Rode an Africa Twin today

[ruppster]

...
Ya'll naysayers still have not yet talked me out of a test ride. While Fancy checks most all the boxes, I do lust for a more "svelte" big ADV bike for the stable.

Try one, but I believe it will be too small for fellows of our stature, like cosmic is showing. The seat to peg distance appears to be pretty short as well. Probably work well for someone 5'8"-5'9". I looked at one, as I've been looking add a "big bike" to the stable for an out west trip this late summer (Sept). The KLR isn't going to cut it at 80mph for 5000 miles.

I keep thinking I should be able to find a plain, stripped 2012 S10 with 30-40k for about $6k, but it hasn't happened yet. Everybody added a bunch of stuff to them and thinks it increases their value. I would be willing to pay for crash bars and a skid plate I guess. I missed out on the leftover 2013s for $8500, called a couple of days late. They were white, too. I like the blue or white S10s best.

 

[Ron Earp]

There is no way I would ride a manual if DCT was available, and if the AT had a shaft drive it would be bye bye S10, without even a thought.

If the AT had cruise, ES, and shaft drive I'd be very very interested. I didn't think I'd care much for the ES but now that I have it I find it useful for my weight and carrying needs. And the cruise is simply indispensable. I don't want to drive on the interstate on a bike without it.

 

[Chuck B]

I come from mostly off road racing back ground. My Tenere was purchased mainly for price (left over 2013) and 2 up with a few solo LD rides. I've been pleasantly surprised how well it does as a street bike. Offroad its a whale but it can go places that it shouldn't. That said I generally keep to dirt roads and two track and thats about it.

An old racing buddy of mine has, like many of us, reached the age where he/we don't bounce any more. He's seen me doing a bunch of the DS riding (I have other DS bikes...not the Tenere) and decided to give it a try. He picked up a new AT last week. Got about 300 miles on it and we went for a ride this weekend. Before we headed out we swapped out the stock tires for some Kenda Big Blocks that I had on hand. Air Pressures were 28R and 24F. Needless to say I was much impressed at the speeds he was able to manage offroad. In the afternoon we swapped bikes and I spent a good 4hrs riding everything from smooth dirt roads, unimproved dirt roads, 2 track and probably 30-40 miles of single track here in N AZ. We also got out of the forest and up into the high deserts where I could get it to stretch its legs a bit...sections of dirt roads I saw speeds of 75-85mph.

Honda has built a winner. They have managed to keep a bit of dirt bike (CRF450X) DNA in the AT. Engine rev's quickly and has perfect fueling. While power is unimpressive its way more than needed in the dirt. The bike feels very light for being 500+lbs and the speeds I could easily manage on the AT my Tenere couldn't come close to. Theres just no room for comparison between the two off road. The AT just wants you to twist the throttle further and just go. Down side is its still 500+lbs and we managed to pinch flat the front 4X (2 for him and 2 for me). We ended up with front tire at 32lbs and far less 'dings' underway the remainder of the ride. The bike just wants you to run faster.

I've spent some time on the KTM 1190 and with some set up and familiarity I think the AT could be a better bike. I use to be a major Honda fan but lost much interest beginning in 2008 or so as everything Honda put out was not focused and hugely ugly...most fugly ugly imho. The AT is much better looking bike and I think if they were looking for a dirt biased ADV bike they hit a home run.

Ergo's...Pegs are certainly high but even more strange is how far forward they are. For my 6'3" frame and 36" inseam I was a bit cramped while standing. It was livable but I'd want to try and open the cockpit a bit more. Love the fact you could off the electronics. With ABS you can't 'off' the front but you can with the rear....great for brake sliding and powering out of the corners. Nice job Honda.

BTW...his was manual transmission.

 

[markjenn]

... we managed to pinch flat the front 4X (2 for him and 2 for me). We ended up with front tire at 32lbs and far less 'dings' underway the remainder of the ride....

So four times in one ride, you tossed a 525-lb bike on its side, removed the front wheel, levered the tire off, and patched the tube? (I guess some folks are made of sterner stuff.)

- Mark

 

[Andylaser]

There seems to be a few cases of people with DCT bikes sitting at the lights and blipping the throttle.

This invariably leads to a case of the bike taking a brief nap and the rider losing a large portion of street cred. ???

