Honda Africa Twin, thoughts ?
Discussion
Just wondered if anyone has any feedback on running the new Honda AT ?
All reviews I've read are on the whole pretty positive, but can't beat actual owner thoughts. Good , bad or indifferent.
I've seen a previous thread with some mixed thoughts , but that was mainly just test rides and not really ownership.
Thanks in advance
All reviews I've read are on the whole pretty positive, but can't beat actual owner thoughts. Good , bad or indifferent.
I've seen a previous thread with some mixed thoughts , but that was mainly just test rides and not really ownership.
Thanks in advance
Took delivery of one for my overseas based brother in law and took it up to the running in service so about 500 miles.
It is very comfortable, doesn't feel its weight, suspension over typical crappy British roads is excellent. It is quite soft but well damped.
Stable on the motorway, we had the tall screen which I preferred to the standard one. Feels totally natural to be stood up on the pegs as well. My bro in law shipped it to Dakar and then rode back to London on it and had no mechanical issues whatsoever. He said it was excellent off-road, really confidence inspiring.
The panniers are crap (according to him) one cracked in a minor off road spill, it does not have enough grunt or space for two up touring but for a solo rider it is plenty. If I was to buy one I think I would change the huge end can for a bit more noise, power (its delivery is very soft). The Honda heated grips are a bit lame so might be worth going after market for those as well as luggage options. Other than that I would spec centre-stand, tall screen and extra 12v socket. For the price I think the socket and stand should be included but they're not...
Edit to add the above is a manual 'box. Haven't tried the DCT
It is very comfortable, doesn't feel its weight, suspension over typical crappy British roads is excellent. It is quite soft but well damped.
Stable on the motorway, we had the tall screen which I preferred to the standard one. Feels totally natural to be stood up on the pegs as well. My bro in law shipped it to Dakar and then rode back to London on it and had no mechanical issues whatsoever. He said it was excellent off-road, really confidence inspiring.
The panniers are crap (according to him) one cracked in a minor off road spill, it does not have enough grunt or space for two up touring but for a solo rider it is plenty. If I was to buy one I think I would change the huge end can for a bit more noise, power (its delivery is very soft). The Honda heated grips are a bit lame so might be worth going after market for those as well as luggage options. Other than that I would spec centre-stand, tall screen and extra 12v socket. For the price I think the socket and stand should be included but they're not...
Edit to add the above is a manual 'box. Haven't tried the DCT
Edited by GM182 on Friday 2nd December 10:56
GM182 said:
Took delivery of one for my overseas based brother in law and took it up to the running in service so about 500 miles.
It is very comfortable, doesn't feel its weight, suspension over typical crappy British roads is excellent. It is quite soft but well damped.
Stable on the motorway, we had the tall screen which I preferred to the standard one. Feels totally natural to be stood up on the pegs as well. My bro in law shipped it to Dakar and then rode back to London on it and had no mechanical issues whatsoever. He said it was excellent off-road, really confidence inspiring.
The panniers are crap (according to him) one cracked in a minor off road spill, it does not have enough grunt or space for two up touring but for a solo rider it is plenty. If I was to buy one I think I would change the huge end can for a bit more noise, power (its delivery is very soft). The Honda heated grips are a bit lame so might be worth going after market for those as well as luggage options. Other than that I would spec centre-stand, tall screen and extra 12v socket. For the price I think the socket and stand should be included but they're not...
Edit to add the above is a manual 'box. Haven't tried the DCT
Some good info there thanks.It is very comfortable, doesn't feel its weight, suspension over typical crappy British roads is excellent. It is quite soft but well damped.
Stable on the motorway, we had the tall screen which I preferred to the standard one. Feels totally natural to be stood up on the pegs as well. My bro in law shipped it to Dakar and then rode back to London on it and had no mechanical issues whatsoever. He said it was excellent off-road, really confidence inspiring.
The panniers are crap (according to him) one cracked in a minor off road spill, it does not have enough grunt or space for two up touring but for a solo rider it is plenty. If I was to buy one I think I would change the huge end can for a bit more noise, power (its delivery is very soft). The Honda heated grips are a bit lame so might be worth going after market for those as well as luggage options. Other than that I would spec centre-stand, tall screen and extra 12v socket. For the price I think the socket and stand should be included but they're not...
Edit to add the above is a manual 'box. Haven't tried the DCT
Edited by GM182 on Friday 2nd December 10:56
Bit disappointing to hear it may be too much of a squeeze and not enough grunt for two up , as would probably be looking for that option quite a lot of the time.
