• A few people have been scammed on the site, Only use paypal to pay for items for sale by other members. If they will not use paypal, its likely a scam NEVER SEND E-TRANSFERS OF ANY KIND.

Yet Another Review of the New Africa Twin

kpinvt said:
Jeezum Crowbars, I hope the new AT is too tall for me when I finally get to sit on one.


Test Ride: 2016 Africa Twin | Bikes | Reviews
Click to expand...

I might have some bad news for you. I got to sit on one at MotoGP and... it felt easier to flat foot than my NC with a Seat Concepts seat on it... the spec sheet says the AT should be about an inch higher, but I think the suspension settles a little more than the NC, and my seat is a little wider than stock.

You'll have to come up with a better excuse than that :p

trey
 
Easier to flat foot than the NC? That is indeed good news. I am not wild about spoked wheels but I may just have to get over that.

I am amazed at how many journalists are saying that they prefer the DCT. They supported that choice with some wonderful reasoning and creative phrasing. Now I can better describe why the DCT suits me so well - "Cognitive Relief". The older I get, the more of that I need.
 
Someone mentioned on here previously that they would like to hear some views on the AT after I purchased. So, here goes with some random thoughts.

An important aspect, seat height. I have a 32 inch inseam. Yes, I can just barely flat foot the AT with the suspension set up to about a third of its preload. My heels in my motorcycle boots ate just barely touching the ground. If I were to add much more spring preload then my heels would certainly be off the deck, but I would still have plenty of contact with the ground.

Weight. It does not feel heavy to me by comparison with my NC. It carries its weight well. Mine is the lightest model at 228KG, having neither abs or dct. It is easy enough to push around for a big bike, and it is a big bike. The NC is almost as heavy but it is a more compact motorcycle.

Riding position is good for me. The bars come easily to hand and my legs have a little more room than on the NC. I like the adjustable brake lever as I have small hands. The clutch is cable operated and is light. The seat is firm but not as sloped forward as the NC. The screen is noisy as are most screens on most motorcycles but there is adequate protection from it. It did not take me long to get very accustomed to this motorcycle.

Suspension. Multi adjustable and very comfortable. Despite its mushy suspension it still handles very well on any roads. I am playing around with settings at the moment but there is plenty to play with and I have no doubt I can make it even more comfortable. There is quite a bit of dive of the forks under heavy braking but that is normal for such suspension.

The engine is another little gem from Honda. It is quite different to the NC as it is much more undersquare. It pulls very smoothly from low revs but as I am still running in I have not tested the lower aspect of its pulling power just yet. It is more free revving motor with lighter flywheels. The gearbox is good if a little notchy but it is still new. The motor pulls very well in the top two gears and as such I will not be using the gearbox as much as I would have used the NC box. 5th and 6th will now carry most of the backroad duties.

The combination of all above aspects, together with the height of the bike and the comfortable suspension, had me going a lot quicker than I thought a few times when I happened to look at the speedo. This motor has about 95bhp and that is plenty. Honda have again flown in the face of the current norms by keeping the HP sensible when others such as KTM and Ducati have completely lost the run of themselves with 160bhp and motorbikes that are also simply too big.

One nice touch for us Europeans is that the front turn signals are now lit permanently. I didn’t know about this development until I noticed a glow off them on the road and then looked it up on the web. The chassis seems quite robust all round.

There are some downsides. The bodywork is very vulnerable if one drops this bike. I have seen plenty of evidence on the web to bear this out. It is expensive to replace. The accessory manufacturers are only now getting around to making the protection and while some have items up for sale, they seem to have a problem with delivery. I am looking at two crashbars. One is the Honda accessory item and the other is from a Canadian firm Outback Motortek. Outback are currently in the prototype stage. I was looking at Touratech but the agency here in Ireland is so poor I have lost interest. It also appears that there is a problem at that factory.

Accessory luggage is not good according to some testers. It also appears that all Honda accessories are very expensive.

As yet I have no idea of Fuel consumption.

These are some initial impressions and if anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to ask. I will answer as honestly as possible.
 
Griff said:
Someone mentioned on here previously that they would like to hear some views on the AT after I purchased. So, here goes with some random thoughts.

An important aspect, seat height. I have a 32 inch inseam. Yes, I can just barely flat foot the AT with the suspension set up to about a third of its preload. My heels in my motorcycle boots ate just barely touching the ground. If I were to add much more spring preload then my heels would certainly be off the deck, but I would still have plenty of contact with the ground.