 

[Chuck B]

No reason to throw a bike on its side to fix a flat. I use/carry this from eagleMike http://www.eaglemike.com/searchquick-submit.sc?keywords=jack The AT's skid plate had a perfect hole in the front portion of the plate that the jack fit in and held the front tire off the ground perfectly. We were carrying a spare tube. Swapped it out the first time then patched with the other pinch flats. Swapped in another tube once back. Routine trail side repairs/fixes...

 

[RonH]

There seems to be a few cases of people with DCT bikes sitting at the lights and blipping the throttle.

This invariably leads to a case of the bike taking a brief nap and the rider losing a large portion of street cred. ???

This explains why Harley most likely will never produce a DCT. Can you imagine a group of 20 at a stoplight what would happen? Probably a 20 pile pileup like dominos.

 

[fredz43]

This explains why Harley most likely will never produce a DCT. Can you imagine a group of 20 at a stoplight what would happen? Probably a 20 pile pileup like dominos.

Now, THAT'S funny!

 

[greg the pole]

I come from mostly off road racing back ground. My Tenere was purchased mainly for price (left over 2013) and 2 up with a few solo LD rides. I've been pleasantly surprised how well it does as a street bike. Offroad its a whale but it can go places that it shouldn't. That said I generally keep to dirt roads and two track and thats about it.

An old racing buddy of mine has, like many of us, reached the age where he/we don't bounce any more. He's seen me doing a bunch of the DS riding (I have other DS bikes...not the Tenere) and decided to give it a try. He picked up a new AT last week. Got about 300 miles on it and we went for a ride this weekend. Before we headed out we swapped out the stock tires for some Kenda Big Blocks that I had on hand. Air Pressures were 28R and 24F. Needless to say I was much impressed at the speeds he was able to manage offroad. In the afternoon we swapped bikes and I spent a good 4hrs riding everything from smooth dirt roads, unimproved dirt roads, 2 track and probably 30-40 miles of single track here in N AZ. We also got out of the forest and up into the high deserts where I could get it to stretch its legs a bit...sections of dirt roads I saw speeds of 75-85mph.

Honda has built a winner. They have managed to keep a bit of dirt bike (CRF450X) DNA in the AT. Engine rev's quickly and has perfect fueling. While power is unimpressive its way more than needed in the dirt. The bike feels very light for being 500+lbs and the speeds I could easily manage on the AT my Tenere couldn't come close to. Theres just no room for comparison between the two off road. The AT just wants you to twist the throttle further and just go. Down side is its still 500+lbs and we managed to pinch flat the front 4X (2 for him and 2 for me). We ended up with front tire at 32lbs and far less 'dings' underway the remainder of the ride. The bike just wants you to run faster.

I've spent some time on the KTM 1190 and with some set up and familiarity I think the AT could be a better bike. I use to be a major Honda fan but lost much interest beginning in 2008 or so as everything Honda put out was not focused and hugely ugly...most fugly ugly imho. The AT is much better looking bike and I think if they were looking for a dirt biased ADV bike they hit a home run.

Ergo's...Pegs are certainly high but even more strange is how far forward they are. For my 6'3" frame and 36" inseam I was a bit cramped while standing. It was livable but I'd want to try and open the cockpit a bit more. Love the fact you could off the electronics. With ABS you can't 'off' the front but you can with the rear....great for brake sliding and powering out of the corners. Nice job Honda.

BTW...his was manual transmission.

thanks for the honest review.
I've put three dents in my tenere rims over the last two weeks.
I'd still take that over tubes, on a adv street bike.
I hate tubes so much that I run tubliss on my smoker.

For the life of me, I'm not sure why honda went with tubes. If I get a bad enough dent in the tubless rim, I can always throw a tube in to get me home. But to deal with a tube tire, regardless of situation (pinch, flat...whatever...) seems very odd to me.

 

[markjenn]

For the life of me, I'm not sure why honda went with tubes.

Cost and it reinforces the bikes dirt cred. And 21" tubeless, while being done, has had de-beading issues after punctures which often means you go down. Some think it is inherently too dangerous to do.

But I'm with you - this bike is a non-player for me as long as it has tubes. I want a bike that handles dirt better than the S10, but my use would still have the bike doing long-distances on pavement and I'm not removing wheels and patching tubes on the side of the highway.

There are rumors of a 19-17 tubleless version from Honda, but I doubt it will happen.

- Mark

 

[Ron Earp]

I don't understand the tube tire deal either. The most flats I ever had on a motorcycle were on my old Tiger with tube tires. Screw that.

