Honda Africa Twin test ride

[graeme4130]

Hi All
Today, I got a few hours out on a demo Africa Twin (manual)
To give some idea of my expectation - I currently run a Triumph Tiger 800 as a Winter/touring bike, and have been considering swapping it up for the Triumph Explorer 1200.
I know the guy at the Honda dealer, and he suggested I take the Africa Twin out for a demo ride. Unfortunately, today has been wet and horrid, but perhaps that's an ideal time to try it.
The bike they leant me was a manual bike with the optional tall screen, cowl bars, spot lights, heated grips and centre stand.
My initial impressions of the bike, having recently borrowed an explorer, was that it felt to have less of a power defecit than the paper figures would suggest. The twin is quite torquey, and the noise is pretty decent.
It's a much more agile machine than the Explorer, and a little better than my Tiger.
The only real gripe I'd have is that it breaks traction very easily under power in the wet, and the traction control is quite intrusive (i.e. it cuts the spark completely), so one particular overtaking manoeuvre on a reasonably fast A road left me in third gear on the wrong side of the road with no power. However, this could be down to the newish tyres just not bedding in yet, and the roads were particularly greasy today
The twin pulls smoothly, and the consistency of power is on a similar curve to that of my Panigale (with obviously less power)
Whether I'd miss the extra power should I choose an Africa Twin over an explorer, I'm not sure
Personally, I think the Honda is a better looking bike than the triumph, but not perhaps in the colour scheme of the demo bike - I'd go for a red one
I didn't get a chance to try it off road today, but hopefully that'll be an opportunity in time


The positives I could find ;
Very stable at speed on a wet/windy dual carriageway, and the touring screen takes 99.9% of the wind off my head
Comparable comfort around town to a Triumph Explorer
Nice high seating and view position both seated and stood up
Dash is very clear and loads of configuration available in what you see - Rev Counter could do with being a bit larger though, as quite easy to hit the limiter without expecting it
Very nimble for a bike of its size in the tight twisty stuff
Hides its low power figure quite well as the mid range torque curve is decent

Negaitives
Not sure about the colour - I think the red looks a lot better
Footpegs need to be upgraded to metal ones, as they're very slippery when wet, and stood up, you could easily lose a foot from one (I didn't see metal pegs in the options list)
Rev Counter display needs to be a bit larger
No Cruise control option - Throttle spring is quite hard, so on a longer cruise, you find it starts to pull at your gloves if you're not keeping a claw grip
Front dives under road braking quite a lot, but then this happens with most bikes that are capable off road
No deals appear to be available yet, and pricing for accessories quite steep (plus, they don't include fitting, and you can easily rack up 10hrs dealer labour with just a few simple ones)
Order one now in red, and it won't arrive until mid to late march

Has anyone else tried one and can compare to a Triumph explorer ?






Preferred colour option
|http://thumbsnap.com/ocFcERly[/url]

Edited by graeme4130 on Friday 22 January 15:41

[graeme4130]

Clinton Baptiste said:

Nice one, they do look nice. I prefer the gold wheels though on the white one. Are you getting one then?

I'm not sure. I'm still undecided over this or the Triumph Explorer 1200

[graeme4130]

Gunk said:

I wouldn't swap a Tiger 800 for that, if all you are mainly doing is road stuff, the Tiger is a much better bike plus it looks so much better. I had a good look at the AT at the NEC and was hugely underwhelmed and I'm a big Honda fan, I can't quite see what all the hype is about.

I'm not sure it's a better bike than the explorer, but having ridden my tiger to and from the test ride of the Africa twin, I can conclusively say it's largely better in pretty much every aspect
The problem with my tiger is the second hand market isn't strong, so as a 2013 bike with 25k miles, it's probably only worth £5k and the Africa twin in the spec I want is circa £12k

[graeme4130]

Max5476 said:

graeme4130 said:

I'm not sure it's a better bike than the explorer, but having ridden my tiger to and from the test ride of the Africa twin, I can conclusively say it's largely better in pretty much every aspect
The problem with my tiger is the second hand market isn't strong, so as a 2013 bike with 25k miles, it's probably only worth £5k and the Africa twin in the spec I want is circa £12k

To be fair, the tiger 800 is a cheaper price to start with, and as with any bike, there will always be loads of examples with low miles to compete against. Hard to say how the Africa twin will perform in the used market. (I am biased having just bought an 800, but the Africa twin wasn't even a consideration due to its price point)

Exactly that. The tiger 800 is a damn fine bike and was not massive money new. The Africa Twin is a damn fine bike too, but just has a few more bits than my tiger - Namely Abs, traction control and bit more stability/ability.
You're right about the second hand market too. There's lots of lower mileage bikes out there, but they're mainly £6k+

[graeme4130]

SteelerSE said:

I haven't ridden one but in the flesh I was hugely impressed, I think it looks gorgeous.

OP - In my opinion you're not comparing apples with apples. If you're looking at an Explorer then try a Crosstourer. The engine is astonishing and the comfort is significantly better than the AT.

If you do want genuine off road performance then I don't think the Explorer is the right tool for the job.

