2014 Honda CTX1300

ST13Fred said:

The STs' turbo whine is the heart of its' character. Let the rants begin.

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Okay, you started it!

I'll admit I was smitten by the whine when I first got the bike. Like a pretty girl that twirls her hair around her finger, it may be attractive at first. After living with her for years and years it becomes annoying. butt1::bsflag:

In the 50K miles I had Blue, I adjusted/checked the counter balancer settings 1 time and IS annoying if not set correctly.
When set correctly, the whine is the only real mechanical sound coming from the engine and exhaust.
With the tach needle holding steady at idle, the engine is in a state of perfect tune.......mechanical nirvana.

I rode an ST11 one time. As I remember, it did not have the whine and was TOO quiet, w/o character, for my tastes
and could have used a more open exhaust can, to regain some character.

Listening to the CTX on u-tube, it sounds quieter than the ST with respect to the whine.

If anyone is interested in seeing this CTX first hand I just received a call and an email from Hawkeye Motorworks in Davenport, IA saying they have confirmation that they will be receiving a 2014 gray/blue CTX1300 Deluxe by end of this week or early next week. Not too far for those located in north west IL or eastern IA, or even possibly southern WI. The price they quoted me is $15999 on the Deluxe. I had emailed around to various dealers in the area just out of curiosity to know what they are asking for it. So this is what I get for asking. This dealer is a bit far for a test ride for me so will wait for the local dealer to get one to see it. I just want to know if the CTX1300 is anywhere near the hype that Honda is pushing for it.
Weather for the next week is getting close to being very nice to ride in. Roads are fairly washed off from the melting runoff over the weekend around here.

Dinkie Diesel said:

Okay, you started it!

I'll admit I was smitten by the whine when I first got the bike. Like a pretty girl that twirls her hair around her finger, it may be attractive at first. After living with her for years and years it becomes annoying. butt1::bsflag:

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I got to admit, after putting over 200,000 miles on 3 ST1300s...that noise doesn't bother me one bit!

rjs987, post#481
I like your takes and find myself agreeing but for the speculation that Honda is secretly working on new ST. I'm afraid you may be investing in too much "hope", my friend. It is clear to me that Honda does not appreciate the value of this forum, its members, present and future ST1300-type riders. They do not share our passions, our vision, theirs comes from a different place altogether.

The CTX is not innovation at all, its purely a business-suit move; re-purpose an aging asset and call it a crossover, a new market segment, whatever. If the strategy works, great, if not, the downside investment risk was held to a minimum. And if Honda's little project here does happen to gain some traction, I'd bet we'd see a revision or re-engineering for this machine before we will on the ST. There's no ST-love at Honda. It's a dead play for them. The suits at Honda obviously felt creating a new bike by re-purposing the ST engine was more to their interests than it was to re-purpose, the VFR1200 engine for example, for our beloved segment.

I wish I could join you in your hope but I'm suffering a major hope-hangover right now.

Found out recently from a French motorcycle review that the saddlebags on the CTX1300 are the same as both the ST1300 and ST1100... 35 litres each.

In french: http://www.moto-station.com/article17202-honda-ctx-1300-c-abs-c-est-extra.html
Use Chrome to auto translate if needed, or install the Google Translator for Firefox plugin for Firefox which is the same thing just not built-in (this is what I have).

From Blue Steed'The suits at Honda obviously felt creating a new bike by re-purposing the ST engine was more to their interests than it was to re-purpose, the VFR1200 engine for example, for our beloved segment. '
I would think the additional design and engineering to produce a VF1200T from the VF1200F platform would involve less than these same efforts to release the CTX1300. I believe Honda's original intent with the VF1200 design was to offer different bikes from the same basic platform. The marketing department obviously felt at this time that the return on investment with the CTX line is greater than that of the VF1200T model. With the recent releases and updates of the K1600GT, Trophy, C14, and FJR, the sport-touring segment is apparently a viable market to make money in. Honda's pricing of the ST1300 is unattractive, given the alternatives, and dampens sales. If Honda were to release a VF1200T, I think the pricing would have to be below the current MSRP of the ST to be a strong player in this segment.

My fast brother, tstickler (I am the half-fast brother), posted his new ride on Facebook. The FJR1300 is gone and the CTX1300 is now his Florida ride.