Sounds like your Brother in Law would have had a good trip back from Dakar. Certainly a pretty thorough test !
Se7enheaven said:
GM182 said:
Took delivery of one for my overseas based brother in law and took it up to the running in service so about 500 miles.
It is very comfortable, doesn't feel its weight, suspension over typical crappy British roads is excellent. It is quite soft but well damped.
Stable on the motorway, we had the tall screen which I preferred to the standard one. Feels totally natural to be stood up on the pegs as well. My bro in law shipped it to Dakar and then rode back to London on it and had no mechanical issues whatsoever. He said it was excellent off-road, really confidence inspiring.
The panniers are crap (according to him) one cracked in a minor off road spill, it does not have enough grunt or space for two up touring but for a solo rider it is plenty. If I was to buy one I think I would change the huge end can for a bit more noise, power (its delivery is very soft). The Honda heated grips are a bit lame so might be worth going after market for those as well as luggage options. Other than that I would spec centre-stand, tall screen and extra 12v socket. For the price I think the socket and stand should be included but they're not...
Edit to add the above is a manual 'box. Haven't tried the DCT
Some good info there thanks.It is very comfortable, doesn't feel its weight, suspension over typical crappy British roads is excellent. It is quite soft but well damped.
Stable on the motorway, we had the tall screen which I preferred to the standard one. Feels totally natural to be stood up on the pegs as well. My bro in law shipped it to Dakar and then rode back to London on it and had no mechanical issues whatsoever. He said it was excellent off-road, really confidence inspiring.
The panniers are crap (according to him) one cracked in a minor off road spill, it does not have enough grunt or space for two up touring but for a solo rider it is plenty. If I was to buy one I think I would change the huge end can for a bit more noise, power (its delivery is very soft). The Honda heated grips are a bit lame so might be worth going after market for those as well as luggage options. Other than that I would spec centre-stand, tall screen and extra 12v socket. For the price I think the socket and stand should be included but they're not...
Edit to add the above is a manual 'box. Haven't tried the DCT
Edited by GM182 on Friday 2nd December 10:56
Bit disappointing to hear it may be too much of a squeeze and not enough grunt for two up , as would probably be looking for that option quite a lot of the time.
Sounds like your Brother in Law would have had a good trip back from Dakar. Certainly a pretty thorough test !
GM182 said:
If it was his choice he would have kept it but his better half put her foot down and said no more long trips as his pillion! He will be keeping his GS Adventure. They are both of average build. They are doing a film of their trip for Honda Brazil so I'll direct to the link when it becomes available (which may not be until Jan).
My missus is just a slip of a thing at 45 kilos , so I'm thinking for two up may not be too bad for space. Obviously need to try it and see of course. Look forward to seeing that trip vid in January. Appreciate the link when it's ready.
The mention of possible revisions to the bike sounds interesting for 2017 / 2018. I'm not in any rush to buy at the moment , and I'm sure the market will have changed again by the time I am ready to buy anyway. But certainly at the moment the AT seems to tick all the boxes.
Thanks for replies all.
I've had one since April. It's a decent bike, and like said above, is plenty powerful enough, although down on power compared to a GS or big KTM.
It hides its weight well and plenty nimble enough on the road. I've not tried any 'proper' off roading on mine as the standard tyres don't seem up to much on anything other than light mud or gravel, but I understand it's a segment leader in that respect
Honda heated grips are known to be crap, so do as I did, and get some oxford aftermarket ones
I have a manual, but wished I'd gone for the DCT having tried one recently
It hides its weight well and plenty nimble enough on the road. I've not tried any 'proper' off roading on mine as the standard tyres don't seem up to much on anything other than light mud or gravel, but I understand it's a segment leader in that respect
Honda heated grips are known to be crap, so do as I did, and get some oxford aftermarket ones
I have a manual, but wished I'd gone for the DCT having tried one recently
I had one for an hour and a half while my bike was getting MOT'd:
It's heavy when moving it about but beautifully balanced, didn't feel like 230kgs. 1-2mph no feet down was a doddle. The 21" front wheel is VERY different to a 17" wheel, slow speed turning was like a cargo ship at first! Makes a lovely throbby growl when you accelerate, I didn't wear earplugs. 80mph with my visor up was a nice feeling, the wind was skimming the very top of my helmet, and I'm 6ft 3in. Think it had the higher than standard screen on.
