Honda Africa Twin

[eisfeld]

I had a chance to ride the new lowered Africa Twin Adventure Sports (DCT) on the road for close to an hour. Things that I noticed:

 

1. The 2018 exhaust is noticeably louder than the one from 2017. That's clear already at idle but pretty obvious when you rev it a bit - quite a difference. The tone is also a bit different. I'm not sure which one I prefer actually. I'm tending to the older one as I don't want to annoy my neighbours all too much during later hours and mine is already very audible.

 

2. When sitting on the bike, it didn't feel much lower. Just a tad bit and that's probably because the new seat counters the lowered suspension quite a bit.

 

3. The seat feels more spongey for the rider, probably due to the increased padding. Seemed a bit more comfy but not sure how it'll fair for longer rides.

 

4. The pillion seat seems the same as the old one.

 

5. On the road, I didn't feel all too much difference in terms of suspension, just a tad bit stiffer. My GF on my back though said she felt very noticeably more uncomfy - she felt all the bumps much more. The old model is a clear winner for her because of this and the next point.

 

6. The new ride by wire feels quite different. Not better or worse, just different. But when going from closed throttle to little throttle, there's a clear on-off effect and a jerk goes through the bike. With mine I can be super smooth and with this 2018 model I just couldn't even when I tried. As mentioned, my pillion preferred the 2017 smoothness. The only upside I felt was that the engine seemed to be better capable of lower revs/speed, didn't feel so lumpy. Maybe it feathered the clutch a bit, no idea. Oh and the bike feels like it go a bit more power now. It doesn't in the specs so that's probably due to revised engine internals which make it rev quicker.

 

7. There are three power modes (1 being the strongest). You can feel a clear difference between the modes. Not sure if I'd need them though. With good fuelling, rider modes are not really necessary.

 

8. There are 3 engine breaking levels (3 being the strongers, inverse of the power modes). I was able to notice a slight difference between the three levels when focusing on it but it really was not a big difference. I expected more here.

 

9. There are no 7 instead of 3 traction control settings. Didn't really test this much.

 

10. The screen layout is different. Not sure which one I'd prefer more. There is one big issue though with the new one: it's angled differently and made for a nice mirror in which I could see myself while riding. I had especially trouble reading the upper part of the dash (RPM) because of the reflections. That's disappointing.

 

11. Handling was of course different but on the road I couldn't say it was much worse because of the lower suspenion. It just felt unusual to me because I'm so used to mine with normal height. For anything offroad of course the much reduced ground clearance might be an issue.

 

12. The bike now auto-blips the throttle for you on downshifts. Honda on the one hand made it smart enough to only blip when it makes sense RPM- and throttle-wise. On the other hand, it felt unrefined because sometimes it seemed to give too much throttle resulting in the bike doing a small lurch forward. This is pretty much the same problem I've had with the DCT on mine but the other way round. Mine would engine break a bit too much due to mismatched revs. I feel like Honda has quite a bit more work to do when it comes to the DCT and autoblipping. The frustrating thing is that sometimes it's insanely good - better than any quickshifter/autoblipper from any other brand. It can shift absolutely perfectly and inperceptible. But in other times it just drops the ball. It's constantly teasing you with how good it can be - if only it was at all times ?

 

13. The paint scheme is fantastic. Love that blue.

 

14. The bike looked a bit weird on the pictures and it's 100% the same in real. Normal height looks much better, especially when compared side by side.

 

15. Heated grips standard nice! But no cruise control - why?

 

That's all I can think of right now. Overall I think Honda kinda is going in the right direction in theory with ride by wire but it feels not as refined as it should be. I feel like they will need a few more iterations in order to produce a clearly superior model to the 2017 one. This isn't it.

 

PS: The 2016 Africa Twin won the Alpen Masters. The new Adventure Sports this year finished 4th (last) in the pre-finals already.

[siamcrut]

The AT is for sure an awesome bike. But in my opinion if you do ride solo the CB500X is the best bang for your buck. Replace the front suspension with Öhlins, sorted.
Service is cheap as chips. If it does get stolen or crashed, well 220K who cares...
Bought mine new, did 25.000 km in 1 1/2 years and just sold it again.
Was a great Adventure bike, yes ok agree “a bit” under powered.

[eisfeld]

1 hour ago, siamcrut said:

But in my opinion if you do ride solo the CB500X is the best bang for your buck

Best bang for the buck? Maybe. But the AT definitely is a much better bang ?

[siamcrut]

Best bang for the buck? Maybe. But the AT definitely is a much better bang [emoji846]

For the real bang I’ve got another bike:
My Z -babe.
[emoji6]

[guzzi850m2]

On 8/21/2018 at 6:57 AM, siamcrut said:

The AT is for sure an awesome bike. But in my opinion if you do ride solo the CB500X is the best bang for your buck. Replace the front suspension with Öhlins, sorted.
Service is cheap as chips. If it does get stolen or crashed, well 220K who cares...
Bought mine new, did 25.000 km in 1 1/2 years and just sold it again.
Was a great Adventure bike, yes ok agree “a bit” under powered.

Maybe, but this topic is about the A.T. and not "the best bang" for your money bike.

 

I never tried the 500X, I have a V650 and I rather not go down in HP from that.

[BBJ]

On 7/27/2018 at 11:11 AM, eisfeld said:

... lol? I mean, the point of the Adventure Sports is to have better off-roading capabilities, hence the longer suspension. If you take this away then what you get is a bit bigger fuel tank, different belly guard and crashbars. Meh?

