Africa Twin farkles list

Andi_archer said:
Just installed the Rugged Roads lower crash bars on mine the instructions were poorly written and slightly incorrect as one bracket labelled as right side is actually left side,Its also an awkward fitment especially not helped with the mix of 12,13 & 14 mm heads with old and new parts

correct side [ignore the spacer that came out]
60db23df74159db963b360ad273a6565.png
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I've got mine to fit but won't have time for a week or so, if I'm lucky.. I actually went to fit them a couple of nights ago but assumed they would wrap around my new exhaust, so fitted the exhaust first, then opened the box and instructions for the lower crash bars, and they said to remove the bash plate and exhaust! DOH!!.. I didn't have time to fit them then!

Any more tips on fitting them before I do it? I also have to fit barkbusters and Oxford heated grips and a 12v usb unit..
 
Make sure you fit new exhaust gaskets. Replace the copper crush rings with new ones. Only cost £5 each from Honda dealer and saves you getting leaks.

I held my new ones in place with a smear of general purpose grease.
 
Warlord said:
Make sure you fit new exhaust gaskets. Replace the copper crush rings with new ones. Only cost £5 each from Honda dealer and saves you getting leaks.

I held my new ones in place with a smear of general purpose grease.
Click to expand...

Gotta be honest and show my lack of mechanical experience, I didn't even notice any exhaust gaskets, I just bolted the new exhaust/headers on... 🤔
 
The copper gasket which basically looks like a large and thin washer , sits in the head between each pipe and the outlet so you may not have noticed them till they fall out. They provide a seal between the pipe and the head face to prevent leakage.
 
jojitsu said:
I've got mine to fit but won't have time for a week or so, if I'm lucky.. I actually went to fit them a couple of nights ago but assumed they would wrap around my new exhaust, so fitted the exhaust first, then opened the box and instructions for the lower crash bars, and they said to remove the bash plate and exhaust! DOH!!.. I didn't have time to fit them then!

Any more tips on fitting them before I do it? I also have to fit barkbusters and Oxford heated grips and a 12v usb unit..
Click to expand...

Yes a bit of a pain the silencer and exhaust will need removing just be careful unplugging the lambada [or whatever its called] sensor half way down the pipes. Its a tad like a BMW clip you need to push down on the upper side about half way down to release the clip then remove the plastic retainer from the water bottle. Talking of which that plastic retainer is a pain in the proverbial to get back in its slot as the new bar mounting restricts access to push it back home. I was all for using a zip tie but did eventually get it back.

5b5cc41505ba6d1cadfb31aa74facd9d.png


The bracket in the image above is stated as going on the right side but it doesn't it goes on the left [as you sit on the bike].The top engine support bolt in the image has a spacer either side but only needs the far side spacer on refitting it sits between engine and mount [not the one in the image as I was getting confused by the instructions].

The confusion was there are two separate sets of instructions one for the bars and one for the extra parts if you have the Honda bars installed. These bars are originally mounted on a two piece clamp and bar that clips around the front upright which neither instructions really clarifies very well to remove altogether or the bracket in the image wont fit against the frame.

030b1105edeeeb8aacb22a95e20c6ce7.png


This piece comes off

5c888bf9ef0310cf1707f53c7535a150.png


The extra extension supports for the Honda bars are then now bolted onto the two new brackets, you can just make out both above in the image.

Using the old parts with some new parts causes odd issues like say the bolt needing a 14mm socket or spanner and the nut being 12mm,,,,,

Oh and the right side bars as the instructions fail to distinguish which is which, has a small kink in the bottom mount which fits onto the frame via the very bottom bolt of the front upright.
 
Andi_archer said:
Yes a bit of a pain the silencer and exhaust will need removing just be careful unplugging the lambada [or whatever its called] sensor half way down the pipes. Its a tad like a BMW clip you need to push down on the upper side about half way down to release the clip then remove the plastic retainer from the water bottle. Talking of which that plastic retainer is a pain in the proverbial to get back in its slot as the new bar mounting restricts access to push it back home. I was all for using a zip tie but did eventually get it back.

5b5cc41505ba6d1cadfb31aa74facd9d.png


The bracket in the image above is stated as going on the right side but it doesn't it goes on the left [as you sit on the bike].The top engine support bolt in the image has a spacer either side but only needs the far side spacer on refitting it sits between engine and mount [not the one in the image as I was getting confused by the instructions].

The confusion was there are two separate sets of instructions one for the bars and one for the extra parts if you have the Honda bars installed. These bars are originally mounted on a two piece clamp and bar that clips around the front upright which neither instructions really clarifies very well to remove altogether or the bracket in the image wont fit against the frame.

030b1105edeeeb8aacb22a95e20c6ce7.png


This piece comes off

5c888bf9ef0310cf1707f53c7535a150.png


The extra extension supports for the Honda bars are then now bolted onto the two new brackets, you can just make out both above in the image.

Using the old parts with some new parts causes odd issues like say the bolt needing a 14mm socket or spanner and the nut being 12mm,,,,,

Oh and the right side bars as the instructions fail to distinguish which is which, has a small kink in the bottom mount which fits onto the frame via the very bottom bolt of the front upright.
Click to expand...

Great information, really appreciate 😉
 
Replace Exhaust Gaskets

The exhaust gaskets are a copper ring as located and marked with an arrow in your picture. See below.

They'll be squashed tight onto the exhaust port and need to be carefully prised out, not damaging the alloy block housing. I wiggle mine out with a small pick, or flat head screwdriver (but be careful). If you do accidentally scratch the surface of the exhaust port, carefully smooth off any scratch burr with very fine grade wet and dry grit-paper (but don't go mad, it's supposed to be flat and even).

