Africa Twin Adventure Sport (DCT)

[Fat Rat]

My old 2017 Africa Twin was in for a service today so I couldn't help sniff around (and then take out for an hour) the new 'Adventure Sport' version for 2018, currently only available with the DCT Gearbox, it has;

A new dash, incorporating lots of gismos (more to follow)
A larger fuel tank (an increase of 5L)
Longer travel suspension
A taller, flatter seat 
Only currently available in the very blingy tricolour and gold wheels (it's not my cup of tea).

The first thing you notice is how fecking tall the bike is, on the lowest setting it is the same height as the 2017 model, I am 6ft 2" and if my knickers have slipped, I sometimes have an undignified attempt at getting my leg over, the new shape seat makes this worse.

The many electronic controls are fairly intuitive, you can select 'D' Drive and then four or five variations of the 'S' Sport setting. There are also preset values like 'Urban', Gravel, etc. which take care of the ABS and Traction Control settings. It does seem to me that 80% of riders will choose a setting and then leave it alone.

I was sceptical about having no gear lever by my left foot and sure enough the initial experience is weird. However, at 60 mph + over a series of roundabouts, I was starting to enjoy the bike doing the work for me. There are also up and down paddle shifters on the handlebars which allow you to override whatever setting you have chosen, that was a bit of fun for a while.

Then I got into town, I came out of 'S' mode and put it into 'D', this is just bloody horrible and I was constantly using the paddles to be in the gear I wanted.

My tuppence worth;
I marked the additional height and then the extra weight with the bigger tank as a negative
The very blingy tricolour with the gold wheels is just too pretty
The DCT is not for me

On a plus note for anyone looking for an Africa Twin, the prices are dropping and the introduction of the new model (at a discounted price) can only make the 2017 model a good buy (it may well of course stitch up the trade in value of those that already own them) 

[kwackboy]

Good write up .
I have riden many Honda NC750's with DCT, similar with maybe less settings .
In my opinion they are best left in sport mode but as you have said in town you are looking for a better gear. DCT is not a choice I would make and I like to see how the auto gearbox fares with big  mileage, I prefer a clutch and gear lever personally.
However , a great idea if maybe someone has a disability or prefer twist and Go.

[Loz]

The tri colour needs the black wheels on it (Gold wheels  ) and the black one (imo) would look better with black engine cases.
I have 3 friends who have AT's, nice bikes, but too tall for me.

[Griff2]

I had a 2017 CRF but parted with it after 17,000 kms. It was a decent bike. I never gelled with it, but the deteriorating shock performance together with the fork issues that transpired eventually made my mind up for me with regard to the parting. I assume these issues were fixed with the later models, but I now know that if I had purchased a DL1000 instead in the first place I probably would still have it.

[Loz]

Funny you should mention shock issues, as one of the blokes I know has just changed his rear shock.

[mr_diver]

Mr Rat I am very suprised Andrew didn't try to twist your arm further...

But I was also in on the discussion you had when purchasing your current AT, I'm sure if you wanted it you'd be the one doing the twisting.

I've thought about taking one out for a spin, but standing at only 6ft0" I can't get on the fecking thing!

I've ridden the NC750 DCT and I can say its great if you commuting and doing lots of miles on busy roads. But on the open road it lacks, erm... a gear lever. For me it's got to be the tried and tested lever action gear change. Even with optional electronic lever like on the VFR120x you're still at the whim of the computer.