Bought and sold 1/2 dozen R1200GS/A, KLR650, and loved them. Went to buy an African Twin and got talked out of it by Honda/KTM dealer, talked me into buying KTM 1090 Adventure, fantastic hotrod bike, junk factory acessories -poor fit, gas cap broke off first ride, second ride fuel sender got stuck 8 weeks to fix -sold it with joy. Went back and bought my Africa Twin, rode 1200 miles in 3 days, through 5 storms, rock solid bike, hauls ass, agile and nimble, kick ass ride, reliable period. Thanks for a great review.
MetreX You can’t really go wrong either way. I’ve got an Africa. Great bike. She’s a bit portly, but I really haven’t noticed while riding. Not as exciting as the KTMs. Had them before too.
This is the type of review that guys need to watch when deciding on a bike. A 50,000 km ridden review is so much better and accurate than a 100 km, two day demo ride. I am on the verge of finalizing the Twin (DCT version) and the vid and comments have just inked the deal for me. Thanks William for a great review....
I bought an AT in June because of your VLOGs (also bought a Mavic Pro). Rode from Phoenix to Prudhoe and back the following few weeks. 12,000mi in 3 weeks. Love it. Zero regret.
@@youngboomerragevictim8857 I think you are right hahaha, 20k km in 3 weeks equals approximately 950km (590 mile) per day. Possible? Maybe. It would take non-stop riding every single day for those 3 weeks, with barely any breaks between. Even if you average 100km/h (unlikely) you'd spend 9.5h in the saddle not including breaks, fuel stops, food. I'd say extremely unlikely, and if true extremely unpleasant no matter what bike. 500 miles for most people is on the way high side for a day of touring, 300-400 is more reasonable.
Great vid as usual...I have an Africa Twin but so far have only managed a few thousand miles around Scotland 🏴. Feeling inspired to go further afield thanks to your vlog...just gotta convince the missus.
Funny enough my most amazing ride, possibly ever, was riding your beautiful NC500 2 years ago within 4 days of sunshine. Was on the zzr, not the AT, but I need to take my ATAS there, it's calling again.
I’ve watched all of the other Africa twin blogs from people and this one was the best, banged on about welding a lot but some one actually out there doing what the bike is supposed too! Well done, I pick up my Africa twin tomorrow and plan to ride England-holland-Germany-Austria-Sweden-Norway-Scotland back to England so advice was welcome. Safe riding all
Man is this relaxing to watch. And I don't even ride (my last bike was a Hodaka powered Bonanza mini bike while in High School). Subtle humor, sincere without being gushy, and with the self-confidence needed to ride an adventure bike in far off destinations but without the arrogance that might cause friction among the locals, my hats off to this guy William.
a Winter's Take ...awh man you had a 100cc Rat motor in that mini bike geeezze ..those things were little kid killers ...two stroke that would buzz like crazy ..in frame no heaver than 20 inch stingray bicycle .... Back then every kids dream ride ..two of my buddies had them and would show off by riding down in our favorite strip mining pit that was about 60 foot deep and then climb " the wall" to get out that was the pit wall plus the spill pile of all the dirt that was dug out to create the pit .... Those hodaka 100cc two strokes would scream
Enjoyed your review. Entertaining. I've got the same bike. Made a lot of the same mods. Only thing I have to disagree with you is about the suspension. But then again, I'm 6'2" and weigh 190 lbs. Add to that the amount of luggage and camping gear I carried with me from Oklahoma to Alaska and I can tell you the stock suspension is wholly no bueno! My sag was so sag I slapped a Touratech HP Explore shock and a new set of springs for the front forks before I left. So glad I did. Carry on! I've subscribed.
Thanks so much for the thorough, real-world review. I'm up in the air between this bike and the BMW F800 GS and will likely test drive both before making the final decision.
That how you do a review. Quick, no bullshit and to the point. Looked this bike today and this review helped a ton. Sadly won’t be riding around the world but riding never the less. Nice work.
Watched this for the second time now. Great review from someone who has REALLY tested the bike! Love this as well as all your RTW vids. My remaining question was on saddle height but you already answered it below. I test rode an AT in France for two days - man, the stock exhaust is just fine like you say. I was a little intimidated by the saddle height (I'm 5'9") on a really steep hill but overall they are outstanding machines. Cheers!
Excellent concise and thorough review. It’s also inspiring to discover how ‘stock’ you have left the bike. I find the fascination (it seems to be standard in The States in particular) with changing end cans at huge expense to be so pointless!
Nice review...its smart to keep most of the original parts on the bike..if anything breaks its aftermarked parts..it has een a joy to follow your trip around the world. Thanks
I had a XL1000V VARADERO, for many years. Now a 2017 AT! Although on paper it is slightly lighter, it feels as light as a feather! I enjoy every day on this bike! Keep riding!
I have a 2016 DCT AT and a 2008 KLR and I love going back and forth between the two. I just did the New Mexico GCDR on the KLR and now want re-do it on the AT. Great bike. Great videos, thanks.
