Africa Twin test ride

...... but .... !!

I think their real market will be the South Africas, the Australias, the far east .... those places where real every day life is a proper, real world mix of metalled and dirt highways. I think they'll sell some here, but it could be a big hit in the parts of the world where big trailies are almost a necessity. (Think of that vid from a few weeks ago of the south african cop chasing the car and shooting at it ... ! I could see the entire South African Police motorcycle team on something like this ... !).

Sgt Bilco said:

I think you are missing the point of this bike JB. Honda will be selling to people who don't want a big lardy bike that everyone else rides and who don't want to join the BMW bandwagon.

I would also think it's priced a lot lower than even the 800 so will attract riders who can't afford or don't want a beemer. I think Honda will sell plenty as it's a good real world bike.

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Errr, don't think so

Lardy - doesn't it weigh 240kg wet, for the DCT/ABS, for the new AT?

Hardly lightweight ??

F800GS (not Adv) is about £9k on the road with heated grips and weighs less

JohnnyBoxer said:

Move along, nothing for you to see...................96bhp won't even raise your eyebrow

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How little you know me

What is interesting is how two people can ride the same bike and get two views which are the polar opposite.

For example,Wessie says :

wessie said:

Top speed: didn't find it. Got to an indicated ton at times and it was not a pleasant place to be, even tucked behind the tiny screen.

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But then Davy F quotes from another guys write up:

Davy F said:

A.N.Others write up I've read today....the author rides an original AT




First Impressions from an RD07 rider
Quick write up with initial impressions:


Speed is highly deceptive! The machine runs incredibly smoothly, there is never any vibration through any part of the CRF including the mirrors, and rolling resistance felt non-existent. I found myself well into triple figure territory often without trying or realising, the tall screen adding to the deception of speed. I ride in a Schuberth C3Pro and suffered zero buffeting at any speed


Seat height: I had concerns that I was going to need to splash £300 on the optional high seat and be left with a redundant standard seat however at 6'5" with the standard seat in the upper position it felt very good. I didn't adjust the rear pre-load, just got on and rode. Am sure there was more suspension sag in the ones at the show as they felt really low

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So the latter bike had the tall screen fitted but surely negated by the 6'5" rider yet he said 3 figure speeds were easy with zero buffeting at speed,whereas Wessie said it was horrid at a ton !!!!

So it's horses for courses.I really don't expect many who ride a GS or certainly not a GSA who would consider swapping for an AT-bikes like the GSA are huge barges and won't have the nimble feel of a bike with 21/18" wheels.Honda aren't aiming the bike at GS riders,at least not 1200 guys.And the AT isn't a light bike,yet it seems to carry it's weight very well and is very nimble,helped especially by the wheel sizes.

I just love the feel of my SuperEnduro and it's been my default bike to ride for the last 8 years,and I'm expecting/hoping that the AT will be like a more modern and polished version of that,especially with DCT which I think will be fantastic,if all the reviews so far are borne out.

Arsey .... I see this as a bike that will be good on mixed surfaces, but not a great dedicated 'road' bike. If you never intend on going off road on it ..... then there are better road bikes that will give you that super Enduro / super moto feel that you like ...

Arsey said:

What is interesting is how two people can ride the same bike and get two views which are the polar opposite.

So the latter bike had the tall screen fitted but surely negated by the 6'5" rider yet he said 3 figure speeds were easy with zero buffeting at speed,whereas Wessie said it was horrid at a ton !!!!

So it's horses for courses.I really don't expect many who ride a GS or certainly not a GSA who would consider swapping for an AT-bikes like the GSA are huge barges and won't have the nimble feel of a bike with 21/18" wheels.Honda aren't aiming the bike at GS riders,at least not 1200 guys.And the AT isn't a light bike,yet it seems to carry it's weight very well and is very nimble,helped especially by the wheel sizes.

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It was quite windy today - when I was doing a ton it would have been a cross-wind and when I turned back towards the dealership, I rode into a headwind coming off the Bristol Channel. It got quite noisy, although no buffeting. Perhaps it would be better in stiller air or with a larger screen.

Giles said:

Arsey .... I see this as a bike that will be good on mixed surfaces, but not a great dedicated 'road' bike. If you never intend on going off road on it ..... then there are better road bikes that will give you that super Enduro / super moto feel that you like ...

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Such as ......?


I've never been offroad on my 950 even though it was designed for that.I primarily bought it for the tall seat height and then when I fitted a bigger tank and all-day comfy seat I realised that I preferred it over all previous similar bikes such as KTM Adv 950S,GSA12 etc etc.


But you are probably right-time will tell whether ordering an AT was the wrong move-but I do plan to use it off the tarmac if my long term plan comes to fruition.

And I can see a visit to this place in the near future being worthwhile.



Wessie,out of interest,how tall are you ?

You'd do a lot worse than a 990 smt .....

(cracking bike .... )

Giles said:

You'd do a lot worse than a 990 smt .....

