Geoff Middleton•1 Apr 2016

REVIEW

Revisit: Honda CTX1300

Name: Revisit: Honda CTX1300
Brand: Honda

In 2014, Honda quietly launched its latest range of motorcycles, the CTX, which included the flagship CTX1300. We recently grabbed one for a four-day jaunt through Vic and NSW

This trip all started with a call from my brother saying he thought it’d be good if we jumped on bikes over the Easter break and went to have lunch with our dad who lives just south of Sydney.

I live in Melbourne and the brother and his family live in the Hunter Valley so it was going to be a bit of a ride for both of us.

I asked bikesales.com.au editor Mav if he could organise a comfortable tourer for me to take on the trip and do a bit of a story on. “How about a sports tourer?” he asked. I replied that I wanted nothing to do with anything that said ‘sports’ and everything to do with bikes that said ‘comfort’. A call to our friends at Honda soon had me fitted up with the subject of this test — a Honda CTX 1300.

At the time I wasn’t familiar with the CTX which we reported on at launch here. Sure I’d heard of them but I can’t recall even having seen one on the road, let alone ridden one. A mate of mine had an ST1100 which become the ST1300 and then donated its motor to the CTX — and that’s about as close as I’d come.

WHAT IS IT?

The CTX is probably best described as a bagger, but take off the panniers and I guess it’d be a cruiser. I was looking at a tourer, and I reckon it could be called that as well. Whatever you want to call it, I was off to spend four days touring around on it.

For those not familiar with the engine, the CTX is powered by a 90-degree water-cooled V-four with double overhead cams and four valves per cylinder that displaces 1261cc and has outputs of 84hp (62kW) at 6000rpm and 106Nm of torque at 4500rpm.

It drives through a five-speed gearbox and a shaft drive. Braking is through twin 300mm discs on the front and a single 316mm disc on the rear. There’s a combined anti-lock braking system as well as traction control that can be turned off via a switch on the ‘tank’.

The tank as you see it isn’t actually a tank. The fuel tank is under the seat which helps keep the centre of gravity low, as does the longitudinal V-configuration of the engine and the lowish (735mm) seat height.

And it’s a good thing that the centre of gravity is low, as the big CTX tips the scales at a corpulent 338kg. To put that into perspective, the Goldwing 1800 F6B is 385kg and the full-blown 40th anniversary GL1800 is 413kg.

Suspension is taken care of with a pair of 43mm upside-down forks with 105mm of travel on the front and an aluminium swingarm with double conventional shocks with mechanical preload adjustment and 110mm travel on the rear.

Tyres are 200/50-17 on the rear and 130/70-18 on the front.

To store all your gear there are two side-opening panniers which are lockable (thankfully with the ignition key). I found them adequate for my trip with a backpack full of clothes in one and my camera, toiletries, shoes and other junk in the other.

For entertainment there’s a Bluetooth stereo that also offers a USB plug for your favourite music device. There’s no radio though. The USB plug is in a flip-top storage compartment on the right-hand side of the pseudo tank which is deep enough to hold you phone or iPod etc (I didn’t take one so I used it for my sunnies). There is another shallower compartment on the other side for things like your garage remote or your stash of lollies for the trip.

Instrumentation is comprehensive and easy to read. There’s a digital display for the basic trip computer, fuel, temperature, audio and heated grip indicators and this is flanked by the normal analogue speedo and tacho. The gauges are nice and high so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road for long to get the info. Similarly the mirrors are well positioned and provide a good view behind.

ON THE ROAD

With a length of 2380mm and a width of 900mm, the CTX is a big bike. But big as it is, it’s surprisingly easy and comfortable to ride.

The ergonomics are great with everything falling easily to hand. The handlebars are raked back enough to be comfortable with no need to lean forward, the foot position is upright with no leg stretch (especially for riders with short legs), and the seat is wide and deep with a bit of lower back support. It’s worthwhile noting that the seat provides room enough to move around a bit get some relief from hundred-mile bum on those long rides.

I had to do a couple of days of five to six hours in the saddle and though I didn’t come out completely unscathed, it was pretty easy to tolerate.

The test bike was fitted with the optional high screen which is one of the better ones I’ve used lately. The top edge doesn’t get in the way of your vision and the buffeting is minimal. If you want some peace and quiet, you can duck down and be completely protected by it.

Handling is great. It’s neutral and once you’re used to the slowish turn-in due to the long wheelbase, it’s a breeze. The bike sits on the road like a truck and tracks straight and solid.