His Ohio ride remains his '07 ST1300 that replaced his totaled '05 ST1300, so V4 loyalty wins.

Looks nice!

TomStickler said:

I am the half-fast brother

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Are you sure that what you're called?? LOL

The bike is nice. Maybe we could get some riding impressions from Fast via Half-Fast? I thought I read that Honda beefed-up the suspension on the CTX1300. Does it feel like that to him?

TomStickler said:

My fast brother, tstickler (I am the half-fast brother), posted his new ride on Facebook. The FJR1300 is gone and the CTX1300 is now his Florida ride.

His Ohio ride remains his '07 ST1300 that replaced his totaled '05 ST1300, so V4 loyalty wins.

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That is not a bad looking bike! Tell him to report on his findings good and bad about the bike.

Nice looking bike, I would want a taller windshield... that is all, the rest looks great! (that is a nice looking windshield... or fairing.. what ever the correct name is)

It kinda looks like the F6B's little scrappy brother...

Nice lookin ride. Appears to be a "tweener" to me- tired of the Cruiser, not ready for the Tupperware.

TomStickler. That is a great looking bike and I would love to read about his experiences.

Viking. Reading your response to my previous post, sounded like a counterpoint at first but really isn't at all. In fact, we're agreeing to the same thing from different sides. You even made my point, suggesting that re-purposing the exampled VFR platform (for the ST customer) would be easier than re-purposing the ST engine to create the new CTX. I called it a business-suit decision to go that direction; nothing controversial there. I may have sounded a little critical but maybe, as an ST owner, I'm just feeling a little left out of "mother Honda's" consideration is all; create and design a new bike for an unknown CTX customer instead of improving and modernizing an existing model for the proven segment of ST customers.

One remaining question. Did the Honda suits decide additionally that the CTX is not to be the replacement but the alternative choice for its ST1300 customer base?
Of course, many ST lovers and loyalists will readily dismiss such a far-fetched notion but Honda's acts are speaking louder than their words and well, their are no words to the contrary.

One historical reference that supports my theory... Back in the day, the "Goldwing segment" (I'll call it) was filled with competitors but we all know how that turned out--one by one, they all fell away or simply stopped making competitive models to the Goldwing.
Maybe, just maybe, Honda has decided to stop competing in the "ST segment" (I'll call it), yielding the reigns to Yamaha, BMW, Triumph, Kawasaki. The powers-that-be at Honda are merely doing what they have decided is important to them--not what we, the people think is important to us. Heck, the Gov't does it all of the time.

Early impressions: the "cruiser position is very comfortable."

However, this being his Florida bike, it may take a long time to evaluate it in twisties.

+1 on a rider impression report.
That's the color I like too. I also would prefer a taller screen. There is one reported to be available as an option but no pricing I've seen yet in the U.S.. There is pricing for it in Japan so expect the price for the tall screen here to be less than $200.

The last I read somewhere the windshield is 20" tall. That seems a little short but the seat height is a little lower than an ST. There was a picture somewhere but it was just a 3/4 shot of the fairing and windshield. Maybe somebody with mad Shop skillz could put one onto the CTX's profile pic.

ST13Fred said:

When I'm talking side clearance, I'm talking lean angle!! Lean angle!!!!!
The clearances given above do not address what will start dragging when a bike is leaned hard into a turn.
Cruisers, or whatever the CTX is called simply does not have the 'lean angle' I demand from a bike.........it's a safety thing for me.

The whine from the ST has been called a turbo whine since the bike's inception. Call it whatever you want.....or not......I like it.

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There's an endless list of other bikes that have even less of a lean angle than the CTX. Nobody's forcing you to buy one of those, either.

Taking a closer look at the dash area of the CTX, it appears as though the audio may be controlled via buttons atop of the pseudo tank. I bring this up because there appears to be a bank of unlabeled or unused buttons on the other side. Are these real buttons? maybe for options? (Heated grips, accessory driving lights, other aftermarket accessorization), curious. I admit, there are quite a few things to like about the CTX; least of which are LED driving lights, tail lights, gear shift indicator, self-canceling turn signals, the inviting seat,... Has this beast found a chink in my armor?

The tach in the picture has the V4's redline dropped from 1,500 rpm to 7000 in the transition from sport touring to sporty cruising use.