New Bike Day | 2020 Honda| Africa Twin

Join me in this video to see my first impression of my 2020 Honda Africa Twin
00:00 Intro
00:21 Walkaround
11:15 Ride

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Motorcycle: 2020 Honda Africa Twin

Riding Gear: Helmet: Arai Axces 3, Arai RX7 Corsair
Gloves: BKS Namib
Alpinestars GP Pro
Jacket: Trik Moto M100 Tour, Alpinestars Dyno 2
Trousers: Alpinestars Apex Leathers
Boots: Sidi Vertigo 2 Evo
Filming Gear: Cameras: Gopro Hero 7 Black
Gopro Hero Session 5
Insta360 ONE RS
SmallRig Gopro Mount
Audio Gear: Tascam DR-22WL with Purple Panda Mic

Music Credit to & License Acquired From Uppbeat

Here we go again I promise you this time it’s different all righty then guys so welcome back to the channel I hope you’re all doing amazing as possible anyway let’s talk about the elephant the room I have a new motorcycle yet again now hoping this one will be

The last motorcycle for a while hopefully for a very long while um and if you watch my previous video uh you’ll understand why so for those that don’t know this is the CRF 1100 Africa twin is a 2020 model and before I get cracking showing

You around the bike I want to give you a big big thank you to Lyn motoride in Norwich so thanks to all the guys there whether it be Joe who took care of the S side of things Keith Jamie for getting everything sorted with uh get it serviced and pushed through the workshop

As quickly as possible through CJ ball as well my I add so that also involved transporting it there uh which would have been David driving the van and of course Woody who works over at Harley side who showed me the actual bike itself so thank you everybody and thank

You CJ ball for getting the service done amazing stuff okay let’s start from the front work our way back uh cuz there is quite a lot of kit on this bike it came with so much and I got very very good value for money um I picked this up for

Around about 9 and 1 half on about 2,400 Mi so yeah plenty of life left in this thing um and basically what I’m after for a motorcycle is a number of things and unfortunately there is no perfect motorcycle out there but what I wanted was a good allrounder to do commuity

Touring you know all that long distance stuff but also I wanted to dip my toe into some more off-road and stuff as well uh I did a bit while I was working with ly motorad on the 1250 GS in F Forest which was awesome I’ll stick up a

Picture now so you can have a quick look at that um but I wanted something of my own I could do it with but I also wanted something that was durable going to last and was reliable and unlike the KTM I’ve just got rid of I needed something that

Could start up on the key every single day without fail and keep on going now those of you that know the brands well enough you will know that Japanese brands have a great reputation for reliability and technological advances etc etc etc so what better place to go

Than Honda very much at the top anyway a digress first of all look at those gorgeous lights those LEDs are fantastic um I just love that angry look on it and then also it came with these uh spotlights which are really really bright I’ve been flashed a few times in

The night time um clearly they think it’s full beams but whatever I can see that’s what has maybe I can try maybe dip them down a little bit more just so they’re not blinding people um so yeah it does come with the four poot this in brakes uh also the 21in front wheel

Which is obviously good for off-roading and you know you’d think that it would feel a little bit floaty being as 21 in like on other bikes where it feels a little bit vager at the front end but it’s not the case with this actually feel was really quite well connected to

The road um maybe with a bit of suspension sort of adjustment maybe I could really improve it just to make it more to my stature and size which is not very large at all um but more on that in a minute uh it does come with the crash

Bars which was definitely a must um otherwise it’s more money to for out and that is really how I sort of shop for bikes is how much can I get for the price I’m paying so if I can get you know more equipment less things i’ end

There having to buy later on cuz you know I’m going to want to um so it also come with the larger screen which I believe is from The Adventure Sport model but if anybody knows better um as to where this matage come from do let me know I’m not a professional when it

Comes to these Africa twins I’m still learning as I go along uh but I’m very very grateful for that screen but what I might do is stick one of them uh spoilers that comes up at the top here just to sort of direct the

Wind a little bit more of me but more on that when we go on a ride uh it does come with the the guards but what I will need is uh the wider fit here just to take some the wind chill off the fingers

Cuz I do tend to use my bikes all year round so there is that comes with radiator protection um cuz they are quite exposed being at the front of the bike it’s quite open here uh shower Forks they are very very impressive they take over every SLE lump and bump and

Everything else to do with that but it is not electrical suspension so as you see they are man adjusted but that’s not a problem that just means more time s of tuning up getting it some more on my size and how I ride etc etc uh and moving along here we do have

