Kimberley Dreaming

This entry is part 8 of 21 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #38

Not many invitations include a support crew for a six-week adventure trip to the Kimberley. Melbourne-based James Otto was quick to accept.

Less than four weeks out from the start of the trip I had a self-created problem. The DRZ400 had about 40,000km on it, and I didn’t think either it or myself would be up for the 13,000km round trip from Melbourne.

I needed to buy a replacement bike quickly.

Didn’t need to tighten a single bolt or nut.

Second thoughts

Research consisted of a quick look at Youtube and a phone call to the local Honda shop to see if they had a 2019 DCT Africa Twin in stock. I rode out of A1 Motorcycles on a brand-new bike less than 24 hours later.

“Do you want to wait for the lower crash bars, sir?” I was asked as I thumbed the starter. “No time for that,” I replied, wondering if that might bite me later.

Then the panic set in.

While I had years of off-road and bike experience, the Africa Twin was quite a different beast to anything I’d ridden.

I was going to be faced with thousands of kilometres of dirt roads and just as many kilometres of tracks, including the Canning Stock Route. I had confidence in the bike, but perhaps not so much in my ability in the soft sand, corrugations and wheel ruts on the big bike.

Had anyone even taken an Africa Twin up the Canning? When you can’t find a Youtube video it generally signals a potential problem. The shop staff looked a little doubtful, too.

Perhaps I should have re-evaluated.

The fall scratched up the engine cases nicely.
Ivanhoe Crossing is picturesque but needs to be treated with respect.

Testing

I thought I’d better do a quick run around Victoria trying out some different surfaces before the big trip. Three days and 2000km later the AT was back for the first service and I had a few initial observations.

The DCT (dual clutch transmission) system was actually much better than I’d anticipated. I took a couple of days to stop looking for the gear shift and clutch, but it was magnificent after I had myself retrained. The 1000cc motor and DCT looked after themselves, always working out the right ratio and performing quick and accurate gear changes. Given enough right-handed enthusiasm the bike accelerated like a locomotive.

Cruising at 160kph plus behind the good-sized screen wasn’t an effort, and sprints well beyond those speeds were possible (private-road stuff only of course). I did note the speedo was perhaps a little optimistic when compared to the GPS.

I found I could actually ride reasonably fast on dirt roads and tracks despite the 240kg or more weight of the bike – that was until I had a good off for the first time (although in fairness I was pushing things on an uphill rutted climb to test the limits a little). The result was a busted brake lever and bruised pride, but nothing serious.The initial few days also showed I needed some new gear.

My old panniers were tossed for a set of Andy Strapz soft panniers and a new jacket, gloves and boots joined the party.

Helmet choice was a quandary. The motocross helmet I used on the test ride had some real issues with both noise and the wind catching the peak at speed.

It was much cooler in slow riding though, and the heat in the north of WA would make that important. In the end I took both helmets, adding more weight to the loaded 4WDs.

Tyres were also a dilemma. I cheated, calling up Desert Edge Motorcycles in Alice Springs and asking for a recommen-dation. They were brilliant and I ordered a set of Motoz Tractionator H/Ts ready for when I passed through.

Then, at the last minute, halfway to Alice, I needed to order a replacement brake lever (A1 Motorcycles in Melbourne had got a couple in for me, but like an idiot I’d forgotten to pick them up). At least I’d managed to grab the spare air filters.

“All good!”

An owner’s opinion

After 13,000km and a simply brilliant trip I think I’m partially qualified to make some observations about the Africa Twin.

No question about it, it’s a big, powerful bike. It eats up the road kilometres and is equally at home on all sorts of dirt roads and track. I absolutely smashed the bike over crappy terrain, dropped it a number of times and basically tried to kill it at every opportunity. Not a single problem was had that wasn’t self-inflicted.

The factory build quality and delivery prep by A1 Motorcycles resulted in a bike that was simply astounding. No kidding.

I didn’t need to tighten a single bolt or nut.

There are some things I think deserve a mention.

