Who has purchased a new Africa Twin?

[CAPP0]

I wonder whether HHF bought his as a result of this thread

[rat840771]

I went out for a 30mile blast yesterday. Took the daughter and I didn’t even know she was there and loved it. The bike is great fun, just a shame it is down on power.

[Rawwr]

rat840771 said:

Iust a shame it is down on power.

Perhaps but with that DCT 'box, there aren't many bikes I can get off the line quicker than the AT

It's also childishly entertaining pinning the throttle at the right point to slip the rear a bit before hooning up the road

[supercommuter]

CAPP0 said:

I wonder whether HHF bought his as a result of this thread

Who is HHF?

Rawwr said:

Perhaps but with that DCT 'box, there aren't many bikes I can get off the line quicker than the AT

I love traffic light GP's. I have fitted a slip on, but it is simply too loud so I need to put the baffle back in.

Edited by supercommuter on Monday 12th March 11:33

[rat840771]

supercommuter said:

CAPP0 said:

I wonder whether HHF bought his as a result of this thread

Who is HHF?

Rawwr said:

Perhaps but with that DCT 'box, there aren't many bikes I can get off the line quicker than the AT

I love traffic light GP's. I have fitted a slip on, but it is simply too loud so I need to put the baffle back in.

Edited by supercommuter on Monday 12th March 11:33

It is great fun off the lights except the TC just goes crazy even when turned down to 1, and that was with the daughter on the back and it still looses traction!

I have the scorpion can with baffle out and it sounds amazing, loud but bearable.

[Prof Prolapse]

rat840771 said:

It is great fun off the lights except the TC just goes crazy even when turned down to 1, and that was with the daughter on the back and it still looses traction!

I normally like to make my own mind up about things, but I think on this occasion I'm just going to go ahead and bin these OEM Dunlop tyres.

[supercommuter]

Prof Prolapse said:

rat840771 said:

It is great fun off the lights except the TC just goes crazy even when turned down to 1, and that was with the daughter on the back and it still looses traction!

I normally like to make my own mind up about things, but I think on this occasion I'm just going to go ahead and bin these OEM Dunlop tyres.

I will have them, don't bin them. I have been scooping them up on ebay and fitting them for bargain commuting tyre. 9k per rear is lovely.

[supercommuter]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I have a decent set of TKC's in the garage that i put on if i need to. I don't need cutting edge tyres in the wet for motorway commuting. That said, the tyres are fine in the dry, just need to take it easy in the wet. For me it is perfect, getting near new

I've done a set, on my second set now. 11k miles in or something now.

[CAPP0]

supercommuter said:

CAPP0 said:

I wonder whether HHF bought his as a result of this thread

Who is HHF?

Sorry, been away. Henry Hope-Frost. Motorsport commentator and raconteur, seemingly much-loved by those directly involved in the sports. Was very active at Goodwood events. He died earlier this month in an RTC, on his way home from there I believe.

Autosport link here

[supercommuter]

How is everyone getting on with the AT so far?

I have just used my 3 year mileage allowance up

[rat840771]

Enjoying mine, I don't get the buzz as I did from the GSXR but still good fun.

terrible fuel consumption but I do thrash it everywhere. Off to the lakes on mine on Sat from Cambridge. I think I may get wet!

[supercommuter]

I was never expecting the buzz of a sports bike.

I like it, does what I wanted from it! Economy could be better and cruise control would be lovely..but on the most part I got what I expected!

I ended up adding a centre stand, oxford grips, 12v socket, pelican case, exhaust and a taller screen. Will run it until 80k miles again I think. It is at this point generally I need to decide if the bike is doing the full term with me or not because from now in the value falls off.

[rat840771]

Drive is okay, I generally override and shift with the buttons
Haven’t noticed chain snatch, vibey (isn’t this normal for twins?)
Performance is limited and pegs are tiny but I can live with it for 3 years at £70 a month.
I will get rid in 3 years and get another decent bike (mt10, Ktm etc)

John banks are knocking out the blade at £129 a month interest free with £2.5k off !

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[Alex@POD]

I like mine, I will install wider pegs at some point but I like the power delivery. Even 2 up I've not found it lacking. The DCT can be a little annoying, there are times it'll bog down a little in D and S1, but hunt between gears in S2, other than that, no complaints.