The SC project 4 system um I said it all come with it thankfully that’s something else now I don’t have to spend money on uh it sounds absolutely cracking but you’ll hear that soon when I st up uh so yeah as I said 21 in wheel the front 18

In at the back uh they are tubed but what I might do is look into get them uh it’s like sealed I’ve heard that that can be done so I’m going to look a little bit more into that and we’ll we’ll see what happens there whether or

Not I do or not I don’t know I me how often do you really get a puncher you just don’t really want one with chbe tires cuz once they’re down they’re down but thankfully this one does come with the center stand so changing the wheel

Won’t be so much of an issue uh because as standard they don’t come with them that is actually a piece you have to buy from them separately as is most of the extra gadgets and gizm you see on here uh it did come with the pan set so you

Know two large box on the side and it also came with a top box as well hence the reason for this rack um yeah they have ample size I just don’t tend to use them day to day uh if I’m going to work or whatever unless I want to carry tons

And tons of stuff which most of the time I not really but when it comes to touring won’t get any better than that uh it doesn’t come with a quick shifter but this is the manual version of the Africa twin uh for those who have done their research on Afric twins before you

Will know that they have a DCT model which is essentially an automatic but with uh sort of like Flappy paddle buttons so you can flick through manual controls and this and the other I didn’t particularly want to go down that route um I will want to try one in the future

Just to feed the Curiosity but realistically I wanted something I can control something I can really familiar with um you know not that I mind relearning things but for now I wanted something that I’m just really really familiar with so sticking with the manual it’s a really good idea uh it

Does come with the heat grip which is awesome I didn’t realize that when I was actually buying it because uh it’s not really that obvious but I’ll show you why that is in a mo uh I have got the seat down on the lower sitting uh which

Is very very easy for me at 5’8 to actually get my both feet down to the other sides so um for any of you short is wondering if you could fit on this it is definitely possible it looks ginormous but it’s not as um unmanageable as you might think for

Those who haven’t seen the Africa T before the best thing I absolutely love about this machine is and this is why I think that this could be the best allrounder for me is I do love a bit of Technology I’m a bit of a geeking that

Way um and when we switch it on you’ll see so you’ve got this screen here which obviously tell Miles hour and your gear section that sort of thing and all the important sort of warnings um then you have this uh TFT screen which does take

A little long to sort of load in but I really don’t care you think first thing in the morning I really don’t care about sort thing I’ll start it up anyway and just leave it running out before I actually set on so it is touch screen

Tap okay and you’ve got all of this information here absolutely tons it’s very very overwhelming when you first start flicking your way through it um but once you get to know how to do it all you know it’s all controlled by the switch gear and also through touchcreen

So you have got your modes here um which you can either do by using up and down here as you can see that will sort of flick FL it once it uh gets with the program B so you have got two custom user Maps off-road gravel Urban and T

Now I pretty much just leave it in tour mode because that just seems to make the most sense um and then you’ve also got like a favorite switch at the back here which is what controls the heated grips this is why it wasn’t so obvious so heated your grips and then you’ve also

Got your controls the uh spotlights um yeah I don’t know if you can see too well but they’re on and you’ve also got all this level of customizability and you know you you got here like say your wheelie control for example there’s your traction control but also if you say flick through into

The main menu which is if you press here go settings function and then you got your user mode like I said it’s very overwhelming at first but you know we’ll get used to it you got your control over the engine braking and control over but essentially what that is that’s throttle control

It’s not um you know it doesn’t cut your brake hor anything like just how well it reacts to your hand um with a throw also you’ve got your abs on and off road so you got two of those modes Auto canceling turn signals as well so that’s

Pretty cool um but also with this you do have um Apple carplay and Android auto uh being that I do have an Android but the thing with it is you do have to have it connected so if I just pop that there for a moment just to make things hands

Free so you have to plug in into the uh USB there so pair Bluetooth headset if I turn my headset on so now we have uh this set up with um the Android auto this is now mimicking the map of my phone so if I say I don’t

Know I want to go to say Norwich just tap that in directions start let’s get rid of that so now it’s got all my directions up there and then if I tap on here as you can see you actually have all of these apps in there YouTube music but thankfully no

Actual YouTube on there I think that would be quite silly uh tune in radio that’s pretty cool uh yeah so it basically mimics what it could use off your phone excellent piece of Kit um just to come back out that using the controls and then go to rer information

And that takes you right back to your main screen so that is pretty much everything that I need to show you while walking around the bike um what we’ll do we’ll get on the road now uh and then at least then you can hear it and see how