Once old gasket is removed you'll see how squashed flat they are, and they don't look anything like the new ones (which are round). The surface of the exhaust being bolted back on will have squashed them into a unique seal against the pipework. It's highly unlikely you'll get that exact position again, so it's best just replace them with new ones each time. £10 from Honda for the pair. job done :thumb

Wipe over the gasket housing making sure all the carbon deposits are cleaned away with a damp cloth.

Use some general purpose grease spread evenly on one side of the copper crush gasket (the edge that's smooth, not the side with the ridge on it). Then the grease will help stick the gasket in place while you refit the exhaust. The grease will then burn off the first time you take the bike out.

Torque up the Header Bolts evenly and progressively to 20nm for each bolt (which is not a lot) but enough to snug down the bolts and crush the exhaust gasket into its new unique seal position.

My concern would be using the same gaskets, you'll end up overtightening the bolts to get a seal which could cause damage to the bolt threads, or worsen the situation trying to remove them again in the future? or gambling getting another seal without leaking which is probably 9/10 going to fail.

£10.... do it right :thumb
 

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DING-DONG said:
What did you say earlier ! I'm not doing any mods

Slippery slope.
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Haha, its all the pics everybody's posting:blast .. its the great dustbin on the side even though it sound great, i recon you could shave 15-20kg with a nice exhaust, wheels, li battery :D looking at this end can, SC Project Ti Headers and get my mate to do the Ti connector Pipe
 

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Warlord said:
The exhaust gaskets are a copper ring as located and marked with an arrow in your picture. See below.

They'll be squashed tight onto the exhaust port and need to be carefully prised out, not damaging the alloy block housing. I wiggle mine out with a small pick, or flat head screwdriver (but be careful). If you do accidentally scratch the surface of the exhaust port, carefully smooth off any scratch burr with very fine grade wet and dry grit-paper (but don't go mad, it's supposed to be flat and even).

Once old gasket is removed you'll see how squashed flat they are, and they don't look anything like the new ones (which are round). The surface of the exhaust being bolted back on will have squashed them into a unique seal against the pipework. It's highly unlikely you'll get that exact position again, so it's best just replace them with new ones each time. £10 from Honda for the pair. job done :thumb

Wipe over the gasket housing making sure all the carbon deposits are cleaned away with a damp cloth.

Use some general purpose grease spread evenly on one side of the copper crush gasket (the edge that's smooth, not the side with the ridge on it). Then the grease will help stick the gasket in place while you refit the exhaust. The grease will then burn off the first time you take the bike out.

Torque up the Header Bolts evenly and progressively to 20nm for each bolt (which is not a lot) but enough to snug down the bolts and crush the exhaust gasket into its new unique seal position.

My concern would be using the same gaskets, you'll end up overtightening the bolts to get a seal which could cause damage to the bolt threads, or worsen the situation trying to remove them again in the future? or gambling getting another seal without leaking which is probably 9/10 going to fail.

£10.... do it right :thumb
Click to expand...


Top info, nice one. 😋
 
Don't overtighten the retaining nuts on the exhaust when replacing it, you may strip the threads or snap the nut.Im sure theres a torque setting somewhere but hand tight was good enough for me.

Edit I found this on the Africa Twin forum
 

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skid06 said:
Haha, its all the pics everybody's posting:blast .. its the great dustbin on the side even though it sound great, i recon you could shave 15-20kg with a nice exhaust, wheels, li battery :D looking at this end can, SC Project Ti Headers and get my mate to do the Ti connector Pipe
Click to expand...

Take the end can off and start the bike up, it doesn't sound much louder as the cat is strangling this bike. When you remove the end look into the pipe you will see the cat, I've knocked it out, drill a couple of holes through it and use a fine cold chisel to knock it to bits, once finished just start it up on ticker and it will blow all the shit out, if you now rev the bike without the end can and cat its seriously loud, finished result feels a lot more lively and has a stronger punch.

This mod will cost you nowt and deffo worth doing.
 
DING-DONG said:
Take the end can off and start the bike up, it doesn't sound much louder as the cat is strangling this bike. When you remove the end look into the pipe you will see the cat, I've knocked it out, drill a couple of holes through it and use a fine cold chisel to knock it to bits, once finished just start it up on ticker and it will blow all the shit out, if you now rev the bike without the end can and cat its seriously loud, finished result feels a lot more lively and has a stronger punch.

This mod will cost you nowt and deffo worth doing.
Click to expand...

goin to do this..anymore DINGDONG daily tips! :D
 
skid06 said:
goin to do this..anymore DINGDONG daily tips! :D
Click to expand...

thats it for making it a bit more lively and it not costing you the best part of £1k, my mate with the black one has done the decat as well.
 
Well, the Touratech screen is........fine. :thumb2

It's not :bounce1

Nor is it :blast

The reason I decided to try it is I wanted a taller screen than the MRA sports screen I was using which puts my head/Tour X into pretty clear air/wind blast. I found the oe screen caused too much buffeting wearing said Arai and I looked for something in between that would give me better protection while not giving me bobble head.

And that's where it sits, just between the two other screens. It's great up to an indicated 70 ( approx 64 in reality) and from there on up, there is a small amount of buffeting which is tolerable. It doesn't seem to get any worse as the speed climbs to three figures which is acceptable. Is it the be all and end all ? Nope, it's far too expensive for starters and TT's claims of wind tunnel design falls flat IMO. But it has come smack in the middle of what I was looking for, so I guess it'll do from now on as I really don't want to spend any more money on different screens trying to find some form of nirvana.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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