You're probably right there. I do very little off road stuff, but like to know I could if I wanted to
The main area of concern I'd have is whether I'd miss the power of the Exporer over the AT on the road. I've got a sports bike for going fast, but just occasionally, you want to open up your adventure bike, and the AT isn't much faster than my current tiger
The dealer's been really good, and the triumph dealer is a few doors down and part of the same group, so I'll do a back to back test next week to see the difference in a bit more real time
The Explorer is being replaced by the 'new explorer' in the next month or so, so deals on the existing explorers are good at the moment, plus, when you add in all the options you'd want on the AT, and the fact you then have to pay labour to have it fitted over and above the accessory pack (something like £600 @ £72/hr for all the decent options fitted on top of the £1.5k option figure itself) they start to become comparable in price

AT is a lovely looking thing though, and as much as I 'like' the look of the explorer, the AT is the bike you'd be looking back at once you've parked it up in the garage, especially next to my Panigale

[graeme4130]

There's a Termignoni aftermarket exhaust available already, which is supposedly 5bhp up for around £635 for the end can, and circa £1k for a full system, but I expect some less pricier options will hit the market soon now the bikes are becoming available to the public


I've pretty much decided I'm going to order one now once I can sell my Tiger as the PX value offered was pretty laughable
I'll initially go for a Red bike, and spec Heated grips, 12v charger and the Foglamp/crash bars combo
I'll see which aftermarket Side panniers are about later as I'm not overkeen on the Honda ones as they don't seem that secure, and I fancy some that are a bit smaller

It bugs me though that the options don't include fitting, so if you factor the options I want in, it accounts for a listed time of 2.9 hours, which at £72/hr comes in at an extra £210

Although if I get the comfort pack, which is fogs, crash bars, heated grips (£300!!!) and socket, it comes in at £1015 rather than £1140 when listed separately

Edited by graeme4130 on Sunday 24th January 15:53

Edited by graeme4130 on Sunday 24th January 15:54

[graeme4130]

Tall_Paul said:

Sounds alright with the Termi full system too

https://youtu.be/KfLntMfRxCA

Difficult to tell through a Youtube clip, but to my ears, it doesn't sound too much better than the standard can, which already makes a pretty decent noise

[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

[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

[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

[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)

[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 ?

[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

[graeme4130]

spareparts said:

Test rode one a few weeks back. Not impressed. It's a seriously 'meh' bike. I have/had a deposit on one of the first 300 bikes (comes with some fancy doodahs from H) and I'm getting my deposit back. It is slimmer and has more off-road pretentions than the GS, but is otherwise inferior to the GS for road riding - fast or slow, solo or 2-up.

It's worth bearing in mind that the 1200GS is also circa 40% more expensive when you add the options you need, and the Africa twin isn't just a road bike
If you're only road riding, and not trying anything other than tarmac, there's lots of bikes out there more suitable for the that the 1200GS
I test rode a GS, and as much as I liked it, it's a big wide thing and feels twice as heavy as the Honda. it's horses for courses though, and it depends entirely what you're using it for as to which is best. 1200GS power is nice though compared to the Honda

[graeme4130]

spareparts said:

graeme4130 said:

It's worth bearing in mind that the 1200GS is also circa 40% more expensive when you add the options you need, and the Africa twin isn't just a road bike
If you're only road riding, and not trying anything other than tarmac, there's lots of bikes out there more suitable for the that the 1200GS
I test rode a GS, and as much as I liked it, it's a big wide thing and feels twice as heavy as the Honda. it's horses for courses though, and it depends entirely what you're using it for as to which is best. 1200GS power is nice though compared to the Honda

I am not an off-road expert, but I suspect you're under rating the GS for its off-road capabilities. I've seen and read too many others off-road a GS to tell me it's as much about the rider than the bike.

The Honda is physically more compact than the GS, but it feels just as heavy once on the move in comparison to a GS (not GSA which feels heavier and less wieldy). Static weight wise, there's bugger all difference between them. If you are serious about off roading a bike, the AT may have better pretentions... But I suspect a KTM or Tenere has the AT licked there as well. The more I look at the AT in the UK, the more I'm convinced it's trying even harder than the GS to fill a market that doesn't really exist in 1st world England. The GS is the most popular tarmac based tourer in Europe, and it is brilliant at that - in fact, better than many other supposed 'tourers'.

Price does come into all of this, and you are right that the AT is cheap in comparison. The GS may be more expensive, but it offers a whole lot more than the AT.

sorry, perhaps that came across wrong, but I'm not doubting the off road capability of the GS
The GS was good, but just felt too big for me, whereas the AT was pretty nimble. I agree the GS is a great bike, but this isn't something I really need, I've bought it on a whim as a second bike, so ideally, I'd not be wanted to spend >£15k on a BMW.
The AT ticked all the boxes for me, and I'll be using it for a bit of offroading, but the bike is probably better than I am

[graeme4130]

PTF said:

Mad Jock said:

The dealer has sold sixteen up to Saturday morning, including a GS owner who I know quite well, who has subsequently changed tribes. His effigy will be burned at a ceremony later, possibly in his garden surrounded by men in white cloaks and flip front pointy hoods.

I suspect the GS brigade will make him hand in his beige trousers and comfortable shoes