Review - Africa Twin 1100 Standard
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 พ.ค. 2020
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🎬Llewelyn Sullivan-Pavey
🏍Sam Davidson | Carl Searles | Simon Pavey | Llewelyn Sullivan-Pavey
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The Africa Twin has evolved. Bigger, lighter and badder than before. We took it to Portugal and spent a week learning it's ins and outs. Our review was conducted on the Africa Twin 1100 Standard, Honda's most off-road focussed version of the bike.
What do you think of the review? Do you have any questions? let us know down below! - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Hate to sound like a broken record, but your reviews are outstanding. The level of detail. The technical discussion. The non-judgemental tone. And they are interesting. And they are well shot and cut. This is the level of journalism we used to read in magazines back in the 90s, until the magazines became so wrapped around the manufacturer's fingers. You guys rule :)
I'm really glad you like my reviews! It means a lot 😁
I agree.
No bike is perfect. Love the way you guys give a balanced review. The pro's and con's get evenly as much attention. Wonderful. That's how a review should be made. Learned a lot. Also the calm and easy way of narrating, without screaming and loud heavy metal background music, is breath of fresh air. Keep it up and THANK YOU!
Glad you enjoyed it! I will :)
I'm impressed by the seldom seen effort to review the bike using the adjustability of the suspension. Skillfully done.
Thanks Michael. It's nice to hear a lovely comment!
What I like most about Brake Magazine is that you take your time and genuinely review the bikes off-road characteristics in a way that I feel I can actually sort of imagine how the bike handles in these situations. There is no other magazine or publication that goes into detail so well. I am sick and tired of seeing bike "reviews" that only talk about the press launch experience. You guys are doing a stellar job!
Your reviews are awesome and your channel is definitely a must follow, thank you for another one!!
Glad you like them!
Amazing. Great to hear about all cons without the feeling that you are being biased. Very well put, what a review!
As an owner of the 2021 AT Adventure Sports model, I’d say this review is spot on. Well done, candid, honest.
Best vid review on an AT i've seen.
Certainly the most technical from a riders POV.. well done.
Excelent review, with proper detailed technical aspects about how the bike handles and rides; really think you're the only one, from many magazines/reviewers, that gives this type of thorough insight into bikes. It's properly captivating. Keep it up! 🤘
Much appreciated! I'll keep on making them!
Great review, extremely detailed! Thank you
Great review. Good rhythm and editing. personally, I ride the original 2016 AT manual and enjoy its overall balance and simplicity.
Nice to see so much filming in Portugal.
Awesome as always guys. Can't wait for your next review or comparo.
Coming soon!
Thank you. Your reviews are thoughtful have great depth. Thank you.
Thank you for your kind comment!
Nice to see you guys going around our (I and the mates) backyard tracks!
Thorough and spot on review.
watched at least 5 AT1100 reviews, this is the best by far! thx!
I'm glad you liked it!
That was a great review, video was also awesome.
One hell of a thorough review.
Great Review... Probably the best I have seen.
Good balanced review.
Great job! 👍
Another great review. The level of analysis exceeds by far any other review I could find on this bike.
Much appreciated! It's how we try to do all of our reviews. Detailed, nerdy and long 😂
@@BrakeMagazine I ended up buying this model, mellow flowing adventure riding thing seems to be me. Just back from a 4500km trip, to Motogp via Barryway, lap of Tassie, Western Explorer, and other trails. Perfect bike for me, soaked up the ruts and bumps beautifully and fun in the corners. Thinking I might upgrade to the 2024 model.
You have no idea how long it took to find a non DCT AT review. FINALLY. THANK YOU!!!
great review, subscribed
Best review I've seen with good real world pros and cons! I love that red black and white color scheme! Not available in the USA though!
If you're think about buying an Africa Twin, this is a video for you to watch. Very informative review of the standard AT.
Thanks!
one of the best reviews on youtube, probably the best
Glad you enjoyed!
I agree and I own the AT 2020 and I ve done 12.000km with it, on and off road... off road you feel the weight, infoscreem is laggy , consomption to high passenger over 70kg + luggage= nearly undrivable, no front end feeling, wheelie control might even shut down the bike
@@toniraff5488 i also own ktm 1190 r 2016 and for some reason i have and feel 30% more traction on dirt and same tires. No idea how
Not only your ovious capability of bike analysis is amazing but your capability of explaining it. You should be working in a top level motorbikes team! CONGRATS! I consume high numbers of motorbike videos but think you are on the top position!
Kind words indeed. Thanks for watching!
