Honda Africa Twin test ride

[graeme4130]

I chewed this one over for a couple of weeks, and then placed my order this morning
I've ordered a Manual bike in Red with the Comfort pack, which is Crash bars, Fog lamps, Heated grips and 12v Socket
Should arrive sometime in March as they have a bit of a waiting list on them now

I did consider the panniers, but as the bike's new to the market, not many of the aftermarket brands have them available yet, so I'll wait to see what's about nearer the summer once the bikes are on the road. Same for the exhaust

[3DP]

graeme4130 said:

I chewed this one over for a couple of weeks, and then placed my order this morning
I've ordered a Manual bike in Red with the Comfort pack, which is Crash bars, Fog lamps, Heated grips and 12v Socket
Should arrive sometime in March as they have a bit of a waiting list on them now

I did consider the panniers, but as the bike's new to the market, not many of the aftermarket brands have them available yet, so I'll wait to see what's about nearer the summer once the bikes are on the road. Same for the exhaust

Congrats - The more I see them, the more appealing I find them. Look forward to the new bike thread.

Royal Jordanian seemed taken too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoWCJ32hUsQ

[graeme4130]

3DP said:

graeme4130 said:

I chewed this one over for a couple of weeks, and then placed my order this morning
I've ordered a Manual bike in Red with the Comfort pack, which is Crash bars, Fog lamps, Heated grips and 12v Socket
Should arrive sometime in March as they have a bit of a waiting list on them now

I did consider the panniers, but as the bike's new to the market, not many of the aftermarket brands have them available yet, so I'll wait to see what's about nearer the summer once the bikes are on the road. Same for the exhaust

Congrats - The more I see them, the more appealing I find them. Look forward to the new bike thread.

Royal Jordanian seemed taken too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoWCJ32hUsQ

Yeah, I saw that one, cheers
There's lot of positive youtube clips on them, which has helped me make my mind up. I did have a half day test ride, but I guess you need to really live with a bike for a while to find all the little foibles, which is where Youtube helped

[Renn Sport]

OP - I guess you have already tried the KTM 1190 which seems to be just as capable if not more so and also has more power.

Just a thought.

[y2blade]

Really keen on these tbh, MissB loves the look of them too.
Above all, it's a Honda.

[graeme4130]

Renn Sport said:

OP - I guess you have already tried the KTM 1190 which seems to be just as capable if not more so and also has more power.

Just a thought.

Hi
Yeah, I did, but I couldn't get comfortable on it
It's a big step up in price from the Africa twin too, and same with power
This is a second bike for me, and I have to keep reminding myself not to ride it (or currently my Tiger, which the AT is replacing) like I do my Ducati, so having the extra power of the KTM isn't really necessary
I think the KTM is the best of the rest though, as although the BMW GS is very capable also, I'm just not sure I'm the GS type

Edited by graeme4130 on Tuesday 9th February 15:26

[supercommuter]

graeme4130 said:

Renn Sport said:

OP - I guess you have already tried the KTM 1190 which seems to be just as capable if not more so and also has more power.

Just a thought.

Hi
Yeah, I did, but I couldn't get comfortable on it
It's a big step up in price from the Africa twin too, and same with power
This is a second bike for me, and I have to keep reminding myself not to ride it (or currently my Tiger, which the AT is replacing) like I do my Ducati, so having the extra power of the KTM isn't really necessary
I think the KTM is the best of the rest though, as although the BMW GS is very capable also, I'm just not sure I'm the GS type

Edited by graeme4130 on Tuesday 9th February 15:26

Do you mind me asking how much you paid? Have been waiting for this bike for a while. Might get a test drive in on one. Bit concerned about its width to be honest and filtering it in London traffic.

[Snifflytooth]

congrats OP

I've cancelled my test ride as I know I'll put a deposit down!!! A trip to Rio to watch my girls in the Olympics (fingers crossed they get selected and stay injury free) is my bike

I'd have specced it exactly the same as you too...

Can't wait to hear how you get on. Not jealous at all.....

[graeme4130]

supercommuter said:

graeme4130 said:

Renn Sport said:

OP - I guess you have already tried the KTM 1190 which seems to be just as capable if not more so and also has more power.

Just a thought.

Hi
Yeah, I did, but I couldn't get comfortable on it
It's a big step up in price from the Africa twin too, and same with power
This is a second bike for me, and I have to keep reminding myself not to ride it (or currently my Tiger, which the AT is replacing) like I do my Ducati, so having the extra power of the KTM isn't really necessary
I think the KTM is the best of the rest though, as although the BMW GS is very capable also, I'm just not sure I'm the GS type

Edited by graeme4130 on Tuesday 9th February 15:26

Do you mind me asking how much you paid? Have been waiting for this bike for a while. Might get a test drive in on one. Bit concerned about its width to be honest and filtering it in London traffic.

There was no deals to be done other than nego over gap insurance and service prices as the bike has a waiting list already and is brand new to the market
Bike was £10,499, and pack with crash bars, heated grips, fog lamps and 12v socket was £1,015.
I called around at least 10 different franchised dealers to see if they'd do any deals, and I got told no way. A couple offered me more than the book price for my triumph as a PX, but still significantly less then I expect to get for it on the open market. I'll hang onto the Triumph until April timing when bikes are selling, and flog it on then.

