Reader Nick Jones reveals what it’s been like living with his 1200 Crosstourer for a year
‘I bought it on PCP as I like a change every few years’
Some bikers spend a lifetime set in their ways, never breaking out of their pigeon hole, determined to soldier on with their sportsbike or persevere with their naked despite the fact that other types of bikes might suit them better. That’s never been the case with Nick Jones from Kings Lynn. He’s owned an impressively diverse range of bikes, from the sharpest sports machines to the meekest mopeds, but admits that comfort has become a big consideration for his leisurely rides. Which is why he’s ended up with Honda’s VFR1200X Crosstourer.
“I don’t really have a type of bike that I go for,” says Nick. “I just buy whatever appeals to me at the time. Before this I had a Suzuki Hayabusa, which I enjoyed, but it toppled over on my driveway and got scuffed. Call me vain but I started to fall out of love with it. It was then that I started to notice other niggles, too.
“I injured my neck at work a few years ago and it makes me really uncomfortable, especially when it gets cold, and during a ride on the Busa up to Guy Martin’s pub up on the Wolds, it really started playing up. I stopped at the Sportsbike Shop in Boston for a bit of a break and got chatting to this guy who had a BMW R1200 RT. This thing had heated everything and looked so comfortable, and he was going on about how well it performed, too. So I headed off to a BMW dealership to test ride one. It was brilliant, but they just weren’t interested in doing a deal on a new one and didn’t seem interested in taking my Hayabusa as part-ex either. So it was at that point that I started looking at alternatives. I wanted a big engine, but I also wanted comfort. That was when the Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer caught my eye. I’d read about it in MCN and it seemed to tick most of my boxes.
“Honda dealers CJ Ball in Norwich were able to sort me out a good deal on a new Crosstourer DCT (semi-automatic gearbox) with the Highlander pack fitted. They took my Hayabusa in as part-ex and I bought the new Honda on PCP. That type of deal suits me because I like to change my bike every couple of years. That was last May and I’ve now done over 5000 miles on it, purely for pleasure.”