I went to my local dealer today to ask when anything official might come out - we're nearly in June, and if it's coming out in the Autumn we can't be that far off, surely? Turns out we're not getting it until January, with no info before September at the earliest; probably nothing until the NEC in November! Price info will be just before the launch to take account of the exchange rate at the time.

The AT is growing on me. But the fact is that it's a new bike and as fully loaded with tech and electronics as the BMW. I have faith in Honda but only time will tell if it's reliable.

If I had to own a 1200GS it would be the last of the air-cooled ones. Most of the problems were ironed out.

I don't like the new water cooled motor in the GS. I don't trust them.

The 800XC is a nice bike. Two up though. I don't know.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Several riding friends own those last generation NON water cooled GS's. Good reports, very few issues from what I've heard.

Folks here in USA are lined up for the Africa Twin. They don't arrive here until May or June. No one is happy with the LONG wait ... EU already had the bike over a month or two.

Honda are rumored to be developing some sort of new ADV/dual sport, a 500 or 750 parallel twin ... like a MINI Africa Twin perhaps? Using a hopped up CB500 P-Twin motor would be my choice of power plants. Get 10 more HP out of it, steel frame, good components. Super light weight. (light equals $$$$)
So won't match CB500 for price but could be a good one if done right.

Yamaha are almost certainly set to release a MINI Tenere' using FZ-700 parallel twin motor. Hopefully Yamaha will make it FAR lighter than the 650 lb. Plus 1200 Tenere'. That big Ten rides light (on road) but I can't pick it up and did not like it OFF road.

Also likely KTM will jump into this party too. Most likely some sort of smaller, lighter weight twin. P-twin is rumored. Dunno. I feel a super light 500cc P twin in full ADV style would do well for them. KTM are going to find out that not that many riders doing RTW want a 1300cc, 550 lb., 160 HP, $22,000 USD bike. Also, an ADV version of the Indian made 390 will also likely appear soon.

I've been on a Tiger 800 XC (and now an XCx) for 5 years now. They're great machines (I wouldn't have got the second one were they not) and no issues touring two up. Especially the new XCx with its WP suspension.

Sure, it's no Goldwing, but my other half has been comfy enough and we managed Morocco two up and with ludicrous quantities of luggage.

Still glad she's getting her own bike this year, mind you!

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[ Tim | History - NW Italy/French Rivera, Swiss Alps, Morocco | 2016 - Greece > Albania > Macedonia > Kosovo > Montenegro > Bosnia > Slovenia > Austria ]

So just a little feedback from my experiences on my recent trip for the little that its worth. Just got home Saturday. Bike has now over 12k on it. I had a talk to the dealers today to discuss some minor repairs, the servicing etc. Herewith:

1. There is a small oil leak on one of the DCT bolts. Probably only a copper washer needed and doesn't appear to be a major issue at this point
2. I'm not happy with the rear shock. It feels like it's getting progressively worse to me. I weighed my panniers etc when I got home, and I am just over the 195kg maximum load limit set by Honda. I don't mind if it's a case of bottoming the suspensions, but this is not it. As soon as the shock heats up, the bike starts bouncing. 1st it was only over longer distances on corrugated/bad roads. Now it starts when I'm doing 'technical' tracks unloaded. I have the rebound and damping dialed to max, but this does not help. Scott said he will follow up on it, but it sounds like maybe the nitrogen has leaked out of the shock.
3. The DCT oil filter was not available for the 1st service. The filters are still not available from Honda Australia so the service can't be completed until when exactly...
4. The replacement brake lines have arrived that will allow us to do a high front mudguard conversion.
5. My heated grips have arrived and will/can be installed.
6. I saw the photos of the 'high seat' and have ordered one.
7. I have ordered the Force bashplate. I saw a crashed AT after hitting a roo in the Flinder's that was running a B&B- the bashplate succesfully protected the engine casings against damage, but personally, I don't like the look of the bashplate and just think it's too big.
8. I have ordered a set of Holan crashbars (top and bottom).
9. It is possible to make a pre-filter for the bike. The bike sucks it's air from under the headlight. There are two slots you need to blank off to ensure these are the only ports used. I will give Rugged Roads a call later today to discuss this. PBee suggested someone might want to take their bike up to Unifilter to see if they want to do a development deal. If I was closer, I definitely would...
10. Dunlop D908 tires are all on backorder in Australia - will take 6-8 weeks for delivery. I got 9800km on the rear, and I'm sure I would have been able to squeeze out another 1000km, but swapped to the 'standard' Dunlop road tires for my dash back across the Nullarbor (2500km in two days). I was very happy with the performance of the tire on and off-road.