(cracking bike .... )

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Nah,ridden one many times.Hasn't got 21/18" wheels for a start !!!

And the FI isn't the best.Another reason I love my SE has the 950 motor was SO much better than the early 990s. And the FI on the AT is supposedly near perfect.

So what other road bikes are there "that will give you that super Enduro / super moto feel" ?

Supermotos generally have 17" wheels so the feel is totally different to the 21/18" feel that I have with my SE and will have again with the AT.

... edit ....

I didn't know you'd actually ordered one (just dipped in and out the thread and not read it properly !! )

Enjoy It's a good feeling buying a new bike .....

Giles said:

... edit ....

I didn't know you'd actually ordered one (just dipped in and out the thread and not read it properly !! )

Enjoy It's a good feeling buying a new bike .....

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Yup,DCT in tri colour with tall seat.Should be here in next few weeks supposedly.

I like the looks of it , it will grow on peeps and be a decent seller I think.

Nice simple review wessie, thanks

I'm only 5'8" tall but I have a 32" inside leg. I tried the bike on the lower seat height. Both feet were planted on the floor so we moved it to the high position. Again I could flat foot both sides on level ground. One thing I noticed, you need to push back a little on the seat to get your feet down if you don't want to bash your shins on the foot pegs - I am not tall enough to splay my feet to avoid the pegs!

If I rode an Africa Twin long term I think I would like the pegs a little lower and a little further forward. Nothing wrong with the standard riding position from a control point of view but I have wonky knees so more room and less knee bend is a good thing.

Oh, and for £10.5k, they can't provide a centre stand the tight arse gits.

Arsey said:

But you are probably right-time will tell whether ordering an AT was the wrong move-but I do plan to use it off the tarmac if my long term plan comes to fruition.

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I have to say, I'm very surprised you've ordered one without even test riding it first. I don't mean this in a nasty way (unlike your constant sniping on here, you tosser ), but you're so happy with your KTM, and you've test ridden lots of bikes and still decided that's the best, so what is it about the AT that made you buy it without even test riding one first?

The Nutty GSER said:

I have to say, I'm very surprised you've ordered one without even test riding it first. I don't mean this in a nasty way (unlike your constant sniping on here, you tosser ), but you're so happy with your KTM, and you've test ridden lots of bikes and still decided that's the best, so what is it about the AT that made you buy it without even test riding one first?

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Perhaps he has memories of impressing the girls on his last Honda adventure bike

Well,I'd no plans to ride my dealer's demo and didn't even know when they were getting it in,but I rode past it today so popped in to see if there was any update on my delivery.
The dealer had only PDI'd the demo last night and told me to take it out to get some miles on it as it had only been round the block.So how could I refuse ? I only took it out for an hour but that was enough to convince me that I will be very happy with my DCT version.

From the off,the bike feels just right,to me anyway ! The riding position is pretty much perfect and the standard seat is very comfortable.The gearbox is just perfect-possibly the smoothest gearbox I've ever used on any bike.The fuelling is bloody perfect and it would pull from below 30 mph in 6th with ease.The exhaust note is very throaty and probably doesn't need an after market jobby,though a full Termi system would be nice !!

The handling was also spot on,even though on new tyres I had to be a tad careful.The way the bike hides it's weight is incredible.It is very nimble and the turn in and balance is utterly brilliant.It's not a fast bike like an 1190 but it's very deceptive and seems to have very usable torque.

Fork dive was less than on my 950SE and I'm struggling to fault it.The only niggle is the horn and indicator are upside down and the indicator is a tad recessed so a bit weird to operate,but in saying that,I was used to it within 30 minutes.

This is ONLY my opinion.But I was hoping the AT would be a natural successor to my 950 SuperEnduro (which is a keeper).But I can honestly say that the Africa Twin is even better than I was expecting it to be.

And then I got a real bonus-my dealer said he had some panniers that he would do me a deal on as they didn't want to fit them to the demo.After a chat it turned out that they basically had the full Touring Pack in the store and happy to do a deal on.

So I've ended up with the full monty xmas tree look of panniers and top box,heated grips,tall screen,engine bars and fog lights etc etc all for 30% less than list (plus VAT free anyway!!)

I had a good look at most of it-the panniers look just fine to me despite other reports.They are very light but seem very sturdy and mount unobtrusively.
My tall seat had also arrived so I swapped it on the demo and it's much better (see pic below).Also the tall screen is quite a bit taller (see below).

Someone else commented on the pegs being quite short but Honda are doing "comfort pegs" for the AT as an option (again see below)





Tall screen roughly in position to compare with standard :



Tall seat :



Comfort pegs :

looks great in those top two pics

Yup, it does look nice I have to say but, regardless of how nice the pipe sounds it needs to go and be replaced with something less aesthetically challenging (as is the case with the 1190).

The real acid test though is 'is the bike exciting' so................ is it exciting?

Andres

Looks nice Arsey ... Enjoy ..


(Why don't you book leave for mickys do in Dent! ...)