It rides and I’ll talk about it as we go along about what I actually think about the ride itself so guys catch you a bit all righty sounds pretty cracking so those exhaust tones you’re actually hearing are from the parallel twin with the 270 crank which I found really

Impressive so first things first um one of the main reasons why I got this mostly because of reliable Ability being that I was quite stung and hurt from the uh KTM I just wanted something that I’d get to uh enjoy daily and you don’t really get more reliable than Honda but the bikes I used to love have always been Japanese before that but curiosity gets the better of me

And I always want to try something new I mean hence the reason for this Africa twin I mean it’s not what everybody would have pegged me to choose but it is a very very impressive machine so time will tell reliability wise but reputation of Honda has always been

Very very sturdy in that way and you know if you put it side by side with the other Adventure bikes out there so say the GS uh the super Adventures by KTM um you know the tenay you know you might look at the figures and think well it doesn’t look too

Impressive and having owned a KTM Super du GT having ridden a Super adventur S having owned a R1200 GS and rode many 1250gs I can tell you now there is not much in it between the two I know people will argue that but realistically me and Ms like ourselves you still got to

Handle 100 horsepower which is still an impressive figure anyway but it’s not about the horsepower with this thing it’s about the torque and this particular model compared to the uh Africa toan Adventure Sport this is designed more for the off-roading and on when you’re off-road you want that

Torque but I didn’t get this bike just for the power as I’ve already mentioned I got it for the reliability but I also got it for the handling of it which if experience has taught me well these can hang with the bigger boys just as

Easy when to say the bigger boys I mean the sport bike riders the naked bike riders you know and all the other Adventure bikes it is more than capable because realistically through the bend and twisties I know I would rather be on something like this which has wider bars

Can easily flick and roll around all the bends and it’ll probably do it with ease you know it does it takes all the hard work out of it for you so the handling on this thing is absolutely superb now what I do find uh myself doing with this bike is it’s definitely

Getting a little carried away with that throttle because before you know it you look down and you go okay a little bit over so you have to roll off a bit and I don’t know if it’s that uh SC project exhaust but it’s quite an addictive tone

To it and I don’t know if you can hear too well on the video due to the wind but you just want to hear that sound come out and I do find myself hanging in the lower gears more often and for good reason too have a Listen absolute Peach and I could probably see myself not getting exhausted with this bike on long distance due to that very plush suspension awesome handling it’s just a cracking machine has a good allrounder um in regards to the tires uh these are the Bridgestone I believe ax41 and I know

They’re I think they’re like a 50/50 tire but I haven’t found that they got bent out of shavee at all there was one thing that happened and it was a bit bizarre but it did make me laugh um I was was on the Dual carried way in sixth gear you know doing 70

And and I noticed as I was winding up to 70 I must have been in between 60 and 70 the rear wheel just slid out from behind me but due to the 6axis IMU and I’m going to guess and say that’s what it was but it corrected it

So gently that where on other occasions how’ you done that without that you’d probably yourself but the bike had it all under control and I don’t know if that was just me being a bit hand fisted I didn’t feel like it was but it didn’t make me panic because

I actually felt like the bike was under control and it oddly enough was quite fun now for me personally I find that this bike is a perfect allrounder for me it’s got the tech it’s got the handling it’s got the wide bars it’s got the big wheels it

Means I can dip my toe into more off-roading you know it’s got the nice big screen which I may change out in the future I mean what was I was saying earlier when I was doing a walk around about the spoiler is for it would be

That it does get a little bit of buffeting but it’s not too bad I mean coming from the Honda Grom this is you know still a pleasant dream but it could definitely do if you’re going to be doing mile after mile after mile maybe having that wind just

Taken off the top of your head so it’s not to bobbing and bouncing around but I mean that’s really my only minor very minor gripe I mean I just can’t believe I hadn’t thought about trying one sooner and I suppose it was because I was clouded by my excitement of wanting

To try the KTM because of the power try the uh BMW because it’s you know very well known to being one of the best adventure bikes out there and this one just sort of flew under the radar a bit for me and I’ll admit it’s actually got me pleasantly surprised and I probably

Wouldn’t have thought about even getting uh this if it wasn’t for a good friend of mine who you know when it comes to bang for your buck U my good friend Woody he’s very rugal in that way and that’s not in any way an insult um he’s Definitely less of a a kid than I am when it comes to what you’re getting for your money you know he uh he is a Honda Fanboy through and through and quite rightly so because you know the the value you get is incredible I mean admittedly the bikes of this day and age

