The Africa Twin thread

[Menasco Pirate]

Shamless self promotion here!

I've posted a very good condition AT Corbin seat in the Flea market for a good buddy. His butt and the Corbin did not come to an agreement!

Love them or hate them! I like them on my TA's

Steve

[abat]

Hi G.
You did a great job bring you're bike to it's current condition-it looked awful
well done!
i love it!

[longuito]

Originally Posted by JohanPalm

Hello people,
How do you compare AT with bmw GS1150 ? Bmw has more power, but it is no use for me, I'm noob rider. These are two bikes that I think are best for ride around the world

Hi Johan,

If you are considering the bike for RTW, it depends where you will be traveling. Both are very reliable bikes, but shit happens, and it it does, you will need to have it fixed. I can only speak about Latin America, having lived and traveled extensively in Mexico, and being Ecuadorian and traveled through my country and Colombia on my 2003 Africa Twin. With this preamble, a few facts:

1. I have several friends who have traveled through South America on GS1150's and 1200's and they tell me that if you ever have an electrical issue, the only GOOD BMW shops in all of south America are in Santiago, Chile and one in Sao Paulo. Practically all the other dealerships are overpriced and the staff is not very knowledgable. Mexico only has a good one in Toluca and forget Central America.

2. The AT on the other hand is much more basic in its technology, and hence, easier to work on either on your own, or with some general mechanic.

3. On the $$ side, both parts and service will be much cheaper on the AT, and it's still a hell of a bike. Just look out for the typical issues

Don't get me wrong, I drool over the GS1200 Adventure more than anybody else, but after having heard all of this, I would definitely choose the AT for travel in the underdeveloped world. Cheers, and let me know if you come this way.

[abat]

So after leaving you with you're genitalia in you're hands, we can continue.

The KTM620 front i bought have thick axle.the original KTM bearing can't seat in the steering head because it's size.so i used XR600/650 bearing.
to do so,i had to machine the axle to fit the bearing.

i took off about 3mm thickness.
after doing so, i stumbled another problem-there was a big gap between the axle and the upper triangle.


So i machined a spacer to fill this gap.





Worked pretty good.
I hope it will stay strong...








Starting to get a gooood shape...



got myself a 320mm disc.







Ohhh MAMA!




What is left for me to deal with is the calpier issue.
I need to find a KTM 620 caliper.the adapter i already have.

I'll report later on.
Cheers.

[A-Wind]

Nice fabwork there. Keep us posted. I like to follow your project.

[Jim Davis]

I just wanted to report that my LO beam has died shortly after the H4 conversion. The headlight fuse is still good and the HI beam button works.

I am removing the front fairing tomorrow, and find the problem. I will also make and install a Relay Kit, as there are none on the headlights.

I just hope I haven't burned out the LO beam switch.

I therefore have to warn others, the RD03 headlight wiring is not built for more draw than the 45/45 watt bulbs.

THen again, maybe a bullet connector came undone. I'll be checking everything up front well, will report what I find.

[locorider]

On mine, I only use the bike's switch to trigger the relays. And, of course, I changed the H4 plugs and wiring. No problema yet!

[locorider]

Abat.... we are all watching...

[abat]

Originally Posted by locorider

Abat.... we are all watching...

I'm sure you are

[Underground]

Originally Posted by Jim Davis

I just wanted to report that my LO beam has died shortly after the H4 conversion. The headlight fuse is still good and the HI beam button works.

I am removing the front fairing tomorrow, and find the problem. I will also make and install a Relay Kit, as there are none on the headlights.

I fitted H4's to my RD03 and they work alright but not as bright as you would expect . I think this is due to the light wiring and lack of relays .
Will be interested to see how you get on with the relays

[atgreg]

Abat, nice work on the forks !!, re the caliper, I find the CR250 caliper + 320mm disc on my bike after the USD conversion lacking in braking power. The feel is great & on the dirt it's OK but riding hard on the tar it's a bit lacking. When funds permit Im going to add a motomaster 4 piston caliper or maybe a CBR1100/VFR800 3 piston caliper

[Jim Rowley]

Greg, if you are still using the stock AT master cylinder, you may want to swap it out for a Brembo 16-18 radial unit. Much better feel and performance.

Jim.

[abat]

Originally Posted by atgreg

Abat, nice work on the forks !!, re the caliper, I find the CR250 caliper + 320mm disc on my bike after the USD conversion lacking in braking power. The feel is great & on the dirt it's OK but riding hard on the tar it's a bit lacking. When funds permit Im going to add a motomaster 4 piston caliper or maybe a CBR1100/VFR800 3 piston caliper

Thanks Greg!

As Jim seid about the radial master cylinder-i have one that is just wating to me if i'll see that i'm not pleased with the braking.i also wanted to buy a motomaster 4 piston caliper-don't have the cash right now.i ran out.
I also thoght about a 3 piston caliper, maybe later on.
Are you aware that 2 pistons are controlled by the front master cylinder and one from the rear?to use this caliper on the front, a short hose is needed to connect the 3 pistons together.
What did you do with the speedometer drive?

[atgreg]

Originally Posted by Jim Rowley

Greg, if you are still using the stock AT master cylinder, you may want to swap it out for a Brembo 16-18 radial unit. Much better feel and performance.

Jim.

Hi Jim,

Im using the CR master, the AT master went with the front end to a TA owner. I tried a TA600 master as well but that was so wooden it was terrible.

[atgreg]

Originally Posted by abat

What did you do with the speedometer drive?

I use a trailtech Vapor instead o0f the stock speedo so no need for a speedo drive