Riding an Africa Twin played a key role in me finalising Transalp 750

After this ride, I realised that while the Suzuki V-Strom 650 and Kawasaki Versys 650 are good motorcycles, I wanted something like this Honda.

BHPian Redline6800 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Honda Africa Twin has been a dream bike of mine for a long time.

A friend was kind enough to let me ride his 2016 Africa Twin DCT for approx 200 km and this was a key transformation in my decision-making process.

He has 2 Africa Twins (1 in Dubai and 1 in Blr). He had very high words of praise for the reliability, performance and quality of the bike. He had a GS 1250 in Dubai previous to the Africa Twin.

Big Wing Topline service also received special praise from him. This was important to me. I'm okay with being looted once while purchasing the bike. But repeating that experience on a yearly or 6 monthly basis for service is an experience I would like to avoid.

I had never ridden a bike this large or heavy before and was blown away by the bike. Despite hard use, the pics attest to the quality of a premium Honda motorcycle. The bike was great on the highway, with fantastic road presence, powerful, stable and comfortable.

The DCT was great in sport mode and the bike DOES NOT feel like a Honda Activa!

It was after this ride that I realised while the V-Strom 650, and Versys 650 were good bikes, I wanted something like the Africa Twin. The thing is it is near impossible to get a used Africa Twin (there is one now on TBHP Classifieds!)

After the ride I couldn't get the Africa Twin out of my head, how it sounded past 110 was brilliant. Even a pauper can feel like an emperor while riding that bike.

Another change for me was the sudden, incomprehensible death of a very dear friend and colleague (just a couple of years older than me) in 2023, who was a gem of a human being. This also resulted in me reevaluating my life.

If not now, then when? If not me, then who?

Motorcycling has made a huge difference to me and the good thing is even an average and inexperienced rider (such as myself) can still get that same great feeling when riding early in the morning and seeing the sunrise! Being on a bike really does move the soul.

But I also realised that the Africa Twin with its off-road orientation was a bit too much for me. It has loads of kit I wouldn't use and there was of course the simple matter that at approx 22-24L OTR for the 2024 version it was simply too expensive for me.

I'm hearing the 2024 Africa Twin will be in showrooms from April.

The TransAlp to me was more affordable (relatively) and as a CBU from Japan will offer great quality (but maybe more expensive to maintain over the long run?)

I believe 90 bhp should be sufficient to keep me happy till all my hair turns grey (though this could happen sooner than I think!)

Did not consider the BMW GSA 850 beyond requesting a brochure. To me it has too many features that may be problematic for the decade-plus of ownership I envisage. A friend has it and he loves it by the way!

There is absolutely no scope sir for any extra budget as I have already mortgaged the happiness of future generations for this bike.

The Africa Twin tubeless conversion for TransAlp is approx 1.45 L at the showroom, so not sure about this at least in the near term.

The TransAlp has a fantastic gearbox and clutch combo and Quick Shifter will be an indulgence, maybe later in the ownership cycle.

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