One thing I did find was that bumps are transmitted more than I expected through the front suspension and up the handlebars. That said, it doesn’t get thrown off line but you do get the odd unexpected jolt.

And the CTX 1300 does scream for a cruise control. Admittedly, it’s a cable-operated throttle but I think a bike of this calibre should have cruise. I noted on the right-hand switch bank, there is the rocker switch for the hazard lights, that’s where I reckon the cruise should be and the hazard switch (how often do you use one of those?) should be on the dash or down with the audio controls.

Without the cruise, I found I was getting a really sore and tired right hand and a few times I had to pull in the clutch on a long downhill and get some flow back into my fingers.

On a couple of my days riding the CTX, I had to get a really early start in time to make lunch, which meant a couple of hours riding in the dark, and let me say the lights on the bike are great. Often when I’m riding a bike with crook lights, I’ll sit behind a car and use their lights to spot for roos and other hazards, not with the CTX. High beam is long and wide and better than the cars I was following, so I ended up blasting past and using my own lights.

Similarly, the instrument lights are easy on the eyes and make it simple to read all the functions. The exception is the light for the heated grips. The heaters themselves are great with five settings that are indicated on a graphic on the digital readout, however where the button is on the left-hand grip, there’s a red operating light that’s a real pain at night. It’s so annoying and distracting that I ended up putting my thumb over it. It’s fine during the day but at night I felt like taping it up.

The engine is well suited to touring. It’s low-revving and very torquey. Max torque is quoted at 4500rpm but there's a heap of grunt below that. At the legal cruising speed of 110km/h the engine is ticking over at about 3600rpm and if you wind it on from there for overtaking, it responds well, kick it down a gear and it’ll jump up nicely to get around trucks and the like.

But there’s not a lot of top-end in the power delivery. Redline is at 7000rpm and with max power at 6000, there’s not much happening between redline and the rev limiter at 8000rpm, so it’s really not worth trying to ring its neck. Just sit it in the sweet spot between 4000 and 6500, use the abundant torque, and everybody’s happy.

On the twisty bits, the CTX is a bit of a surprise. Initially I was tentative but as time went on, I realised it had more ground clearance than I thought or expected and you can actually chuck it around a bit. I ended up really enjoying it and even got a couple of comments from my nephew who was riding behind me. “It looks solid on the road and you can actually lean it over a bit,” said the laconic R1 rider. I took it as a compliment whether it was one or not…

And so it came to pass that I soon found myself ambling down the Hume back to Melbourne. I’d had a great time catching up with brothers and the Old Man. We’d been riding around on the old Hume Highway, visiting the Avon and Nepean dams, and all the while in comfort and style on the CTX.

When I picked up the bike, it was pretty new and tight, so I forgave the fuel figures of 6.1 and 6.2 litres/100kms, however on the way home, it must have loosened up a bit and returned a pretty respectable average of 5.8 litres/100kms which would give it a theoretical range from the 19-litre tank of a bit over 300 kilometres. It’s not fantastic but not terrible for a part-time tourer.

The bottom line is could I live with one? Would I own one? You bet your (not so sore) arse!

2016 HONDA CTX1300 SPECS

ENGINE

Type: Liquid-cooled, 90-degree, 16-valve V4

Capacity: 1261cc

Bore x stroke: 78mm x 66mm

Compression ratio: 10.0:1

Engine management: PGM-FI, 36mm throttle bodies

PERFORMANCE

Claimed maximum power: 83hp (62kW) at 6000rpm

Claimed maximum torque: 106Nm of torque at 4500rpm

TRANSMISSION

Type: Five speed

Final drive: Shaft

Clutch: Wet multi-plate

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR

Frame: Steel

Front suspension: 45mm upside-down fork, non-adjustable, 105mm travel

Rear suspension: Twin shocks, preload adjustment, 110mm travel

Front brakes: 310mm discs with four-piston calipers, combined ABS

Rear brake: 315mm disc with single-piston caliper, combined ABS

Tyres: Front 130/70-18, rear 200/50-17

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES

Rake: 28.3 degrees

Trail: 118mm

Claimed kerb weight: 338kg

Seat height: 735mm

Ground clearance: 130mm

Wheelbase: 1645mm

Fuel capacity: 19 litres

OTHER STUFF

Price: $18,499

Colour: Metallic black or Candy Red

Test bike supplied by: Honda Australia, www.hondamotorcycles.com.au

Warranty: 24 months, unlimited kilometres

Revisit: Honda CTX1300

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