It was an awesome trip. I rode from Demming, NM up to Del Norte, CO over 6 casual days. Here's a video of my trip: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qqKMu-YSL1E.html
Niel i have just completed a 6 week 14500mile trip from Key West , Pike Peak, YellowStone, Glacier Park into Canada to Fairbanks ,Anchorage , Vancouver, Seattle and back to Key West Florida . If you tour USA you just have to tour Alaska Its ffffffing AMAZING and easy. I was two up,on a big Harley Ultra, NO PROBLEM
How was the transition to the dct? I also have a 2008 klr, looking to replace it with a dct AT. But I do a lot of off road, not sure how the dct will do
Great VLOG`s watched all of them. Some thoughts about BMW GS Adventure and the Africa Twin. Before two month I sold my GS adventure 2014 built. I made just 55.000km and had already to replace the clutch with 42.000km. Expensive part and limited chance to do it by yourself because of the special tools you need. It was my second GS and with the older model I made nearly 105.000 Km without any mayor problems. I was looking for an Alternative as I found your VLOG and that’s why I remembered the old, first Africa Twin and she was nearly un-destroyable. Honda parts you get nearly everywhere and the normal service or brake pads changing, I can do by myself.Thanks for your Input and as Honda will bring the new model "Africa Twin Adventure Sport", it looks like this will be the wright choice for me.Wish you the best and go on like that!
guenter48 it's hard to go wrong with Honda..and like been saud;you meet good people..the new sport adventure diffenetly will be something to conclude in your shopping cart..but notice that it may not be comfortable in touring as GS..!
I just bought a 2018 AT with DCT at the age of 76. I decided to start riding again and this was a great review with everything I needed to give me confidence in Honda.
Hi William, you can adjust the brightness on the screen there is a secret menu you can use. Hold down SEL and SET together. This menu allows you to change the time and brightness. Just cycle through and you will see the brightness option
William Gloege I only found out because I needed to change the time for GMT’s time change. Quick google! Can even change MPH/kph is the menu. Loving the vlogging thank you for sharing with us all.
Yep me too brought one in September ..needed to change clock as it was set wrong!..and as Mike said found screen brightness!....was a bit fed up as dealer didn't tell me Honda was doing a new 30th AT addition with great paint job!....could have waited till next year!!!...still it's a great bike and lov watching your vids William!
Thanks for a real world practical review. Good video focused on perhaps the most important point....RELIABILITY. My son and I rode 5200 miles on the TransAmerica Trail last August on two old Craigslist bikes. (Riding some more remote location in Nevada highlights the importance of reliability.) Somehow we made it with the skin still intact on our rear ends...even with "unfarkled" stock seats. (We did have some padding in cycling shorts that we wore.) Amazingly the stock bikes made it too...despite being 1990 and 1996 model years with only routine maintenance.
Great review. I love my Africa Twin, but I've got one of the few old models in the US, a 2000 XRV750. 125,000 km so far and still going strong. Eventually I'll get a new one.
Great review. So much better to watch a long term, long distance appraisal. I bumped into 2 German guys in the USA doing a round the world trip on the same bike. You could see the effect on the bikes, tyres totally squared off. Hand grip rubbers worn through. Chain way past the end of its life. Good choice of bike.
Would of been good if you had made it to Australia I would have joined you Been following your adventure from the start excellent Cheers from Australia
Don’t watch many reviews all the way through because I get sick of the shit talk but really liked this honest opinion of the Africa twin... well done....
William...what great info, thanks. I just took an expat assignment in Santiago Chile, (from Texas) and am about to pull the trigger and buy this bike. I have test ridden the GS 1200, the Yamaha Ten, and the KTM 1290...but, you know, I feel the same way about Hondas...for the money, it has a lot of value and reliability, and not to mention parts availability. Your review made the difference for me...thanks.
I have had my 2016 AT here in the US since March 2017 and I have Managed a little over 14K miles in that time with about a 60/40 on road to off road ratio. We have amazing riding here in Utah I believe the best of both worlds. I have come to the same conclusion on the suspension. After 5 KLRs I just simply had to learn how to work with all of those adjustments. You have produced some amazing videos, Thanks for sharing. I am running the Batzen windshield adjuster and when I saw the vid where your wind screen frame failed I had the same thought. I notice the windscreen in the raised position flexes that bracket a lot more. Surely that has an impact on the metal bracket being moved back and forth so rapidly for long periods of time. I love my AT!
Ahoy hoy mate. Great review. I've only been riding for a just under a year now but the Africa Twin is where I want to be eventually end up. You can't go wrong with the Hondas either, we had a honda trike as kids and I now have the much smaller cb300f that im learning on but damn the AT looks sweet or should I say aces :) keep up the great vlog mate.
I am in full agreement with you William....I have a twin just like yours and with 10,000 dirt miles it is doing great....and it has been in some tough places with me and never failed me one second...Great around the world bike I think...
Great to the point no BS review! I love the rotopax position. I had those same racks on my 990 and they broke very easily but like you said its an easy cheap fix and when you crash w hard cases something has to give and it may as well be the racks.