I did try standing up but I think I'd need bar risers, or maybe bent knees a bit more - felt weird though and the standard badly adjusted throttle with lots of slack didn't help.
Plenty of grunt for overtaking, more than enough. I had the TCS at max (level 3) but still managed to have a little rear end slide accelerating on a wet sliproad up to the motorway, all I knew about it was the rear going very very slightly sideways, I'm sure the TCS cut in but it wasn't noticable.
All in all, very very easy to ride, dead comfy too.
It's heavy when moving it about but beautifully balanced, didn't feel like 230kgs. 1-2mph no feet down was a doddle. The 21" front wheel is VERY different to a 17" wheel, slow speed turning was like a cargo ship at first! Makes a lovely throbby growl when you accelerate, I didn't wear earplugs. 80mph with my visor up was a nice feeling, the wind was skimming the very top of my helmet, and I'm 6ft 3in. Think it had the higher than standard screen on.
I did try standing up but I think I'd need bar risers, or maybe bent knees a bit more - felt weird though and the standard badly adjusted throttle with lots of slack didn't help.
Plenty of grunt for overtaking, more than enough. I had the TCS at max (level 3) but still managed to have a little rear end slide accelerating on a wet sliproad up to the motorway, all I knew about it was the rear going very very slightly sideways, I'm sure the TCS cut in but it wasn't noticable.
All in all, very very easy to ride, dead comfy too.
If you would be taking such a thing off road, (with other tyres), they are an excellent big trailie.
BUT, if you are using it on road, there are loads better things out there! Weels and Tyres are a good starting point, the "sports" trailies with 17 inch (even 18 inch) fronts are SO much nicer on the road.
Triumph Tiger sport, Multistrada, even in Honda, the cross tourer 1200 (although you cannot get a new one) is a proper tool on the road.
V Strom is a bargain and is better as a road bike.
BUT, if you want the off roadie look and are willing to put up with the compromises any such bike has on road, the Africa Twin is a fine machine and hard to beat at the money.
BUT, if you are using it on road, there are loads better things out there! Weels and Tyres are a good starting point, the "sports" trailies with 17 inch (even 18 inch) fronts are SO much nicer on the road.
Triumph Tiger sport, Multistrada, even in Honda, the cross tourer 1200 (although you cannot get a new one) is a proper tool on the road.
V Strom is a bargain and is better as a road bike.
BUT, if you want the off roadie look and are willing to put up with the compromises any such bike has on road, the Africa Twin is a fine machine and hard to beat at the money.
I wonder what this is like compared against the KTM 1090 and perhaps the 1190?
The bikes look similar on paper (obviously the 1190 has a lot more power), however the new 2017 KTM 1090 has 125bhp and from my understanding the 1190 has been discontinued from what I can see to be superseded by the 1290.
Needless to say I am intrigued.
The bikes look similar on paper (obviously the 1190 has a lot more power), however the new 2017 KTM 1090 has 125bhp and from my understanding the 1190 has been discontinued from what I can see to be superseded by the 1290.
Needless to say I am intrigued.
I see the Multistrada 950 is on it's way, coming out early 2017.
Initial reviews are quite positive. Down a good bit on power from it's big brother, and not so off road orientated as the Africa Twin of course.
The price does seem a bit steep though at around 11K without the options. So I guess by the time you spec it up you are back into the realms of a year or two old 1200 Multi standard model.
Initial reviews are quite positive. Down a good bit on power from it's big brother, and not so off road orientated as the Africa Twin of course.
The price does seem a bit steep though at around 11K without the options. So I guess by the time you spec it up you are back into the realms of a year or two old 1200 Multi standard model.
Bit of a thread bump.
Just saw there is a thread about ADV riding and another referring to Africa Twins but thought I'd link these videos here as it is where I mentioned them back in December...Marcelo and Beth (my sister-in-law) had a great trip. Mauritania was pretty tough but now I want to go to Morocco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWXMRT7w6rY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAJLZzJ8D90
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7kVBd_S22M&t=...
1&2 are the better ones, 3 is mostly an epilogue. Commentary is in Portuguese
Just saw there is a thread about ADV riding and another referring to Africa Twins but thought I'd link these videos here as it is where I mentioned them back in December...Marcelo and Beth (my sister-in-law) had a great trip. Mauritania was pretty tough but now I want to go to Morocco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWXMRT7w6rY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAJLZzJ8D90
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7kVBd_S22M&t=...
1&2 are the better ones, 3 is mostly an epilogue. Commentary is in Portuguese
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