Are not to me they’re not overly excited looking I mean this and obviously the Fireblade to me seems the most exciting looking compared so there’s probably the the reason why I didn’t really look towards Honda just because they never really seem to catch my eye anymore what does catch my eye is

Definitely the uh sort of older fire blades uh the Honda Hornet but the older one it’s not to say that I’m knocking the new one cuz I haven’t tried it how can I cause my opinion on it but visually it doesn’t grip me and admittedly this didn’t until I

Was steered towards it and told that they had one in stock at lint so and I’m glad they they uh I’m glad I did take a look at it cuz it is pretty spectacular I’m loving it I haven’t found an occasion yet where anybody with some riding

Experience will know this where you sort of approach a particular thing that you’re going to do so whether it be a slow maneuver whether it be an overtake whether it be anything at all and you think oh I don’t know if it’s going to it’s going to cope it or

Whether I’m going to Bow this up or whether I’m going to drop the bike or anything and so far everything that I have done it hasn’t caused me any difficulty whatsoever it hasn’t been too large to do um apart from one thing which is sort of pushing it around

Um where I live on my driveway is at quite a steep angle as I probably said in my previous videos um which can get a little bit cumbersome but it might just be the fact that I’m not so used to pushing a tall bike down the slope like

That um for a little while maybe it’s just me working out that balance on the bike but M are gripe mine gve there’s nothing that you know can’t be you know uh learned through muscle memory and that sort of thing so I have to admit as well I’m glad I

Got the manual because these uh gear changes are very smooth coming from having a GS and a superduke you know the super duuk felt quite Agricultural and as did the uh the GS very clunky like a tractor But this is uh is just very predictable with the gears you know very light to the touch you don’t need to thump it in and it doesn’t thump back at you and it’s got all that power that we require I mean granted it’s not going to

Melt your face it it won’t feel like your your guts are being pulled to your spine or anything but for an everyday allround adventure bike it’s uh pretty in line with what I need what I want well there’s a long list of wants but needs this is more of a need it does

Everything I need plus with all those Creature Comforts such as the heated grips the screen you know nice comfy seat and also I can reach the floor with E I think Honda you know have got a real peach here and for anyone who hasn’t tried it or is thinking oh I don’t

Really want to it’s you know boring and plain blah blah blah blah blah blah um I really would not dismiss it go and try one you know um and they Honda stand by their brand and they were more than happy for test rides and that sort of

Thing I mean that is just flicking from one side to the other it literally it didn’t fall to the other side it didn’t require any heavy wrestling it just went nice and easy gliding from one side to the next what a gem and I think with a few Min of tweaks

Sort of to where uh you know the handlebar placement is maybe pulling it a little bit closer to me I do find my right arm is a little bit elevated but very slightly maybe I want to get the suspension looked out set up to my weight um I don’t know if maybe somebody

Heavier had it Before and I’m not that heavy um you know maybe my wife and uh people who know me might disagree that I’ve put on a bit of Timber over past few years but we will blame lockdown for that too many poached eggs and chocolates and snacks so anyway I mean this isn’t you know

Obviously a full longwinded review or a professional take on it for that matter but you know you have many many of them over on YouTube uh through other people’s videos and the other so if you want to know the technical stat specs and whatnot um certainly head over

To some of the others like 44 T and MCN and you know take a pick there’s there’s oodles but this is just me sort of showing you the new Steed um you know and what we’re going to be doing more videos on and hopefully next year maybe some touring as well

Meet up with a few uh of the other people in within the community uh on the biker guys biker guys is biker guys yeah not Biker Boys that’s the uh SP video If you haven’t seen that video actually that’s a pretty good film um you know hopefully

Meet up with a good friend QBE um and he’s crazy bunch and you know I would like to believe that this could take us on some good adventures and I believe it will um but also to be able to reliably week after week we had to get more videos

Out without hassle without wonder if the bike’s going to start or if I’m going to send one back or you know and not only that I don’t want to get bored too easy either um you know that’s the fun you know you love changing bikes but if I’m being

Completely honest with you and myself I’m getting quite bored of the buying process and and selling process you know the paperwork the phone calls this and the other I think you know I’d like to take a big break from all that and stick with a very trusty Steed

And I think this is the one all right then guys anyway thank you so much for tuning in and sticking around uh also you know anything I have forgotten or you think anything I should know if you are a uh fan of the Africa twin if you

Have one or know anything about them and you think anything I should know myself pop it down in the comment section below uh drop me a DM whatever you wish and yeah I look forward hearing you all right anyway until the next video catch you all in the next one peace out my

Guys