Jason R Posted August 28, 2017 My Ride Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 35 minutes ago, NavyNuke said: I believe the DCT is a learning system where with more time it can better predict the changes you want as a rider. So on this demo bike I bet its DCT is thoroughly confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted August 29, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 AltRider had an extra set of bars they're loaning me for this AT so I put them on today. They are REALLY well made! 1.25" lower bars are only 10% heavier but double the strength of 1" bars and the whole system is designed to transfer the load of a crash around the most important parts of the bike. Here's a video that will show you all the features and benefits. They've come a long way since my GSA oilhead bars! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason R Posted September 7, 2017 My Ride Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 I enjoyed the demo of the Africa Twin. I tried to give the DCT a fair shake down. For slow and casual riding, its great. Doing slow figure eights, or stop and goes without dabbing was just plain easy on the AT. At speed on a gravel road, sport mode was not smart enough to shift up a gear when I was done accelerating. I would stand up and be cruising at 50+. Then I would try to catch up to Eric on my bike and would open up the throttle. It would shift down to 3rd gear and start spinning the back wheel and jump up to 75 mph in no time. Then I would let off to try and hold that speed but the DCT would keep holding on the 3rd gear, so I would lose all my speed. It was balls to wall or slow acceleration, no in between. My logic could be wrong, but I was thinking it should be like a car and start to shift up when you let off the throttle. Maybe it only does that in Drive. I didn't test Drive on the gravel road. Manual shift mode seems to be the only way to go on dirt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted September 7, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted September 7, 2017 for a quick ride you got the feel. I've seen it will upshift eventually but tends to keep it in a lower gear longer. There's a 1/2/3 shift setting you can change. 1 is like it shifting to 3rd gear before you're even out of the intersection and 3 is like what you experienced; it holds onto a gear a lot longer before shifting. There's a bit of a learning curve for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted September 18, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted September 18, 2017 Some interesting notes on the AT in deep sand from AltRider 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarpedRotor Posted September 18, 2017 My Ride Report Share Posted September 18, 2017 At about 3:13, super squish! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteN95 Posted September 19, 2017 Report Share Posted September 19, 2017 Not sure if it will hold up, but the "parking brake" sounds like it would work like a rear hand brake? If so, you should try it, once you get used to it, it is the best thing ever! Brake sliding into right hand turns with your foot down rules! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnRider Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 With my fat ass (245lbs) I would need some serious suspension upgrades! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted September 25, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 It's funny how much butt hurt riding this bike and simply talking about it has generated. Of course I love the click bait but I'm not the one saying the Africa Twin is better than any other bike, it's other people saying it, particularly the KTM 1090. All I did was cite a few articles and people lose their minds: Cycle News (Africa Twin) Rider Magazine (no winner) Motorcycle.com (KTM 1090R) 1000ps (no winner) I've been accused of taking money from Honda, lol! Hey, if they want to compensate me for my time or the impressions I'm generating for them then I'm not going to turn it down but this is simply a loaner press bike that all the press has access to for these purposes. Plus, I'm unable to pick a winner because I really haven't ridden the 1090R except for a 15 "test ride" at Overland Expo; just enough to get a feel for the ergonomics really. I do hear pretty consistently that the 1090R wins off road due mostly to suspension and the frame but it is interesting that the Africa Twin has more power at 3200 rpm and lower as well as more power than the 1090R in dirt mode which is where you typically need it. The biggest downside of the Africa Twin may be it's suspension but it performed really well for me once I cranked up the rebound in both the front and rear. Plus, I don't know many OEM bikes with suspension worthy of my 235 lb frame and riding style anyways. But you'll all find out shortly anyways in about a week when I publish my review. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted September 25, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 3200 views on FB, 30k reach on FB. 24.4k impressions and 19.5k reach on IG. Many butts were hurt by this lol 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted September 25, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 Just 3.8k reach on FB for this but 25.4k impressions and 20.5k reach on IG for this one. Many butts were hurt by this as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballisticexchris Posted September 25, 2017 Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 10 minutes ago, Eric Hall said: 3200 views on FB, 30k reach on FB. 24.4k impressions and 19.5k reach on IG. Many butts were hurt by this lol I'm going to have to paste this link to the ADVrider crybaby "fork stiction" thread!! LOL 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted September 25, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 some actually made some good points that the KTM's suspension seemed to take the jump better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted October 1, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 Rode the AT here at the ADV Rally Sierra in auto mode the whole time and learned a few things. One is that the auto clutch got me up every hill before everyone else, even The Gear Dude who is a great rider but on the manual version. The other is how important lower crash bars are for this bike. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polar Nomad Posted October 1, 2017 Report Share Posted October 1, 2017 I absolutely love my AT. I'm going to Baja in a week and a half and I don't want to take my GSA. Both are sitting in the garage ready to be ridden but I'm likely going to take the AT. I just prefer it. The first question I get since I own the GSA and an AT is which is better. Such a stupid question. That's like asking which sandwich is best. It depends on the personal preferences of each person. The two bikes are very good at very different things and I don't think that it's even fair to compare the two bikes. PS, Anybody looking to buy a GSA? I have one that doesn't get ridden anymore. ;-) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted October 2, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted October 2, 2017 Review completed! Take a look at my final take on the bike, DCT usefulness off road and whether or not I like it better than my 990 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Hall Posted October 4, 2017 Author Administrators My Rides (3) Report Share Posted October 4, 2017 Somebody pinch me! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motopreneur Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 On 1-10-2017 at 5:31 AM, Polar Nomad said: PS, Anybody looking to buy a GSA? I have one that doesn't get ridden anymore. ;-) I was getting curious about the GSA but it took me quite some scrolling in your IG feed before finding it ... It is pretty though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polar Nomad Posted October 7, 2017 Report Share Posted October 7, 2017 14 hours ago, Motopreneur said: I was getting curious about the GSA but it took me quite some scrolling in your IG feed before finding it ... It is pretty though. Yeah, it's down there. I haven't done any rides with it at all this summer. I'm down with my AT. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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