This was an excellent and very thorough review of the standard Africa Twin. Most every other review is of the Adventure Sports ES bike, so thanks for reviewing the standard model. It is the one I’m most interested in and going off your review, though certainly not perfect, I believe it will be just what I’m looking for.
Hey,
I'm really glad it proved useful for you 😁
appreciate your review,good job
Thanks for watching!
Its a great engaging ride, probably best of the adventure bikes I've ridden
Proper review. Thank you.
Would love to see you also do one on the new Triumph 900.
We'll be on it soon enough. It's on the list soon 😁
I so appreciate the expert/Pro VantagePoint you and your team bring to everything you review or talk about - refreshing, wise, insightful, yet succinct - Nicely Done! Much thanks for all you do!
Very well presented. Awesome.
Excellent review!
Thanks Spiros!
Good review, just in regard to your opinion on the suspension being to soft, I found adjusting up the preload and compression settings to hard on the forks makes a big difference with the slower technical riding: 2018 Atas dct
Great review! Really enjoyed how thorough and honest you were. Forgive me if I missed you mentioning it, but did you make any adjustments with the suspension off-road to try to gain more control over the bike? Did you set your sag, make changes to the compression or rebound damping? It's interesting how some other rider journalists have found the suspension to be excellent off-road. Maybe the difference is with riding styles, the pace or expectations. Thanks again for a great review!
That was an excellent review, thank you!
Niall, Ontario, Canada.
Thanks for watching!
Your videos are always worth watching. No BS and good insight. I’ve found the perfect adv bike. Unfortunately (or fortunately), for me it’s two bikes. The R1250GS and CRF450L...Not to go off topic, but would you ever consider testing a CRF450L again but with some mods like the Vortex ECU and a Seat Concepts seat? Ive recently done these mods to mine and I feel that is is THE perfect dual sport now. The only thing I may want to add is a larger fuel tank.
Yes we would. I'm working on an idea for that at the moment!
I really liked it in Stock euro trim for a beginner/intermediate in our kinda technical riding but I'd love to see what it could do. 🙂
Thorough review.Thks.
Glad it was helpful!
Best bike reviews on the internet!
Thanks!
Very explicit review, congratulations 👏🏽
I’d like to add that in suspension terms the AT reveals some hard recoil on the rear when the second wheel passes on bumps at higher speed comparing to my Xr 650r which is much more off-road oriented. But In the end, I guess I’m just lucky to have both 😎 🇵🇹
Awesome review, I love how you separately discussed how you feel about bike in different types of riding, this is very important! Btw, little surprised with no mention of DCT?
Glad you enjoyed it! I mean the bike was manual. What did you wanna know?
@@BrakeMagazine Nothing specific, just if they upgraded their software, hardware and your remarks on it ;
Wow , a bike review for people who have actually ridden a motorcycle, technically informative, practically applicable, brilliant, thanks, will now look at what else you've reviewed.
Glad you liked it!
Hi, thanks for a good review. I had a 2018 Africa twin DCT and I sold it, now looking for the new one. May I know about the following,
1. Handle bar risers - how is it going to affect short riders.I am a short guy with 161 cm height.
2. You are describing about moving the forks through clamps for suspension adjustment- will it affect ground clearance?
3. Is there a switch to adjust traction simply like in old model?
Great review. I have the 2022 AT 1100L for a few months now and love it. I didn´t understand quite well what you said about your setup to improve the cornering and general street riding. Can you give me some tipps? I weight about 85kg. Thanks :)
Excellent, what are the best settings for touring. Thank you very much !
Fenomenal review as usual.
Do you think off road capabilities are comparable to the T700?
You think of a comparative review.
Loved the review and actually bought one, best all arounder I've ever owned. Makes a good pairing with the CRF450L.
Any chance you documented the suspension and user mode settings you landed on?
Yes please post the settings we can adjust for rider weight if you say what your is 😊
Outstanding review! Could have listened to it even longer. The video production you guys do is beyond awesome 👏
The new standard AT is definitely an attractive bike and hard to resist/ignore. I’m looking forward to starting to ride mine in the coming weeks.
Perhaps I’ll begin with dialling in the suspension and get rid of the OEM muffler for some weight reduction.
Thanks for the kind words! I look forward to seeing how you get on with it!
Any thoughts on the stock tires?
Excellent review; lots of things not to like about this new AT... very diplomatically put.
Journalist hopefully 😂😂 I'm glad you liked it!
Does anyone have an informed opinion on cable versus hydraulic clutch? A lot of bikes in the mid sized category now have cable.
Thank you for such an honest review; from someone who definitely knows what they’re talking about.
It’s such a shame that Honda don’t allow people like yourself, to pre-test their bikes prior to signing them off.