ABS, traction control and power settings are all selectable. In the beginning it seemed like I needed to prepare the flight deck for takeoff every time I turned the key, but I quickly adapted. It does have a user memory setting, but in the real world you’re travelling over ever-changing terrain and typically the saved setting won’t be right for the situation. It would’ve been nice if the last setting was recalled after a morning tea stop, though. It’s particularly important in situations when ABS really wants to kill you. For example, heading at warp speed down a dirt road and not spotting a creek crossing in the path and the idiot on the bike has left ABS turned on. The result is it seems the application of said brake on the corrugations actually makes the bike accelerate.

Traction control, while effective on roads and hard-packed surfaces, doesn’t cope at all with corrugations, but the suspension coped unbelievably well.

I’d read about some owners bemoaning the absence of cruise control. ‘How soft are they!’ I thought. Suffice to say I’ve now joined the Soft Boys’ club. I would’ve given much to be able remove my hand from the throttle to get rid of the pins and needles on those 800km road days.

Not many invitations include a support crew for a six-week adventure trip to the Kimberley.

Mum’s the word

While I’m embarrassing myself, perhaps I would also request an extra setting on the heated grips. On the short prep trip they seemed perfect, but in the cold desert mornings I never seemed to get enough heat into my hands. It’s a first-world problem, for sure.

Replacing air filters was a serious pain in the arse. On our dusty Australian dirt roads they need to be replaced or inspected on a regular basis. I’d like to see some changes made to make this much easier.

The Andy Strapz panniers stood up very well. I did rip some straps off, but that was my own fault. I don’t think the design criteria allowed for passing between trees narrower than the width of the bike.

The 23-litre tank carried me past 400km, on tarmac obeying speed limits, several times, although typically I could count on between 300km-330km per tank on most road types.

You might note in the photos the high-vis vest I was wearing. It was actually very handy when traveling with others.

On the road I was very easy to spot, and when parked I hung the vest on the handlebars. It certainly made it easy for the 4WDs to keep track of me, as well as the usual obvious safety considerations.

Thanks for buying it for me, Mum!

Air times

While we’re talking about clothing, the Aplinestars Tech-Touring jacket was excellent. It was warm as toast on the coldest mornings with the warm liner fitted, and there’s plenty of ventilation with the liner removed and vents open for when the days warmed up. Draggin Jeans pants with padding served to lessen the damage when I crashed.

The Motoz Tractionators were spot on.

They did some 7000km across the worst Australia could offer and looked very secondhand at the end of the ride, but I was extremely happy with them.

I probably ran higher pressures than ideal for a while, but eventually settled for 24psi in the front and 28psi in the rear and I had zero punctures. They’re a great tyre I will continue to use.

Good advice.

Caning in the Canning

Now the big one.

Before I left I knew the biggest challenge for both bike and rider would be the sand on the Canning. I hadn’t ridden much sand, and in reality the Africa Twin wasn’t operating in its design sweet spot in such terrain. But it turned out to be only
600km or so of the overall trip.

It also didn’t help that the day before hitting the Canning at Well 33 I had a big off at speed hitting a washaway I simply didn’t see. It didn’t leave my confidence at peak levels for what was to come. The fall scratched up the engine cases nicely and I thought back to the lower crash bars I’d declined when I picked up the bike.

In the first couple of hours on the smallerdunes I must’ve crashed half-a-dozen times. Exhaustion from picking up the bike and trying to adapt my riding for the soft sand just made the situation worse.

But my nightmare had just begun.

My brother Rick, driving one of the 4WDs, basically kicked my sorry arse off the bike and proceeded to roost over all the sand dunes in sight, riding the big Africa Twin like a motocrosser. Years of telling him I was the better rider were smashed in minutes. Shitbags!

So it can be done. And my brother, in a very narrow range of specific conditions, is a better rider (that’s as much credit I’ll give him).

It was an amazing trip aided by an impressive Honda adventure-bike creation.

Relaxation stops were spectacular.

Good choice

After eight weeks of ownership the bike had over 15,000km on it and wore a few scars. I have no regrets about purchasing the Africa Twin. It truly is a great adventure bike, capable of travelling across our land with confidence. I’ve no doubt it will last me well despite my best efforts.

Thanks to Rick, Karyn, Dave and Ingrid for making the trip happen and carrying gear and beer.

What a trip!

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