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What is like to own a Honda Africa Twin for 10 years? Long term review.
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Hello, This is Honda Africa Twin. In late 80’s with the boom of the Paris-Dakar rally motorcycle manufacturers decided to bet on a new category of bikes. And this is how Adventure Tourist bikes were born. The Africa Twin also known as XRV 650 and 750 is one of the most legendary adventure touring bikes. Production started in 1988 with the 650 model and ended in 2003. Some may argue that the 650 model is the better smaller version of the Africa. It all depends what you are after. The 650 was lighter and more off-road ready. The 750 is heavier and feels better on gravel and tarmac.
Recently the Africa name was reborn with the CRF1000L model and became one of the most popular adventure bikes again.
But enough about history. Let’s talk specs and then I will tell you why I decided to sell my beloved Africa.
The bike is equipped with a 750 v twin motor producing 62 horse powers and around 60 newton meters of torque. Top speed is 174 km/h or 108 miles/hour. It has a 5 speed manual transmission with wet clutch. It takes 4.7 seconds to launch these 240 kilos from 0 to 100. Or in Imperial units these are around 500 pounds from 0 to 60. Time is the same.
Motion to the rear wheel is transferred by chain. The tank is 24 litres or 6.1 gallons. There are no luxuries on board. You get all the 90’s bike standard stuff. No adjustable seat, no auto cancelling turn signals, no gear indicator, fog lights or whatever modern adventure bikes have.
But why I bought this bike in a first place? I needed something reliable, that will survive Bulgaria’s country roads. My first bike was the Kawasaki Ninja 250. It was a great bike for beginers but it broke too much. I never knew if it was gonna start or if it’s gonna take me to my destination.
So my search ended with the Africa. It’s one of the most reliable bikes out there. It was a descendant of the Dakar rally bikes so it had to be tough. And it is. In my 10 years of riding this bike only once it left me stranded. And it was because of electrical problem. My alternator failed and didn’t want to charge the battery.
And the problem with this is that I was on a level road. I couldn’t push start it even with the help of some passers by. Finally we jumpstarted and I safely got home. This failure is seen very often because of the loose connectors in the wiring. They tend to break the regulator-rectifier and sometimes even the alternator. Since then I replaced all connectors on the bike and I had no troubles.
On the road it can be pushed hard 160 km/h is not a problem for cruising speed. If you have the guts to stand in the wind and hold it straight. I don’t know if it’s my bike or all Africa’s are like that but the v2 engine has a lot of vibrations in certain RPM.
A lot of people ride these bikes on long trips. But if you want to do that with your Africa and your butt is not made of iron then you should get a different seat. The stock seat is awful. It’s hard it’s not ergonomic at all. Maybe it was softer when the bike was new. I don’t know. The good part is that you can stand up and ride tall. I do that very often and If I have my wife in the back seat, I tell her to massage my bootie to allow some blood flow.
When you are up on the highway with this bike you don’t want to stop. And you don’t need to. If you ride responsibly you can get up to 350 kilometers from one tank. The engine is very responsive and has a lot of torque so for quick overtakes you rarely need to shift down and rev up.
The front wheel is 21 inches with narrow tire and that’s great for driving in rain. It just breaks the puddles and holds the bike very stable.
The riding position is very comfortable and upright. But this bike is not meant for heavy off-roading. It’s just too heavy and the high center of gravity makes it very hard to control in low speed. It takes real skill to ride this bike in the woods or on some rough terrain. I’ve done that several times and each of them I was terrified. After all if you fall and the bike lays on your leg you are pretty much in trouble. I don’t know many people that chan lift 240 kilos from the ground especially if you are laying and one of your limbs is below the bike.
Another big problem for me is the height of the seat. I’m 175 centimetres or around 5.6 feet and I’m not short but I’m not tall either. When I’m sitting on the bike and I drop my legs down only my toes touch the ground. There were several times that I just dropped the bike on the ground because it’s very top heavy.