I don't think it would change much. We did a podcast about that very subject a few months back. The main reason is that Honda will have a very good reason why they make that choice, even if we don't know what it is. It might not work for the end user either, but there will be a reason.
We did an excerpt from it called ' why the africa twin isn't 200kgs'. Take a watch!
Which bike do you think is better for touring and long distance travel - Africa Twin 1100 (normal version) or Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro?
So if we want a hard core off road bike we should look at? I can see a Ducati Desert X in the backgound, KTM 890 Adv maybe, Yam Tenere? What would you say? I am looking at a Harley Pan Am next week but im not going off road on it, mahbe a country lane here and there. I have a KTM atm am looking for a change, its a bit light on motorway journeys dont like going 70 ish in heavy wind, so im looking at Africa Twin, BMW GS or Harley Pan Am atm for my touring rider, i was impressed with your knowledge, so whats your pick adv tourer, and adv off roader? im not gonna even try to get one bike to do both
Enjoyed that thoroughly as expected. Lots of truth you are not going to hear spoken elsewhere.
I try. Thanks for the kind words too!
Great report. Really well done. I have to say that i am a fan of the AT. The KTM 790 (Adventure / R) is not an option for me because of the engine and the tank. Your opinion would be great if the BMW F 850 GS maybe the golden mean and the Honda AT the most comfortable solution, especially off road. BTW i mean beginner to average riding skills. Is the Yamaha Tenere T700 without the technical gadgets the best choice - even for beginners. Or are BMW and Honda winning because of the electronics package? Your reviews are definitely one of the best. Thank you - Ride Safe. Peter, Black Forest, Germany
Complex question indeed. Some thoughts.
The 850 handles badly. The fork is soft and the bike unbalanced. it could be better if you fix that problem. it's also heavier than the AT.
The T7 is great for that level rider. The only downside it's a touch tall but otherwise, great bike.
The 790, what's wrong with the engine and tank? The tank is fantastic in practice.
The electronics are lovely but not necessary. Very much personal. I like both ways.
Thanks for the great questions!
Glad u did the standard and not the dct
Great review. At times I'm tentative because it is top heavy, but then I remember, I live in Maryland and I can rarely find dirt or gravel to ride, let alone single track.
Then why not get a better bike on the street?
@@BrakeMagazine I have CB500X with a 17" front now. I may get another street bike but I have dreams of adventure on an ATAS... LoL
Bought the Africa Twin standard and added a taller screen and alt-rider rear seat plate. I love it.
You are really good at this. Seriously awesome review. I own the adv sports 2019 and love it. 98% of the riders doing serious technical trails will use smaller 250's to 500's cc bikes. All the big bores are too top heavy to do those trails competently. I wish your channel all the best in the future. Off hand if you guys reply I have a question. Is any riding gear not made in China. Every thing I look at seems to be made there. Klim, Revit is all Chinese made. Do you know of any?
Of what?
Jacket pants with decent armor
Try rubbersidedown in BC, Canada - standard sizing and fully custom design and sizing.
I see that the both indicator lights are on full time in your video - probably then just blink when activated for a turn.
Does the side indicating come on brighter when used?
Do you think this will just confuse those around, thinking there is a fault in the bikes lights or something?
I honestly don't know what they do. I never noticed it. Sorry!
What about the Revit Offtrack? Its a good jacket?
@2:45 498lb =126kg? i think you have a typo there, its 226kg.
You are correct. Its 226kgs. Sorry about that!
@@BrakeMagazine No worries at all, it doesn't affect the great content just too good to be true :)))))))
What a great review. Is the video with Simon Pavey available on line too?
Which one?
On this video Simon Pavey is seen testing out the Africa twin and other bikes. Is there a full Version online of it pls? Tks for yr reply. Appreciate.
Very good and balanced review, you pointed out the spirit of this bike. Your is great service for future buyers.
From my point of view, I dislike the decision of Honda to fight BMW and the KTM on their terrain. But, hey! So goes the world today... God saves the T700. 😆
This is an awesome comment. Glad you liked it 😁
Great review, can you adjust things like engine braking and throttle control in the tour mode.
You can't.
Hi Fellas. Which would you choose out of an older 1000 manual AT and a T700 for UK roads and occasional green laning? Cheers.
Difficult, but probably the T7 for the UK.
Wow this is one hell of a review
New sub here.
Thank you!
@@BrakeMagazine you've earnt it.. Thank you
I hope you enjoyed monchique in the algarve. Good review
Very much so. It's amazing!
Outstanding review of the standard AT.... any chance you could do a review of the adventure sports 2020 version?