[graeme4130]

Honda have created an app called 'Honda Africa twin AR' where you can paste how your bike would look in your garage (or living room in my pic)

[supercommuter]

graeme4130 said:

Honda have created an app called 'Honda Africa twin AR' where you can paste how your bike would look in your garage (or living room in my pic)

Better than making the developers redundant i guess

[Silver993tt]

If I would have gone for the AT I would definitely have gone for the DCT gearbox. I had that on my last bike, a Honda CT and it was the best feature of the bike by a long way. I now ride a KTM 1290 SA and if they offered a DCT box I would have it in a flash.

[graeme4130]

Silver993tt said:

If I would have gone for the AT I would definitely have gone for the DCT gearbox. I had that on my last bike, a Honda CT and it was the best feature of the bike by a long way. I now ride a KTM 1290 SA and if they offered a DCT box I would have it in a flash.

I did think long and hard about it, but wasn't as impressed with it on the short test ride of the dct bike as I would've hoped
It seemed to take away an element of control that I enjoy, and the thumb/forefinger shifter felt tacky and unnatural to use
I'm aware that you can spec the traditional foot shifter for the dct, but that's just adding more cost
For me, this is a bike I don't really need, so didn't want to spend a fortune on it
I admired the tech of the DCT, but it just wasn't really for me in this case
I suspect, like cars, that as the technology matures, dual clutch bikes will start to become more and more common, especially in sports bikes. You only have to look at the s1000rr, 1299 panigales etc with their autoblip down shifters to know that removing the clutch is a forward choice and something people like
I'd imagine if moto gp and the likes would remove their bans on anything other than a single clutch box, that autoblipping double clutchers would start to hit the market quite quickly
How many decent sports cars still have a manual option, none ?

[Silver993tt]

graeme4130 said:

Silver993tt said:

If I would have gone for the AT I would definitely have gone for the DCT gearbox. I had that on my last bike, a Honda CT and it was the best feature of the bike by a long way. I now ride a KTM 1290 SA and if they offered a DCT box I would have it in a flash.

I did think long and hard about it, but wasn't as impressed with it on the short test ride of the dct bike as I would've hoped
It seemed to take away an element of control that I enjoy, and the thumb/forefinger shifter felt tacky and unnatural to use
I'm aware that you can spec the traditional foot shifter for the dct, but that's just adding more cost
For me, this is a bike I don't really need, so didn't want to spend a fortune on it
I admired the tech of the DCT, but it just wasn't really for me in this case
I suspect, like cars, that as the technology matures, dual clutch bikes will start to become more and more common, especially in sports bikes. You only have to look at the s1000rr, 1299 panigales etc with their autoblip down shifters to know that removing the clutch is a forward choice and something people like
I'd imagine if moto gp and the likes would remove their bans on anything other than a single clutch box, that autoblipping double clutchers would start to hit the market quite quickly
How many decent sports cars still have a manual option, none ?

The DCT box needs at least 200kms to start to get it. After that point, I only used manual mode with the two finger buttons for the next 16000kms.

[Janluke]

Called into Two Wheels Edinburgh today just to look around and they had an AT in. Not what I'm looking for but it did look good. Their demo had just been out and was covered in muck, that looked even better

[Pazuzu]

I had a test ride a couple of weeks ago and have actually decided against one.

I loved the bike, although I felt it could do with another 20bhp, but the cost of the accessories plus the fact that you've then got to pay for fitting really annoyed me and made it quite expensive I felt once you had everything you wanted.

I wanted a Tri-Colour manual and the Adventure pack, which saves you a massive £5 versus buying it all separately - £1995/£2000, and they wanted an extra £800 odd to fit it!

On the PCP quote the monthly jumps from £124 to £189 meaning they see no retained value in the pack at all.

In PCP terms that put it smack on par with a new R1200GS Adventure which is a lot more bike (in many ways!).

It's still a lovely bike but I think they need to make the centre stand and heated grips standard.

Only my opinion, still jealous if you get one as I loved riding it

Cheers,

Phil

[spareparts]

graeme4130 said:

How many decent sports cars still have a manual option, none ?

The latest and current ECOTY - Cayman GT4

[graeme4130]

spareparts said:

graeme4130 said:

How many decent sports cars still have a manual option, none ?

The latest and current ECOTY - Cayman GT4

That's true, but that's only one of many cars, the rest have have ditched the manual box
Some might say that the only reason porsche made it was to keep journalists happy and for the 200 or so uk buyers that actually want a manual as customers, and to retain some image - I'd bet that if they did offer manual and PDK options, the PDK would be the bigger take up
You only have to look how little Ferrari 430's were ordered with a manual box - IIRC it was less than 5%, which is why they, and most other brands have ditched the manual all together
I might point out though that I did place an order for a GT4, but missed the allocation
If it came down to it though, I'd have specced a PDK one if the choice had become available

Edited by graeme4130 on Tuesday 9th February 23:04

[graeme4130]

Pazuzu said:

I wanted a Tri-Colour manual and the Adventure pack, which saves you a massive £5 versus buying it all separately - £1995/£2000, and they wanted an extra £800 odd to fit it!

Cheers,

Phil

I agree, that does seem bonkers to offer up optional extras and then list the price net of the fitting - Especially at circa £75/hr
That was the one part of the deal that was negotiable though as that cost is incurred purely by the dealer as the bikes all come to them standard, and they then order and fit the options - supposedly

[Mad Jock]

This is a bike that was always going to sell out quickly, and the waiting lists kind of support that view. However, this comes with a sort of halo effect that coincides with any anticipated new bike model, so many orders put in without even test riding, so many bought that end up "not quite what I'd hoped for", and you end up with a large number of low mileage used bikes next year.
Take your pick of the specced up ones at reduced prices, and enjoy the bike in the knowledge that some poor sap has swallowed a year's depreciation for you.