However when you start riding on the road you forget all this. Yep I like this bike. It’s reliable it has character it’s not comfortable or convenient. It’s not economical either. It can drink as much as 6 liters per 100 kilometers especially if you have a passenger and ride faster than 120. But when you pull that throttle there’s this angry grunt from the engine like just awoken the lion and he saw an antelope.
Recently the Africa name was reborn with the CRF1000L model and became one of the most popular adventure bikes again.
But enough about history. Let’s talk specs and then I will tell you why I decided to sell my beloved Africa.
The bike is equipped with a 750 v twin motor producing 62 horse powers and around 60 newton meters of torque. Top speed is 174 km/h or 108 miles/hour. It has a 5 speed manual transmission with wet clutch. It takes 4.7 seconds to launch these 240 kilos from 0 to 100. Or in Imperial units these are around 500 pounds from 0 to 60. Time is the same.
Motion to the rear wheel is transferred by chain. The tank is 24 litres or 6.1 gallons. There are no luxuries on board. You get all the 90’s bike standard stuff. No adjustable seat, no auto cancelling turn signals, no gear indicator, fog lights or whatever modern adventure bikes have.
But why I bought this bike in a first place? I needed something reliable, that will survive Bulgaria’s country roads. My first bike was the Kawasaki Ninja 250. It was a great bike for beginers but it broke too much. I never knew if it was gonna start or if it’s gonna take me to my destination.
So my search ended with the Africa. It’s one of the most reliable bikes out there. It was a descendant of the Dakar rally bikes so it had to be tough. And it is. In my 10 years of riding this bike only once it left me stranded. And it was because of electrical problem. My alternator failed and didn’t want to charge the battery.
And the problem with this is that I was on a level road. I couldn’t push start it even with the help of some passers by. Finally we jumpstarted and I safely got home. This failure is seen very often because of the loose connectors in the wiring. They tend to break the regulator-rectifier and sometimes even the alternator. Since then I replaced all connectors on the bike and I had no troubles.
On the road it can be pushed hard 160 km/h is not a problem for cruising speed. If you have the guts to stand in the wind and hold it straight. I don’t know if it’s my bike or all Africa’s are like that but the v2 engine has a lot of vibrations in certain RPM.
A lot of people ride these bikes on long trips. But if you want to do that with your Africa and your butt is not made of iron then you should get a different seat. The stock seat is awful. It’s hard it’s not ergonomic at all. Maybe it was softer when the bike was new. I don’t know. The good part is that you can stand up and ride tall. I do that very often and If I have my wife in the back seat, I tell her to massage my bootie to allow some blood flow.
When you are up on the highway with this bike you don’t want to stop. And you don’t need to. If you ride responsibly you can get up to 350 kilometers from one tank. The engine is very responsive and has a lot of torque so for quick overtakes you rarely need to shift down and rev up.
The front wheel is 21 inches with narrow tire and that’s great for driving in rain. It just breaks the puddles and holds the bike very stable.
The riding position is very comfortable and upright. But this bike is not meant for heavy off-roading. It’s just too heavy and the high center of gravity makes it very hard to control in low speed. It takes real skill to ride this bike in the woods or on some rough terrain. I’ve done that several times and each of them I was terrified. After all if you fall and the bike lays on your leg you are pretty much in trouble. I don’t know many people that chan lift 240 kilos from the ground especially if you are laying and one of your limbs is below the bike.
Another big problem for me is the height of the seat. I’m 175 centimetres or around 5.6 feet and I’m not short but I’m not tall either. When I’m sitting on the bike and I drop my legs down only my toes touch the ground. There were several times that I just dropped the bike on the ground because it’s very top heavy.
However when you start riding on the road you forget all this. Yep I like this bike. It’s reliable it has character it’s not comfortable or convenient. It’s not economical either. It can drink as much as 6 liters per 100 kilometers especially if you have a passenger and ride faster than 120. But when you pull that throttle there’s this angry grunt from the engine like just awoken the lion and he saw an antelope.
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