At some point. I've been thinking a group test might be better? What do you think?
I assume a group review would be one video with multiple bikes? The AT standard review was succinct, thoughtful, unbiased and in-depth. As long as a group review could accomplish this then yes it would be fantastic.
When you say the Africa Twin was the first 21 that felt good on the road, do you mean the old 650? Because I can't imagine the CRF1000 was better on the road than the Tiger 800 gen. 2 (came out 1 year earlier).
Really nice review ... but i think the 2020 Version is already equipped with a Lithium Battery ... ;-)
Great review! I just put in an order for a 2021. Any chance you could share some of your settings?
Hey,
Sure can. I also talked through a lot of this in the livestream I did on the channel. It's a while back now, but primarily we dropped the forks through the triple clamps 3mm. It lowers the front end, evening the bike out.
We also ended up with a fair bit more preload on the rear shock, but it's not an exact science unless you get the measuring tape out and set the sag properly. Aim for 10% of the rear wheel travel for the static sag and 30% when you're stood up on the bike.
After that I would try methodically setting up the suspension by trying the clickers! :)
@@BrakeMagazine you’re the best! Thanks, brother. I just discovered your channel. I’ll go check out the livestream too.
This is an excellent comprehensive review. I would add that in their different ways, *Toni Bou* and *The Girl On A Bike* have proved conclusively that this machine is very accessible and capable of virtually ANYTHING you can throw at it on ANY sort of rough and very extreme terrain. 99% of riders will not approach the limits of this motorcycle.
Whil I get your point I would add some caveats.
Toni Bou is the most talented motorcycle trials rider of all time. He could do that on any bike, literally anything.
Secondly, I believe that there are bikes that can do what Vanessa does much easier that the AT. Its a nice bike but it's not the easiest bike in class to ride.
@@BrakeMagazine If the AT is not the easiest bike and Vanessa can handle it so well in the rough stuff, it suggests the standard and the accessibility of the litre+ ADV market is very high indeed which is fantastic for bikers!
Thats what i feel to, the bar is set very high, thats oke, but a few years ago the 1000 was such a perfect bike if you believe the testers, whith a low centre of gravity (battery low, light engine), punchy engine. A few years later there is a new model, even lighter en its called top heavy. Good review, i liked watching. But i think the bar is extremely high.
@@Gijserklh I don't believe the testers. It's never had a low centre of gravity.
Its upright parallel twin with long travel suspension and large fuel tank on top that weighs over 230kg+ and this version rides better than that version.
What most testers I believe were missing something. The reason the opinions changed is the reference point.
There are more, better bikes now and the AT has kept pace really.
Hi, may I ask, what is your Adv bike of choice? I value your input.
Thx
GA
I think that really depends on what I'm doing! Currently it'd be a hard pick between the KTM 790, T7 and Tiger 900.
Would you recommend the DCT version if it will occasionally hit Enduro trails? Obviously it's the wrong bike, but I can't afford 5 bikes that are specialized at just one thing.
My concern is being able to clear logs or ruts on trails with a throttle blip.
It's main purpose would be a daily driver and bringing my wife along on soft roading adventures that will cover 1,000+ miles. But I may occasionally go to remote areas with very rough roads or trails and want to feel confident when I'm in the harder stuff too.
Any help is appreciated. Plan on picking one up in September or next summer depending on how things go with bonuses and raises for my wife and I.
Sure. I was surprised what the DCT could do. It's a little tricky but you can kinda replace the clutch with the brake 😊
When are you guys reviewing the Tiger 900 Rally?
Are we gonna see more of the 790R/Rally soon ?
Yes. We've reviewed the two normal versions. 790 Rally is in the pipeline!
I want an AT or T700 but I do t think I would take either bike in hard stuff. I think the AT would be fun for long highway and twisty roads to find camp sites and explore comfortably. I have a drz but I want something g more road capable. I may have a passenger sometimes too. The AT seems nice. I lived the 1090 but didn’t take it off road.
How much did you drop the front forks?
I believe was in the region of 2-3mm from how ours came stock.
The new AT is better than the old AT in every way. Better suspension, punchier engine, better at cornering, less fork dive, lighter, more customizable settings. I think Honda did a great job. It's still a 500lb bike so it will feel unwieldy on technical terrain for the 99% of us mortals who can't rip on a bike this big.
They should be going down in displacement and weight, not up. I'm pretty sure they're already making plenty of street bikes! Wonder why the XR650R was so successful???
Hi Llel, nice review, thanks. I noticed the Pikes Peak MS, what are you planning for it?
