1992 africa twin advice

[adeebsawaya]

i am currently in the UAE and it has been difficult to find an africa twin. i recently found a 1992 twin for about 3200 euro( 2650 british pounds), the bike has 29,000 km on the clock and seems to be well taken care off (no corrosion), is this an ok deal? is it too much to pay for a 1992?

i am mechanically inclined and have no problem rebuilding stuff that may be a problem.

[raymo]

ATs are fetching a good price and I have seen the odd mint RD04 for 2000GBP if you want one, then I guess you have to look at whats avaiable in a limited UAE market thats low milage and if its in good nick ...

negotiate

[futter]

i am currently in the UAE and it has been difficult to find an africa twin. i recently found a 1992 twin for about 3200 euro( 2650 british pounds), the bike has 29,000 km on the clock and seems to be well taken care off (no corrosion), is this an ok deal? is it too much to pay for a 1992?

i am mechanically inclined and have no problem rebuilding stuff that may be a problem.

Hi - nice choice of bike - it depends on relative prices out there - that is more than I would pay in the UK though - I would expect to pay a max of £2000GBP for a 1992 and if they wanted more, would search for a better deal. BUT, if the value of second hand machines out there is higher and importing them is harder then it may well be the sort of price you have to pay. There might be others who can help more.

Mileage is low for the year, check the output shaft is sound (sprocket not welded on etc) the fuel pump sometimes fails, brakes can seize up if uncared for and OEM wheels can corrode badly.

Other common probs include chokes sticking on and the odd electrical gremlin crops up now and again - the guys on here are very helpfull and have a wealth of knowledge.

[Whealie]

i am currently in the UAE and it has been difficult to find an africa twin. i recently found a 1992 twin for about 3200 euro( 2650 british pounds), the bike has 29,000 km on the clock and seems to be well taken care off (no corrosion), is this an ok deal? is it too much to pay for a 1992?

i am mechanically inclined and have no problem rebuilding stuff that may be a problem.

It would be a high price in the UK but that is a very low KM and if it has been in southern Europe then it will not have faced the corrosion problem we get here.

I'd be more concerned that it has not been ridden - that is 1,600km a year. Or that the clocks have been wound back. Or that it has gone round the clocks to there. Even that (129,000km) would put it at a lower mileage than my beaten up zebra and give it at least another 50,000km of trouble-free running for you.

[adeebsawaya]

thank you guys for the quick info, the bike has actually come from an auction in japan. i also thought the price was high for a 1992, however, i might go for it because this seems to be the problem here, i found three other similar bikes 1989, 90, 90 for the same price but condition not so great.

bikes in the Uk are newer and about 3000-4000 pounds, but shipping will be a hassle and expensive. so im stuck with this dilemma

[Kjell Lindberg]

When it comes to Africa Twin, newer is not automaticly better.
An 1992 is one of the better model years there is.

Built at a time when Honda still cared.
In some respects it all went slightly downhill a few years after that.

I would trade my 1998 for an RD04 in the same condition and milage any day!

[jonspan]

These bikes are worth what they are worth in the market you're in. If your not in the UK prices there are irrelevant. I spent a long time looking for a reasonably priced AT here and eventually paid the equivalent to 2k sterling for a well used high mileage 92 which was about 1.5k below market for a good one.

If it came out of Japan there's a good chance that the mileage is correct and that it was well looked after. So, if it looks genuine, let your heart rule your head and go for it comfortable in the knowledge that many rate the 92 RD04 as a better bike than the later year models. I for one will be envious of the buy.

[magwa]

i am currently in the UAE and it has been difficult to find an africa twin. i recently found a 1992 twin for about 3200 euro( 2650 british pounds), the bike has 29,000 km on the clock and seems to be well taken care off (no corrosion), is this an ok deal? is it too much to pay for a 1992?

i am mechanically inclined and have no problem rebuilding stuff that may be a problem.

An RD04 at £2650 is ......a bit over priced....... ( for the UK market)
but each country has differing motor taxation systems
Eire bikes cost far more than UK

At the moment many bikes in the UK are being sort for by overseas buyers as the £ value is .....LOW.... ( against most other currencies)

There are plenty on sale on this site far cheaper, but by the time your buy and then crate/ export it may all be the same cost

Good luck

Keep us all posted how you get on

[adeebsawaya]

bought the bike last night for 2000 pounds, rode the bike home it was great, had a friend of mine who was a motocross mechanic in japan check it out. he couldnt believe the state it was in, he siad it looked very good. i will get to work on it soon just to check all the known flaws.

magwa, nice pictures the bike looks great, what tyres do you have on?

[magwa]

bought the bike last night for 2000 pounds, rode the bike home it was great, had a friend of mine who was a motocross mechanic in japan check it out. he couldnt believe the state it was in, he siad it looked very good. i will get to work on it soon just to check all the known flaws.

magwa, nice pictures the bike looks great, what tyres do you have on?

Well my previous bike ( an 1998 RD07a had Coninental TKC's) see picture below BUT


Pic below is the TKC's fitted to my current 1991 RD04
(rear was worn out hence I changed)
I've just replaced them with Continental 'Escape' tyres which are still
Knobbly
BUT
have smaller gaps between the treads and are better for road use but still retain that Enduro Look

I've also removed the rear pannier rails and had he front crash bars powder coated WHITE....( looks cool)
So
I'll let you know what I think of the 'escapes' after a couple of hundred miles

welcome to the Forum, we await pictures of your 'New' machine