If you said, "What the gynecologist says," well, I have no experience with that. I kinda felt like that today.
Joan picked us a route that takes us west then north to get to some curvy roads - my first opportunity to see how the CTX handles that. It took some Interstate riding to get to those two lane roads...
While the Interstate riding isn't what we particularly enjoy, it gave me the opportunity to work with the Drive and Sport modes on the transmission. Road construction had us down to 55mph due to some ugly ruts/gouges in the road surface... at that speed, Sport mode tended to "hunt" between 5th and 6th gears. A press of the button to Drive and it stayed in 6th gear with lower RPMs.
About 12 miles west of Buckeye, AZ, we turned onto the 2-lane roads. Elevation rose and the scenery changed from desert scrub to Saguaro Cacti and more rugged terrain. Except for the numerous cattle guards, the road surface was good. When we passed Vulture City Ghost Town, we pulled over to take in the view and get a couple photos...
It was a good stop; not just for photos, but I found the Corbin seat spread my legs wider than what I'm used to... no butt ache, but I could feel it in my inner thighs. Getting off the bike and walking around to get a few photos fixed that situation. I can only guess, regarding the title of this post, but the male equivalence of the doctor saying, "I need to you bend over..." TMI?
The view from that Corbin seat on the CTX...
The best part of the ride (and partially covered by that marker for Vulture City in the map above) is all the curves in the stretch from south of Vulture City to Wickenburg. That's the kind of riding we enjoy the most, and it was fun putting the CTX through its paces.
"So, how does it compare to the Vespa?" you ask. Thanks for asking. They are quite different: the CTX is better for me at Interstate speeds; it should be - it is 150 pounds heavier, longer wheelbase, bigger wheels, and more horsepower. The CTX handles the curves fine... the Vespa makes me giggle as I'm going through the curves: the cool scoot darts through the curves like nothing else I've ridden. The Vespa seems to angle in by just thinking about it... I had to do a bit more pushing on the handlebar (counter-steering - look it up) to turn as tight, but the Honda handles it just fine. It would pull through a 25mph curve at 40 with no fuss. Good wind protection on the CTX, but the Vespa keeps your legs and feet covered... I could feel the wind on my lower legs; not bad, but you notice.
And someone is going to ask: "How did it do on acceleration compared to Joan's Xmax." Again, thanks for asking. The CTX (in Sport mode) smokes the Xmax in a roll-on starting at 25 mph. When running them from a stop, I let Joan get a couple feet off the line, then matched her speed... she said, "They seem pretty even from a stop."
I said, "I have the throttle turned about half way - I was intentionally staying beside you." It's physics: better horsepower to weight ratio on the CTX.
Another stop for a couple more photos...
The photos with Joan by my bike were to keep me happy: the gravel was pretty soft there and it felt like the bike was leaning just a bit too far on the side-stand. I asked if she wanted to ride mine, but she chose to stay on hers. She will decide when the time is right for her to give it a try. This is only our second ride together since we got here, so we're still getting ourselves "warmed up." Speaking of warmed up: the jackets we were wearing today have liners in them, and we were glad they did. It got down to 60º at the highest part of our ride, with some northwest wind. You felt it when the sun went behind the clouds.
Instead of making this run a loop, we turned around and did the twisties again once we reached Wickenburg. The road from Wickenburg the other way has more civilization and fewer fun curves.
We passed a truckstop on the Interstate on our way back in that was packed. We considered fueling up there (the price was about 30¢ per gallon cheaper there compared to in town), but the lines were crazy long... a dollar or so difference in total for both bikes; not worth it to try to mix it up and wait forever in those lines.
Back in Buckeye, we stopped for a late lunch, then topped off our gas tanks. Joan was disappointed with the 84 mpg she got with the Xmax; I was delighted with the 70 mpg I got with the CTX... considering the size and displacement, that is even better than what Honda says to expect. While I did use Drive mode a couple times on the highway portion, I didn't spare the throttle in Sport mode as I find out what the bike can do. Last time I topped off the Vespa, I got 64 mpg. While it's easy to say it doesn't matter what you get for mileage with these bikes, it cost me $19 to top off the bikes today - the most I've ever paid for fueling our bikes.
Back at the motorhome, I let things cool down, then checked oil and tires. The Xmax needed about 1 psi in each tire, the CTX needed about 4; the bigger wheels/tires on the CTX mean higher tire pressures. The portable compressor I carry (swapped it from the Vespa to the CTX) made short work of that.
One other thing: I swapped the Corbin seat for the OEM seat to see if it does that same "open wide"...
It does not. It's a tough choice: the Corbin seat gives more back support, but is quite firm; the OEM seat is softer (feels like there is a gel pad around the tailbone area) and definitely less of a reach to throw a leg over. I have to say, looks-wise, the Corbin rocks! I did take the bike for another short ride with the OEM seat since my butt and thighs were tuned in... you can definitely squeeze your knees into the tank with the OEM seat. When I told Joan about how the Corbin seat made my inner thighs feel, she said, "Like doing a Thigh-Master workout." Funny.
A nice long ride today, and no ibuprofen necessary. :-)
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