BXs spotted all over Europe

[KevR]

Well, actually no....
Just back from a marathon motorbike trip - 3500 miles in under two weeks, through UK, northern France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, south of France and back up to Normandy. Mostly A and B roads rather than motorways.

Saw the sum total of three BXs on the road, all in France. A nice Hurricane near Cannes, a 16 in the Massif Centrale, and a TZD somewhere near the Loire. Saw far more 2CV vans on the road than BXs...

[rutter123]

prob same can be said for the here, im out in my truck all over the uk and prob only spot a bx every few weeks. very thin on the ground.

[Des Smith]

Just back from a marathon motorbike trip.

Please tell me you did it on your Motobecane Cady!

[KevR]

Sadly not, or I'd still be on my way from here to, well, somewhere not far from here... Would have made a good story though!
Rather more boringly, it was a Honda Crosstourer: V4, shaft drive, 1200cc, a 320kg behemoth of a thing with a bizarre automatic gearbox. Comfy, capable, but far too bloody heavy. On the plus side, someone else was paying!

[Des Smith]

Comfy, capable, but far too bloody heavy.

They said that about the Goldwing when it was launched. It's horses for courses, I guess, and Honda in particular seem to like making porky bikes, but for me it detracts from what makes riding a bike fun.

A friend of mine and his wife did a trip from Holland to the UK, rode around the country from Harwich across to Wales and down to the South Coast and back to Holland via Dover-Calais. I can't remember how many miles it was in total, but it took a month and was completed on a pair of velosolex mopeds.

Before anyone asks, yes, he is completely barking mad.

[KevR]

The original Goldwing looks like a lightweight next to the current one... But then Goldwings have always been US-centric. Designed and mostly built there. The two-wheeled equivalent of a Winnebago motorhome I suppose.
The CrossTourer's allegedly competing with bikes like the BMW 1200GS, which is itself a travesty of a so-called off-roader (but a very, very successful one). I don't really get the whole pseudo 'adventure' bike market anyway – any more than I understand why anyone would buy an ostentatious urban wank-tank like a Range Rover Evoque for the school run.

Now that Velosolex trip, that's a proper adventure!

[Des Smith]

The CrossTourer's allegedly competing with bikes like the BMW 1200GS, which is itself a travesty of a so-called off-roader.

Yup! My mate Simon wanted in on my Moroccan adventure - he has a 1200GS, but was adamant there was no way he was going to do any off-roading with it and opted for a Tenere instead. He uses the GS as a long-distance tourer to get to the MotoGP events in Europe. Fair play but I don't get why a bike that performs so well on the main roads and motorways needs to look like it was built for the dirt? Even more confusing when you hang dirty great panniers on it.

[Tinkley]

My Pegaso ie is too heavy (at 170Kg dry) for dirt use, I'd rather ride the NordWest on it but really the RC600 which was built for it. But better than either was the Morini 507 Cougaro.

Stangely I used to take the 3 1/2 over pretty much anything reasonable, including up Mt Vesuvius which was largely soft ash in places. Over the rear wheel rim, I know that. Clip ons are ideal for rough country... Oh and pumice is a bit hard on chains...

The Honda 250s of the 70s' and 80s' were consistently 30-35Kg heavier than the Morini... I did consider a Deauville but at 225Kg too heavy. The BMW (rotax) 650s not too bad or the 800 twin but the larger ones are genuinely big bikes. Physically some of these machines are just too big for me to feel comfortable.

Glad you had a good trip. That sort of riding is good fun although you do have to get yourself into a certain mind set. Nice to be able to stop, pretty much anywhere and just shoot up tracks etc. Best when the weather is on your side, though having been through Turin with water up to the footrests it is not always so...

[Van gogh]

I'm also not so long ago, riding his Jupiter-3, 80 of the release, in the Crimea. This motorcycle you just never saw. Motorcycle for real Mister - vibration as single-barreled gun, stiff suspension and 170 kg dry weight. Mileage of about 2000 km. A pair of photos without the bags :
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[KevR]

Now that's a proper bike! Always fancied riding to the former USSR, having studied Russian to an extremely high level (actually no, CSE grade three in 1982...).

Was fairly lucky on this trip with the weather, except for the first day - 450 miles in a continual downpour right the way across France.
Plenty of snow in Austria and the Alps, but nothing troubling:


Otherwise had some lovely weather, especially in Slovenia and South of France.

[Van gogh]

On this bike no plastic parts except for the windshield .

[citsncycles]

Dunno about the big Varadero's, but the handbook that came with my 125 version says it's not for off road use (as does the instructions for those little Honda 4x4's incidentally), although I know of some owners who take them green laning.

I've heard of the Jupiters, and even saw one over here a couple of years back - they, along with a whole range of other eastern bloc bikes were sold under the unbrella name of Cossack over here and in the states, by the same company who brought Zetors and Skodas into the UK in the 70's. I have a pair of Ural's, one of which is a UK market Cossack 650.

[KevR]

It's not a Varadero - far, far heavier and even less suited to even mild off-roading.

[Tinkley]

That Jupiter reminds me of the old CZs. My brother had a 250 which unfortunately gotten written off, along with my wrist many moons ago. It was OK ish, bit slow, handled OK with fair weight balance but rather poor brakes and the oe tyres were crap. Still felt more balanced than a KH400.....especially accelerating out of a corner.

Your Honda 'Crosstourer' looks like a Beemer but for the badge and only 2 front pipes!. Looks comfortable for a long trip with reasonable protection, but the proof is in the backside... I'll believe you. I've always found high large fuel tanks make bikes feel a bit unbalanced, of course it might just be air box capacity with the fuel much lower. The higher aspect type tyres are much better on rough roads than the road race type IMHO as they are a bit more compliant and don't jar the bike. The Nordy would often skip betwen bumps whereas the Pegaso would keep contact on the rears 160/60 Dragon versus 150/80 Scorpion.

[KevR]

It was comfy enough, and surprisingly well-balanced once on the move - far better than many GS clones. The fuel is indeed carried high, but it's such a small part of the weight of the whole thing that it doesn't actually make that much difference! I'll be glad to swap it back tomorrow for my old BMW RS though.