At the moment, the only reason I would swap it would be for something like a Super Tenere or Explorer, with more gizmos and better for cruising, but I'm happy.

[andySC]

So far so good. I was tempted back to the fold after a 10 year lay off by the daft PCP deal (£1000 in & £42 per month). My other half lives the other side of the Pennines and I’ve bought a Kriega bag so I can carry enough gear for a weekend or more. I’ve junked the Dunlop’s for some Conti TA 2’s. The difference is as expected. They’re great. The Dunlop’s had my arse twitching from Tintwistle to Tankersley if I went home via the Woodhead but no such concerns with the Conti’s. The only chicken strips are on the middle shelf of the freezer now. Confidence levels are where they need to be. Had the Mrs on the back on Saturday, it was her first time ever on a motorbike and at first she hated it but after a few miles it was all smiles. She's looking forward to Round 2 ! Overall the bike is everything I want, it’s quick enough, stops well enough and handles properly now plus the fact it’s costing me practically bugger all. I usually ride in S1 but will use the buttons to shift if needs be. From a performance perspective I think it’s enough for me personally, 100 ish bhp and 250kg with the aerodynamics of a barn door aren’t gonna see any lap records being broken but it’s adequate for sure, nothing compared to a big sports bike mind you, as the numbers suggest. Give it the beans and you’re way past a Drivers Awareness Course territory in short order. I think they make a great noise too and look the part.

Edited by andySC on Tuesday 27th March 16:48

[graeme4130]

Sold mine last week. I bought it with the intention of using it, but it just didn't happen and after 2 years it hadn't even done 2k miles. I think last year I used it twice and covered about 300miles on it, so had to let it go
It was a great bike and even after sitting in the corner of my garage and not being started for over 6 months, it started on first turn of the key. Wish I had the same reliability on my race bikes

[Prof Prolapse]

Not meant as a dig, but I find people get most unhappy with bikes when they don't use them in the manner they were intended for personally.

The Africa Twin is quite a specialised bike. If you're not finding the time to ride your adventure bike on st roads or light off-roading, or do serious distance on it, then it's just a bloody big heavy bike with a weird gearbox, narrow tyres, and inappropriately sized front wheel. It's not going to be long before the novelty wears off and that becomes an ugly fact.

I had a similar problem with my GSXR-750. At my 9/10ths it's fking fantastic, but I only ride it on the road, and like to do big runs as well as shorter "spirited" ones. The limited tank range, it goading you to hit the limiter in third, and general impracticality over distance, means it's not well-suited to my needs all of the time. Despite it being superb I found myself not wanting to ride it sometimes. If nothing else because I just didn't have the energy for what would be another balls out banzai ride when actually I just wanted to bimble around.

It's weird that bikers don't seem to accept "horses for courses" despite it being so much easier to actually enact with bikes over cars. You wouldn't buy a Land Cruiser and complain that it's off-road credentials are compromising it's road abilities. It's an excellent and accomplished piece of machinery, but it isn't a 911, or a Range Rover Sport. You presumably knew that when you bought it, so criticisms of a Land Cruiser being too "Land-Cruisery", I'm not convinced are very valid...

Whereas, back to the Uganda Twin, complaints where it's not met it's objectives, like DCT fkwittery, ergonomics, obviously make sense.

[Andybow]

I like having the AT, it’s a good bike for what’s it meant to do, I’ve used it all winter , very happy that I got it, Obviously it Dosent have the go of the MT10 but it does it’s job well, starts on the button, is reasonable quick, as in it covers ground well on st roads, will happily sit a fast cruising speeds on the motorway, DCT box is pretty good when out of town. Wouldn’t want it as my only bike as it Dosent give me the excitement of a big naked.

[supercommuter]

Prof Prolapse said:

Not meant as a dig, but I find people get most unhappy with bikes when they don't use them in the manner they were intended for personally.

Agreed.

It is a big heavy, reliable, comfortable mile muncher.

Not a back road blasting sportsbike. I have used mine as intended and love it.

[cylinderfin]

bogie said:

Its a great deal for everyone, basically £3k odd discount, funded by dealer. You can buy a £12k bike for £9k .....well good for everyone except any that have paid anywhere near list price.

Used values in 3 years will be cheap if they are already discounting them £3k to get them to sell now........

sounds to me like the best deal will be for the 2nd owners in 3 years time as the market will be saturated