 

[Bryn]

A mate of mine had a KTM 950, he liked to show boat ::26::

Twice on a trip to scotland he did rolling stoppies and ripped the valve out of his front tube ::017::

 

[greg the pole]

Cost and it reinforces the bikes dirt cred. And 21" tubeless, while being done, has had de-beading issues after punctures which often means you go down. Some think it is inherently too dangerous to do.

But I'm with you - this bike is a non-player for me as long as it has tubes. I want a bike that handles dirt better than the S10, but my use would still have the bike doing long-distances on pavement and I'm not removing wheels and patching tubes on the side of the highway.

There are rumors of a 19-17 tubleless version from Honda, but I doubt it will happen.

- Mark

that I didn't know about the 21" rims. I know that most guys don't have issues with the 1190R 21/18 hoops. They do have some learning to do on how to seal the rear rim properly.
Guys have had issues chaning the tires, and damaging the middle seal strip, thus starting leaks...

I've ran tubliss for over 100hrs beating it in the bush (exc 450, xc 300).
The rear tubliss started leaking after it was man handled by an idiot (me) while changing tires.
If I went the route of the AT, I would ditch the tubes and go to a tubliss. It's not 100% leak proof though. I have to top up my outer front constantly before rides.
That said, once the inner tubes are at 100 psi, you hardly have to touch them.

Not sure why honda would dumb down the AT with 19/17" defeats the purpose of sorts...

 

[arjayes]

The problem with tubliss on a bike like the AT is long high-speed slab runs. Nuetech clearly labels the product "For off-road use only". There are various opinions on why that is, probably a govermental reg thing, but I have yet to see any testimonials from people who have run tubliss for extended highway use. Plenty of people running tubliss for dual-sporting on KTM EXCs and similar sub-300 lb bikes, but nobody in their right mind would ride one of those at 70+ mph for hours at a time on a freeway. I would have concerns about the lack of history there, especially on a 500+ lb bike like the AT.

 

[greg the pole]

The problem with tubliss on a bike like the AT is long high-speed slab runs. Nuetech clearly labels the product "For off-road use only". There are various opinions on why that is, probably a govermental reg thing, but I have yet to see any testimonials from people who have run tubliss for extended highway use. Plenty of people running tubliss for dual-sporting on KTM EXCs and similar sub-300 lb bikes, but nobody in their right mind would ride one of those at 70+ mph for hours at a time on a freeway. I would have concerns about the lack of history there, especially on a 500+ lb bike like the AT.

Agreed.
A buddy of mine took a klr 650 frame, modded it, stuffed it with a kwak 650 motor from a ninja, and slapped 21/18 rims c/w tubliss. He now has close to 60 thou km on the set up with zero issue being presented by the tubliss.
Heat is probably the #1 enemy there.

Again, the PITA is that a new road bike should not have tubed tires...the AT will be used on road plenty...and we shouldn't be finding ways to go around it.

feck it... ::021:: my yamahas

 

[Dogdaze]

Again, the PITA is that a new road bike should not have tubed tires...the AT will be used on road plenty...and we shouldn't be finding ways to go around it.

feck it... ::021:: my yamahas

This might help, but lots of cash needed ::010::

http://www.bikehps.com/acatalog/Kineo-Wire-Spoked-Wheels-Honda-CRF1000L-Africa-Twin-2015-onwards.html

 

[greg the pole]

lol....2200 pounds extra...


I'd rather get a 1190R and call it a day

 

[Dogdaze]

lol....2200 pounds extra...


I'd rather get a 1190R and call it a day

::026:: or just stretch to the.......................... 1290? O

 

[greg the pole]

::026:: or just stretch to the.......................... 1290? O

no way.
the 1290 has a host of issues that the 'smaller' displacement 1190 does not have.
Plus the E suspension has been not exactly faultless.
To boot, imagine how much heat the 1190 puts out, then increase it by another 30% ::010::
For the type of riding I do the 1190R would be a shoe in. The 21/18 hoops would be the cats ass!

Oh, I barely get to use the power on my fudge nine, save for the several crossed up wheelies I did this morning. I don't need 165hp on road or off..

 

[78YZ]

I visited my local mega dealer today. They had a S10, Crosstourer and an Africa Twin parked adjacent to each other. I am delighted with my S10 so none of this commentary involved active buyer motives. The AT looks the part but I'd expect it to be lighter with a chain versus a shaft drive. Furthermore, it was sitting next to another Honda that came equipped with beautiful tubeless spoked rims. These look like more like the design used on BMWs than that used on the S10 and Vstrom XT. Why didn't they use these on the AT? Here is a picture of the wheels referenced.