[Richmonder]

My neighborhood riding buddy hit me up this afternoon to take a spin. 70 degrees, a slight breeze, and overcast here in Richmond - couldn't ASK for better riding conditions. Hell yeah!

He was hungry and I had just eaten lunch a couple hours prior, so I wasn't really in the mood to eat. But he was determined to get his annual Mexican food fix, this being Cinco de Mayo. I figured I may as well just go along with him, despite my disdain for doing what the rest of the world does on such holidays. I do like Mexican food.

We hit the road and wove around a few neighborhoods, and decided to stop in at Moto Richmond, a local Triumph/Vespa/Moto Guzzi dealer. Moto Richmond - Richmond, Virginia - Quality New & Used Motorcycles, Parts, Financing and Accessories The sign on the door said "Masks Required". SERIOUSLY? I don't even keep one on my bike anymore. And it isn't as if large crowds are forming in the motorcycle dealership. My buddy ended up having to give me one out of his tail box. We wandered around in there for about 10 minutes, the extent of his attention span in most places. I noted their price on synthetic oil was (GASP!) $19.25 a QUART!

From there we took off and found a Mexican place at around 2:30 called Mr. Pepe, which was perfect timing to be there, in between lunch and dinner when most people are working. Some very obese guy in a van walked up and said he liked our bikes, and then started giving us a sob story about losing his eye and how, if he had his spray bottle and cleaner, he'd be washing our windshields. Uh, no, you wouldn't, pal, but thanks anyway. We sat out on the outdoor patio, at which time there was no one else out there, making it nice and peaceful to relax and eat. We both ordered Burritos Chucho, which is two shredded beef burritos smothered in queso sauce, with rice. I had to have a Texas margarita and then had an iced tea. As we were eating, people started to wander in. There was a party of about 6 people that included a very attractive young woman in skin tight jeans and ankle boots. Then a woman came in with a little girl and they were soon joined by a shapely blonde in skin tight yoga pants, so we had plenty of nice scenery to enjoy along with our meals. Then a few other couples came out and it started getting noisy. The chips were standard fare corn chips in red, green and regular, but the salsa was pretty good.

We paid our check and decided to take off. I was getting low on gas, so we stopped at a Publix and I filled up. Still had three bars on the gas gauge but it cost me $15. I remember when I couldn't fit $15 of gas in the tank on EMPTY! We took a number of back roads back home and parted ways.

A great afternoon to be out on the bikes!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Richmonder

 

[Richmonder]

Great report. I like those CTX, I've never ridden one, but they look great to me. Burritos Chucho Those young attractive women are stalking you.

As an owner of a CTX as well, I never thought I'd want anything else. I was incredibly happy with that bike. People say it's underpowered, but it's just a hair slower than the Valk. It has a great seating position with the bars neatly pulled back, pegs under the hips, and mine is the Deluxe so it has Bluetooth, stereo, ABS and self canceling signals. It's a wonderful machine, but when I saw the Valk... I had to have it!

I think those women are plants. Someone is messing with me and trying to get me in trouble everywhere I go!

Richmonder

 

[Richmonder]

I didn't know you still had it. I also didn't know it had ABS and Blue tooth and self-cancelling signals, gosh Honda has produced so many great bikes and then drop them. I really like the looks of them as well. Most don't, guess it's love/hate like our Valkyries.

Unfortunately it did not sell well, and didn't fit any particular niche neatly, so Honda discontinued it after only one year. Those features only came on the Deluxe version and I can't imagine buying that bike without it. Many sat in the warehouse unsold. When I finally discovered the bike, a dealer in Baltimore was selling it for $8995 brand new, which is about half the original retail. Couldn't turn that down! Took a train to Baltimore, took an Uber to the dealer, and rode it home! My buddy is not as enamored with it, even though people compliment him on it all the time. He feels the power band is weak due to Honda's tuning of the engine (it is tuned for more initial thrust than for high speed thrust, and I concur with Honda since I spend more time at lower speeds), and although it is quite fast from 0-60, he'd like more oomph at higher speed. He says he has no interest in the sound system although he is now talking aboug getting a jump drive to play his music on it. The bike also has a volume attenuator that reduces volume when you slow down and increases volume as you speed up. And yes, some hate the looks. I think it's a great looking bike. Here's mine along the James Rover. And a brand new red one at the unveiling for some eye candy!

Richmonder

 

[Richmonder]

To answer both questions, it's a 1300 cc V-4 with a 5-speed transmission, 84 HP. 2014 Honda CTX 1300

Note it has an "eclectic" starter.