Other than that I'm sure the bike performed faultlessly. The few issues I had was minor (like tightening one or two bolts) or self-inflicted when I crashed/dropped the bike. Herewith some of my findings/comments:

• Fuel consumption did improve over the distance (or maybe I started to 'learn' how to operate the bike more efficiently). Riding the speed limit of 110km/h returned consumption of 15-17km/l. Riding according to the 'tello-meter', I constantly managed over 20km/l with a best of 22km/l. Mixed riding returned figures of 18-20km/l.
• I found using the S1 mode when fully loaded reduced the bike's tendency to lug too much around town.
• Riding off-road, I preferred TC and ABS off completely.
• For dirt riding, I started using Manual mode more than not. The DCT has little quirks like most automatic boxes, and I didn't like the way the bike would shift down when in the middle of a bend/corner as soon as you start accellarating out of it. When riding twisties on bitumen, I used S2 mode mostly. I found sports mode to aggressive for dirt riding for my riding style (i.e. revs tended to be much higher than I liked).
• Even fully loaded, the bike boogies through the corners. I ended up in a 6-Porsche train in the mountains. Although the 911's could have blown me out of the water if they wanted or knew what they were doing, the Cayene couldn't get past me and I had to 'let' him pass

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Squily

Thanks for the comprehensive review of your Africa Twin.
No surprise the OEM shock is fading. Seems common to a lot of bikes ... and seems it's always the rebound circuit that fails first.

Is it a Showa (Honda own Showa) or a KYB shock? Looks like new internal valves and some custom work are called for. I'm sure it will make a big difference once upgraded.

How was the comfort on your long highway rides? Will seat need re-doing?
How is side grip and feed back in the twisty bits when leaned way over under power? Left to Right transitions? Handle OK carrying a load?

Fuel economy seems good. 12K km. is a really good shake down ride. Looks like another strong and reliable Honda.

Mollydog- some answers below:

Is it a Showa (Honda own Showa) or a KYB shock? - To be honest, I don't know. I think I read somewhere it's Showa. Front is Showa.

I'm sure it will make a big difference once upgraded. - I'm trying to get hold of Jonathan at Rugged Roads as I know he and Nitron was working on something. I'll probably go this way, as I am very happy with the shock Nitron built for my Varadero

How was the comfort on your long highway rides? Will seat need re-doing? - I don't like the step seat setup and I always end up 'sliding down'. I find the straight seat more to my liking and hence my changeover to the high seat. Other than that I can't complain, but seating is always a very personal issue with everybody's experiences different


How is side grip and feed back in the twisty bits when leaned way over under power? - Assuming you are referring to tyres - I fitted knobs straight up and had no issues with the handling- managed to scrape the panniers a lot. I am always careful with knobbies on bitumen, so I tend not to be to aggressive on the throttle until the bike starts to come up a bit, but at no time did feel the back step out or do silly things.


Left to Right transitions? No problems, but did have to work the handle bars at times. Bike (to me) handles like a big trailbike and feels a bit jittery when dropping it into the corner, but that could well be the tyres.


Handle OK carrying a load? Yes and no. The handling was getting bad the last 3kkm or so and I found the back starting to bounce as if too soft. Before that- yes.

Fuel economy seems good. - I found the fuel economy acceptable, but not great. My economy was not as good as some of the claims I've read on the internet, but certainly comparable to my Varadero. Fuel range is a problem though.

Looks like another strong and reliable Honda. - I did a smallish comparison review between the RD07, CRF1000 and Varadero about 1/3 through the trip (before the rear shock got really bad). I can't remember if I posted it in HU or not, but there's a copy on this page if anyone is interested.

http://advrider.com/index.php?thread...50630/page-762


Reading it again, I don't think I'd change any of the scoring, except perhaps to score the rear suspension lower. Also- I forgot to explain the 'low' scoring of the lights when everyone is 'raving' about how good they are- the LED lights lack penetration/distance as they diffuse too quickly compared to halogens. I found it hard to travel at night at speeds over 80km/h on rural roads.

__________________
Squily

Finally the big boys are interested in this market.

But if we think we will see anything but commuter/touring bikes with adventure stickers on them, were dreaming.

I can't think of a single hardcore Adventure bike since the ktm640 bone shaker..

Still !! If one of them did bring out a near perfect mid weight offroad capable travel bike then we'd have nothing to adapt, engineer and farkle with

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

MT-07 Tracer for solo road touring or an MT-07 Adv bike for RTW would be great.

180Kg 73Hp 70Mpg

I recon they would be around £6500 New.

(Still going to Honda for a test ride on the AT )