 

I know a guy who had the 2016 Africa Twin and sold it to get the new Adventure Sports. He is pretty tall and wants a tall bike. I bet noone told him that his new bike will be 6cm *lower* than his old bike when he wanted a taller one. That's going to be a fun surprise for him!

 

Honda Thailand (AP Honda) keeps on doing this stuff without telling people, without giving any option to opt-out of it and get the model that one really wants. The new CB1000R will also probably come without the plus version which means you can't get the one with quickshifter. Why Honda, why?

It could be sooo easy for them to just let people choose which model they want and then order that. But no.

Yep, stupid decision and there are more Thai riders taking their bikes off road than those in the UK for instance.

[CSThai]

This is February 2019. I just bought the Africa Twin Adventure Sports (CRF1000AL2). I tried to get it with the normal (EU) suspension, but to no avail - the tall version is (still) not available in Thailand, acc. to Honda Big Wing Pattaya.

 

It's a stunning bike! A real beauty. Great engine/torque/sound. Clever electronics (Power/Engine Brake/Traction Control/ABS). Classic enduro bike layout (18" tail/21" front wheel :-). Negatives are the screen (not very readable), the missing cruise control and of course the short suspension in the Thai model.

 

Since I'm a tall rider, I will restore it to its original/EU specs, which means replacing the suspension, and therefore changing ground clearance from 210mm (TH) to 270mm (EU) and lifting the seat height from 840/860mm (TH) to 900/920mm (EU).

 

Before I head over to my local dirt shop, I'd like to know a few things:

. what is the brand/make/model of the suspension in my (Thai CRF1000AL2 2018/19) model?

. what is the brand/make/model of the suspension in the original/EU version of CRF1000AL2 (Adventure Sports) 2018/19?

. do I have to change the whole suspension system or maybe just the springs?

. do you know a specialized shop with good knowledge in the Pattaya/Chonburi/Bangkok area?

. anyone did this before? Costs?

 

Kind regards,

Chris

[jackdd]

If you ask in the Africa Twin Facebook group your chances of getting an answer are probably way higher than here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1527084504280429

 

I ended up buying the Triumph Tiger, so i didn't really look further into this, but there are two possible outcomes, maybe somebody in the Facebook group did ever do this:

Honda just put shorter springs in the forks and the shocks, in this case you could just swap the springs, should not be too expensive, maybe 10-20k

If they modified more than this you would have to replace the whole unit, which means having this imported from abroad, including tax, you will probably end up paying 100k

[thaiguzzi]

I could be way wrong, but i would guesstimate that the back end requires nothing more than new link rods/plates and possibly a complete new shock absorber.

A spring on its own is not going to do anything.

[Nickymaster]

Send this shop an email. I am fairly sure they know and can do it or sell you the parts. The lady who manages it is called Noi,  she speaks English.

 

http://www.dirtshopthailand.com/en_ContactUs.aspx

[CSThai]

Good things take time - especially in Thailand ????

 

My Africa Twin Adventure Sports now features...

 

• A fully adjustable (even high freq. compr. damping) rear shock from YSS w/ext. reservoir, THB 29.5K (new). The other option (even better) would of course be the Oehlin shock for THB 37.5K (new).

 

• A 2nd hand fork from an AfricaTwin Model 2017, THB 20K. Other (even better) option: Find a 2016-17 model front fork (new or 2nd hand) and put an Oehlin cartridge (THB 40K) and springs inside.
   
• New (longer) side stand: THB 6K.

 

Service cost (change oil and seals in front fork, workshop) was 5K. Total cost THB 61K.

 

My AT now looks and feels/rides like it was meant to be.

Ground clearance went up from the (impossible) 210mm (Thai model) to 250mm. Seat height up from 860mm to 900mm.

 

I had the bike serviced at MotoX (Mr. Joe) in Pattaya, Tel. 092 550-8700. He did a fine job. He owns an AT himself, therefore he knows the bike in and out.

 

Again: all my Thai Africa Twin enthusiasts/friends, in fact everyone I have spoken to (with the exception of the sales guy at Honda Big Wing Pattaya, who claims to sell one or two of these bikes every week...), can't get their heads around the fact, that the Thai 2018/9 model features a shortened suspension. If this was done to accommodate shorter Thai people, why not put the flattest seat available (out of 3 available heights), instead of putting the highest one!?!?

 

 

[eisfeld]

Nice update with good info CSThai! 900mm seat height is serious business, how tall are you if I may ask? I got the normal height AT which afaik has 860mm and at 185cm I can reach the ground fine but I think 900mm would be a bit difficult.

 

The Adventure Sports model looks great. As long as it got normal travel suspension. The Thai model looks ridicolou ???? Though also Bigwing Phuket claimed that this shorter version is supposed to be popular. I haven't seen any on the road though, strange.

[CSThai]

Hi eisfeld 

 

Thanks!

Well, it's still 2cm lower than the EU version!

 

I'm 185cm as well. I manage to manoeuvre the bike backwards whilst fully seated, though I can't put both feet flat on the ground at the same time.

 

I'll probably lower the seat a notch for offroad driving (880mm).

 

And of course there are middle and low seat options available.

 

Funny, Joe has the middle (standard on 2017 model) seat on his bike and is craving for the higher, more comfty one. He's only about 175cm tall though. When stopping, he just plants one foot firmly on the ground, instead of both. It's really that easy!

 

[eisfeld]

Yea the one foot technique works fine. One just has to be careful when the bike is fully loaded with luggage and pillion.

 

I got nearly 30k km on mine now. Still quite happy with it, a few niggles but overall very solid.

[taninthai]

 

9 hours ago, CSThai said:

New (longer) side stand: THB 6K

Good job and prices really apart from the side stand which is a crazy price.