No, not for a little while. It's my partners fathers bike! I'm currently in lockdown there 😂
20:47 does'nt have the 1100 a lithium battery as a standard? I own a 2018 and it has it already.
It does. My mistake 🙂
@@BrakeMagazine Thanks 🙂
How tall are you?
I will always wonder why someone should choose a 230 kg bike to drive on a "technical trail". By the way, nice review!
Because we can? They're able to go to those places and do everything else 🙂 Thanks for the nice words!
Next the tiger 900 rally pro
i deeply wish you guys had a ktm 1090 adventure r review
We do too! Sadly, it's not available in the UK anymore. The closest we came is a written review of the 1190 R and a Written group test of the 1090 S.
Do you think you could comfortably tour on the standard Africa Twin
Yes. Very.
really appreciate this review. you answer all the questions AND THEN SOME! of anal, particular people like me. People that care about how the front tire is going to feel in a corner, or how the engine braking feels on a bike. I'm sold on this one. When I heard they finally put cruise control on the AT i was sold. In feb of next year I'm selling me heavily modded wr250r and getting an at....maybe even the DCT!
Really kind comment, thanks! Enjoy your AT!
will a samsung android phone connect to the tft? or do i need an iphone, ie to use the sat nav on the tft
It's car play not android auto so I believe you need an iPhone.
I couldn't get my samsung working
@@BrakeMagazine bugger. well i will have to give it a try as i bought the bike, pick it up when i get home on leave in september, i will update you if i get it working, fingers crossed. cheers.
@@craigharrison5958 i believe you can still Bluetooth up and play music etc but you don't have same app usage as you do with apple car play. Don't quote me on it but I believe that's correct.
You'll also need a Bluetooth headset.
Year later now its available with android auto 👌
Hi Question compare AT to KTM 790R on offroad KTM is winner. Can You confirm if 790R is also better on road? Thanks Pawel
Yes. Mostly at least. You should watch our other video Adventure Bike of the Year. It compares both.
Yeah I would totally buy one in 20 something years when my Rd07 might break down. 😂😎
same here i love my rd07
Suspect it's a 226kg kerb weight, rather than the 126kg shown here: th-cam.com/video/sJkgiFsSL-A/w-d-xo.html
Totally correct. Sorry about that.
@@BrakeMagazine no need to apologise, the review was great and cinematography was gorgeous as always. Was chucking at the thought of a 120kg Africa Twin rolling down the production line.
The lesson learned here is to take a hard look at the 790.
😂😂
If you're going to ride mostly off-road and are good at working on motorcycles!
Or wait for the 800 AT. Come on Honda give us a real offroad focused adv bike.
Are they making those engines in china now?
Amazing review. I Currently own the 790Adventure. I hada good deal and the new Africa Twin wasn't out yet.
I'm just starting to get into offroad riding (some offroad courses on the way etc..)
But i loooooveeeee the standard black Africa Twin and how it sounds.
So pretty, The Ktm 790 R is growing on me but still.
I'm torn between those 2.. I just started to make larger trips with my Girlfriend as pillion as well so.
I'm going to decide if i'm going to keep the ktm 790 adv R or sell it for the Africa Twin ( testriding it this month).
Am i going to enjoy the Africa twin if i'm used to the sporty ktm 790? :o
You need to test ride it really. :)
Hi Jamal so what was Your decision? Did You change KTM to Honda? Reg. Paul
SED KEDZ not yet, but i’m probably going to sell it and swap to the At, triumph Rally or bmw gs 1250.. my clutch broke down and bad customer experience on the ktm 790adv R. Don’t fet me wrong.. i LOVE the ktm 790 adv but i just can’t trust it :( always something) the only option in it’s class is the yamaha T7 but i found that bike very boring after 2 testrides..
@@Xavii1986 I am also looking for good deal for AT 1100L. Black color for me. Reg. Paul
Brake Magazine often appears to dislike the Africa Twin. Their audience however is unlikely to be so hardcore and would really like this bike.
I don't dislike it. It has its plus points but it also has some significant negatives. 😊
Doesn't it come stock with a Lithium battery.
Yup, my bad sorry.
any issues with stalling? i am having big issues with the bike stalling when i quick blip the throttle on a down shift or when sitting in neutral and blip the throttle. trying to get this resolved with my deal/honda dropping it back of this thursday again
I stalled in the GoPro footage once but I don't specifically remember that problem. Have you asked on any forums?
I have been chatting with another guy having this issue on the AT forums. I will let you know more once the dealer looks at it again
Sounds like an ECM issue. Early 250L’s had scattered recalls with the same flaming out dramas. Reflash, all good