Glory Days

This entry is part 7 of 17 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #43

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Nigel Locke’s 1990 Africa Twin XLV750 As the years roll on and bikes come and go, sometimes there’s just a bike which captures a rider’s heart and imagination.

Nigel Locke has a passion for bikes which stretches back over many years. His shed holds a selection of favourites from modern Japanese dirt bikes like a KLX450 and the venerable DR650 through to older European boxer twins and quite a few varieties in between.

He’s a keen member of his local restorer’s club but doesn’t consider himself a restorer.

“I like to buy bikes in as original condition as possible,” he said, having clearly asked for sugar in his coffee even though he didn’t take sugar.

“You never find them 100-per-cent original, but I get them as close as I can and then fix them up. I try and stay as close to original as I can.

“Every week I trowel through Gumtree and Ebay for classic bikes.

This one came up on the day I was looking and I phoned the guy straight away and said, ‘I’m going to come down there and buy that’.

We arranged it and I went and picked it up the next day before anyone else could grab it.”

A 1990 Africa Twin XLV750 and one very happy owner.

Quick decision

Despite having a selection of great bikes, Nige was rapt to find this one.

“This model wasn’t actually available in Australia,” he explained.

“The first Africa Twin was released in 1989, and if you read back through the magazines of the time, this is the sought-after model.

“It came standard with some great features: the big aluminium bash-plate, an easy-access airfilter, a little glove compartment in the sidecover for tools, adjustable suspension which was well ahead of its time, and there’s no ABS, traction control or computer.”

Nige also points out the dual Nissin discs at the front as being forward thinking for 1990.

“To even find one of these Africa Twins is very difficult,” he beamed.

“I’ve always been looking around, just in case one became available, and when this one came up I jumped at it.”

The double headlight was a signature of Honda’s dualsporters of the era.
The instrumentation is simple, effective and easy to read. That can’t be said of a lot of modern bikes.
Owner Nigel didn’t want to change the bike away from stock, so he added a few bits and pieces which could be easily removed to achieve different aims…like the rubber tops on the footpegs to stop the narrow ’pegs from chewing out the soles of his boots.

Nice ride

Nige was good enough to let Adventure Rider Magazine hop on board the XLV for a lap, and it’s no wonder he’s keen. The bike is super smooth. The engine has plenty of grunt but delivers in the nicest way possible.

Handling is exceptional for a bike of this size and age, and the comfort level for the rider is extremely high. The suspension worked really well, and it’s a strong reminder that it was bikes like this one which forged the incredible reputation for the Africa Twin. That reputation played a big part in the successful relaunch of the model in 2016.

The more we tooled around along dirt roads, through damp rainforest and along some lazy bitumen, the more obvious it was just how well the bike was performing. It’s an absolute pleasure to ride as a sightseer, but still had a surprising amount of grunt on offer if the throttle were cracked open.

Stopping at cafes and fish’n’chip shops just underlined the bike’s intended purpose and reinforced how bloody lovely it was to ride.

Nige does a little buying and selling of bikes, and we asked about his intentions for this one.

“This is the pinnacle,” he said with a faraway look in his eye.

“It’s a keeper.”

A happy couple – and some happy riders, too.
The shock reservoir is easy to get to and adjustments are simple.
Imagine what it would cost to buy a bashplate like that one. It was standard equipment on the Africa Twin.

The Honda family

While we looked forward to riding with Nige and his Africa Twin, his wife, Lianni, was a welcome surprise when she tagged along on her 2004 TransAlp.

The bike was bought new, and aside from the very interesting crash bars, it’s stock standard.

“It’s a really practical, comfortable bike,” said Lianni, who, along with Nige, frequently rides with Dave and Karen Ramsay.

The crash bars are fabbed up from the handle of a Victa lawnmower.

“Most crash bars run around the side of the bike,” explained Nige.

“With this bike it’s easy to grab the front and drag it if it’s stuck or bogged.”

A quick lap on the TransAlp showed it to be a very comfortable bike with a nice motor and well suited to covering distance.

Three of a kind

Although it wasn’t intended to be a Honda outing, the editor had his 1995 Honda NX650 Dominator along as a camera bike, and it rounded out a set from the brand’s glory days.

The bike was purchased in 2010 and served as a magazine workhorse, clocking up some big, tough rides and copping some serious abuse. Replacing body panels became increasingly difficult and the bike was retired in around 2017.

The air-cooled motor is a little underpowered by today’s standards, but as with other Hondas from the era, it’s a very smooth, easy-to-ride proposition that still has teeth when asked to deal with a tough section or cope with long days.

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