Weight. It does not feel heavy to me by comparison with my NC. It carries its weight well. Mine is the lightest model at 228KG, having neither abs or dct. It is easy enough to push around for a big bike, and it is a big bike. The NC is almost as heavy but it is a more compact motorcycle.

Riding position is good for me. The bars come easily to hand and my legs have a little more room than on the NC. I like the adjustable brake lever as I have small hands. The clutch is cable operated and is light. The seat is firm but not as sloped forward as the NC. The screen is noisy as are most screens on most motorcycles but there is adequate protection from it. It did not take me long to get very accustomed to this motorcycle.

Suspension. Multi adjustable and very comfortable. Despite its mushy suspension it still handles very well on any roads. I am playing around with settings at the moment but there is plenty to play with and I have no doubt I can make it even more comfortable. There is quite a bit of dive of the forks under heavy braking but that is normal for such suspension.

The engine is another little gem from Honda. It is quite different to the NC as it is much more undersquare. It pulls very smoothly from low revs but as I am still running in I have not tested the lower aspect of its pulling power just yet. It is more free revving motor with lighter flywheels. The gearbox is good if a little notchy but it is still new. The motor pulls very well in the top two gears and as such I will not be using the gearbox as much as I would have used the NC box. 5th and 6th will now carry most of the backroad duties.

The combination of all above aspects, together with the height of the bike and the comfortable suspension, had me going a lot quicker than I thought a few times when I happened to look at the speedo. This motor has about 95bhp and that is plenty. Honda have again flown in the face of the current norms by keeping the HP sensible when others such as KTM and Ducati have completely lost the run of themselves with 160bhp and motorbikes that are also simply too big.

One nice touch for us Europeans is that the front turn signals are now lit permanently. I didn’t know about this development until I noticed a glow off them on the road and then looked it up on the web. The chassis seems quite robust all round.

There are some downsides. The bodywork is very vulnerable if one drops this bike. I have seen plenty of evidence on the web to bear this out. It is expensive to replace. The accessory manufacturers are only now getting around to making the protection and while some have items up for sale, they seem to have a problem with delivery. I am looking at two crashbars. One is the Honda accessory item and the other is from a Canadian firm Outback Motortek. Outback are currently in the prototype stage. I was looking at Touratech but the agency here in Ireland is so poor I have lost interest. It also appears that there is a problem at that factory.

Accessory luggage is not good according to some testers. It also appears that all Honda accessories are very expensive.

As yet I have no idea of Fuel consumption.

These are some initial impressions and if anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to ask. I will answer as honestly as possible.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the write up. I too have a 32 inch inseam, so that's good to hear that you can flat foot it. I'm getting excited about this bike. Just saw on Facebook last night that the first dealer in Northern California just got one. The guy who bought it also has a cast on his right arm. So the guy can't even ride it yet!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Imho the bike is worth the wait. I am currently still making adjustments to suspension to get it to my liking but I am nearly there, one click at a time.

The standard tyres are Dunlop Trail Max. Imho they are good tyres with good grip wet and dry. I use a similar tyre on my Triumph (Trail Smart) and achieve the same results

Today I did the first fill. I am riding mostly on backroads that I normally frequent so the pace is more or less normal while running in at a ceiling of about 5000rpm and revving it freely. When all the calculations are done I am getting 58.83 miles per Imperial gallon. That is fine by me for a one litre motor. I would expect that to decrease to mid to low 50's when the running in process is finished. It went on to reserve at 321 Kms.
 
Griff said:
Imho the bike is worth the wait. I am currently still making adjustments to suspension to get it to my liking but I am nearly there, one click at a time.

The standard tyres are Dunlop Trail Max. Imho they are good tyres with good grip wet and dry. I use a similar tyre on my Triumph (Trail Smart) and achieve the same results

Today I did the first fill. I am riding mostly on backroads that I normally frequent so the pace is more or less normal while running in at a ceiling of about 5000rpm and revving it freely. When all the calculations are done I am getting 58.83 miles per Imperial gallon. That is fine by me for a one litre motor. I would expect that to decrease to mid to low 50's when the running in process is finished. It went on to reserve at 321 Kms.
Click to expand...


When (if you have yet, that is) you are loping along at normal highway speed, what are the rpm's compared to the NCX like?
 
L.B.S. said:
When (if you have yet, that is) you are loping along at normal highway speed, what are the rpm's compared to the NCX like?
Click to expand...

