is a four, it might be part of your issue. Have you considered something like vibe-isolating bar risers, like the ROX (http://www.roxspeedfx.com/cgi-bin/ca...ublabel_id=269)?

-SM

[droid]

thanks for the tips, some fi management with a filter would help

never even crossed my mind about frequency vibes - that would be a pita if everytime the bike runs around the 4-5k mark that i get the tingles (it goes up to 8.5redline)

hopefully the grip puppies will get here tomorrow but for cruising it hasn't been a problem anyway, the test would be to do the run again with the puppies

i'll ask the local honda shop about fi management, they race bikes and could point me in the right direction

good stuff - cheers!

[Grizzlybear]

Originally Posted by Sock Monkey

I wonder if you're more sensitive to higher frequency vibes, and that's causing the issue? I know that's a big deal for some, myself included, and is a big reason why I shied away from the Tiger 800 after test riding it....after just a few minutes my hands were tingling due to the higher frequency vibes. I have no issues with a big twin, but since the CT is a four, it might be part of your issue. Have you considered something like vibe-isolating bar risers, like the ROX (http://www.roxspeedfx.com/cgi-bin/ca...ublabel_id=269)?

-SM

That's weird, I am also one that hates engine vibes fine course or otherwise. For me, to describe such as "character" (like a recent Guzzi Stelvio tester did) is an insult to ones intelligence and is just another way to sugarcoat a bikes failings and appease the industry advertisers. Getting back to the Tiger 800, I have owned many Triumph Triples and find my T800 to be particularly smooth with no vibes through the bars to speak of.

If handlebar tingles were noticed on the Tiger 800 during a test ride which is generally only a 20-30 minute ride (if you are lucky) then I would suggest that something was not right with that particular bike because it is not my experience of this model.

I will be testing a CT with DCT and optional foot shift tomorrow. Hopefully they will let me out on my lonesome for a good hour... we'll see!

[johnny_on_the_spot]

Just bought it, ready for me when I get home from South America!

[Jimo368]

Looks great in white. I like the clean lines of the bike and the fact that the exhaust is small and mounted lower than most adv style bikes, so you can have a sidecase without a cutout.

[Rick West]

Originally Posted by Jimo368

I like the fact that the exhaust is small and mounted lower than most adv style bikes, so you can have a sidecase without a cutout.

I have to applaud Honda for doing that. Why compromise luggage capacity with a high pipe on what is a street bike. Triumph did the high pipe "styling" on their Explorer 1200, another big street bike like the CrossTourer.

Why Honda went with the higher cost of spoked wheels is hard to understand though. Even Triumph knew the buyers of these street bikes don't want the extra cost and the difficulty of cleaning spoked wheels.

[Two Plugs]

Originally Posted by Rick West

Why Honda went with the higher cost of spoked wheels is hard to understand though. Even Triumph knew the buyers of these street bikes don't want the extra cost and the difficulty of cleaning spoked wheels.

Well... Triumph is releasing an XL (XC) version of their 1200 big (tiger-)trail bike soon... incl spoked wheels. I would trade-in my cast wheels on the Varadero for spoked wheels without hesitation. Spoked-wheels are not only stronger on rough terrain and bad road conditions, they are 'stiffer' as well. And with a shaft ride... cleaning spokes... ? ;)

[sweetlu]

I'm very interested in this bike since Honda really makes rock solid reliable bikes and I do not ride any hardcore off road trails. I hope they bring this to the US. Anybody knows if typically the decisions to bring it to the States are announced in the NYC motorcycle show?