I’d toyed with the idea of getting a C125 but the one thing that I struggled with, and similar to my Innova when I rode to Andorra, that it was a pain in the ass taking an extra fuel bottle and every 100 miles thinking about refilling.
I decided on the PCX as it’s still lightweight at 130kg fully fuelled - taking 8 litres in the tank, it’s got a good enough fairing to keep bad weather off, the stop/start tech is great in big cities such as Vienna and Budapest, and the underseat storage is about 30 litres, helping to minimise back seat bags or panniers.
A week before I took it on a good test run up to Scotland to Fort William for my friends wedding and decided to check it’s ability for a long run, riding all the way back down in one day. 485 miles later I got home. Point proven, the PCX is great for long journeys.
Off to Europe then. Starting off from Bristol I rode over to Folkestone and then caught the Eurotunnel to Calais then across to Bouillon, Baden Baden and the B500, then down to Fussen for the outstanding castles.
From there I headed across to Salzburg then Vienna (to see the hamsters in the cemetery) and then Budapest. Then taking a sharp right I rode through Hungary and Croatia and into Slovenia to lake Bled which was properly stunning.
Then another right and across to the Dolomites for a few days riding some of the passes, then down to Lake Garda, the Italian coast and along to Monaco.
From there I rode up through France via Combe Laval, which was probably one of my favourite places: the feeling of euphoria from riding a balcony road where a foot and half wall is all that separates you and a several hundred foot drop is fantastic.
Up past Paris, through a thunderstorm for 150 miles and back to Calais, arriving home 3 weeks after I started.
In that 3500 miles I spent about £180 in petrol, as the PCX returns up to 161mpg giving you a fillup range of 200 miles and still another 40 miles in the tank.
The PCX certainly proved itself, maintaining a good steady 60mph (gps) on faster roads, but being very comfortable around 45-50mph. There’s plenty of space on the seat and leg boards to vary your riding position so quite a few days I would find I could ride for a couple of hours before even needing to stop for a toilet break. The lights were good in the tunnels, the storage great for all my stuff and the economy great for keeping the cost down. Highly recommend one for long distance adventures