I have but never thought to compare. Leave that one with me and I will come back to you.
 
L.B.S. said:
When (if you have yet, that is) you are loping along at normal highway speed, what are the rpm's compared to the NCX like?
Click to expand...

I had a look at that aspect today. At 4000rpm in top it is doing 119kph. At 5000rpm it is doing 149kph. I can't remember what the revs to speed were on the NC but I have a feeling it is slightly higher geared than the AT.

After much thinking and head scratching I have ordered the Honda brand crashbars. It was a carefully thought out decision having looked at most of what was on offer. Touratech would have been second choice but the waiting time was too long.

I attach a couple of pics from today.....

P1050015.jpg

P1050017.jpg
 
Many thanks to everyone for all the congrats and good wishes. I hope to stay on here for a while as this has always been a favourite forum of the four or so that I have been in, or am still currently a member of. I would not be able to say that about all of them. I also believe I still have a lot to offer on here while my experiences with my NC are still fresh in my mind.
 
Folks in Europe do get the Africa Twin a lot quicker than in the USA. I have been waiting a long time for my Dakar DCT, and it seems I might have to wait until July or August. I was the 1st person to put a deposit on the Dakar DCT at a power house dealership. Seems some manuals shifts and a few silver DCT have arrive at the dealership. Yet I still wait for a Dakar DCT.

I do like the Honda fairing bars the best, but the $500 factory price leads me toward the other brands. Most other brands are around $275. I do agree that the bars are a must on the Africa twin. The Givi fairing bars do not fit the DCT. My factory tall windshield and my center stand have arrived, just wish the bike would arrive.
 
I decided color didn't matter and put a deposit on the next DCT my dealer is supposed to get. So, it's going to be silver when I get it. But the paint can be changed fairly easy, my NC700X only came in silver when I got it, but thanks to Plasti-Dipping it it's been Cammo Green and now black and white. I just want a new A.T. DCT.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Old Can Ride said:
I do like the Honda fairing bars the best, but the $500 factory price leads me toward the other brands. Most other brands are around $275. I do agree that the bars are a must on the Africa twin. The Givi fairing bars do not fit the DCT.
Click to expand...

The bodywork crashbars are a dilemma. I worked my way through the ADV rider pages and the AT forum to try and decide what was best. The most frequently mentioned items were from SW Mocheck, Holan, Touratech and a Canadian outfit called Outback Motortek. I had a good look at them all. All except the Honda item are solidly mounted either to frame or engine. The Honda item is the only one that is completely rubber mounted. One wonders why.

What is certain is that if this bike hits the deck either at a standstill or otherwise, the bodywork up around the tank will fracture I have seen enough photos to convince me of that and one only has to eyeball the bike from the front to see how obvious it is. Accordingly the first accessory fitted should be a crashbar.

Having considered all of them, I eventually bit the bullet and purchased the Honda item. It is also the only one where the tubing is in one piece and as mentioned above, completely rubber mounted. The one piece means that any impact is better shared with all mounting points. I also adopted the logic that Honda did sufficient testing of this item on their bike to be satisfied that it works. I believe it is a steel alloy and is quite light for its size. Having considered all of the others there were various aspects that I did not like or that I felt could do damage rather than protect. The Touratech items and Givi bars were not available.

Some folks removed the Pillion footrests. Bad idea imho. They protrude sufficiently to assist in keeping the rear of the bike and perhaps the motor, off the road in a fall. There is a rear facing protrusion on left pillion footrest that makes it much easier to lift the bike onto the centrestand. It is not easy to do otherwise with the pillion footrest in place.

Just some information to help you prepare for your bike when it arrives.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I wish the Touratech fairing guard was black powder coated. I just do not like anything that looks like chrome. I agree that Honda is the best made, but silver in color and highest price. You are correct about this being the hardest part to decide on. Right now I am leaning toward the Hepco and Becker, but you do have to also by the engine guard with the Hepco and Becker.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

FIRE UP
Potential new owner of an NC750X DCT
Replies
8
Views
974
Hondo53
Hondo53
admin
Aprilia’s “Back to Africa” Tuareg Prototype Preps for the Heat
Replies
0
Views
266
admin
admin
admin
2023 Triumph Speed Twin 900 Review
Replies
0
Views
3K
admin
admin
admin
2023 Benelli Leoncino 800 Ride Review
Replies
0
Views
318
admin
admin
V
How much could you realistically modify a nc750x?
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
mzflorida
mzflorida
Back
Top