Hello - New to the Forum

[Northy]

Hello folks , ….
Well its been six years of waiting and I found it …..… No not a Africa twin but UK web site / forum thingy dealing with AT ‘s (excellent ). I’ve had my AT for six years and had to fiddle with things in the dark so to speak but at last some light ! Mines a 1994 RD07 in RWB , a German import as its was hard to a decent one locally, with all the extra’s and low miles , now up to 76 K (46,000 miles) used for commuting and the odd run . The kids see that any touring is confined to the shops ! Been off road twice ... decide I'm not that brave (mad) so i get porper off roader.
A few thoughts :-
Its a can be heavy beast (or I’m getting old !) needs more power, 6 gears , smaller front wheel to get some decent rubber on the road , bigger or stepped seat stop the passenger sliding forward , shaft drive ? and the mpg could be better (35mpg – 45mpg) or I’m a tad heavy with the right hand but keep the styling and its presence ……as for the Varadero IMO its ugly but goes nicely ….. has anyone put a VTR engine in AT ?

Tyres ! …. To me the one area that’s caused much head scratching ! . I tried all the makes and but moved away from the T66/ Tourance, Trailwings, enduro pro etc types , they last longer but the fronts wear odd i.e become stepped (my driving style? ) so by the me they are half worn they become very nervous in the wet , the rears OK but then in the dry ,don’t like that feeling of the blocks moving when well leaned over .( getting old !) Also its pain getting some tyres when you need them ….. I’m currently running Pirelli MT75 on the front and Pirelli sport demon on the rear , front brilliant wet or dry the back is too soft (a good confident feel- no slides) but wears out to quickly, can’t find a harder road tyre in the 140/80*17 size anyone fitted 130 or 150 rears …. How does that effect the handling ?

I was thinking “ supermoto “ the AT i.e. 17 –18 inch front wheel but there no data etc and could be an expensive error ( saw a 17 inch wheel on Ebay but … No as I’ve got the front sorted the MT 75 ) no need for 17 inches up front but has got any feed back on it , does it work or handle like a shopping trolley.

Exhaust …. Any one got a aftermarket pipe for sale ?

P.S. Sorry about the lengthy intro but making up for lost time and I've added to topic the route to the AT ….. yes its long cause I'm getting old !

[paultheold]

Hi and welcome to the site. I like the 21" front wheel personaly. Must agree with you about tyre wear.

[xrv_jim]

.. has anyone put a VTR engine in AT ?

Now, there's an idea. So, has anyone done it then?

BTW, welcome Northy. I've a '94 RWB too, but I didn't have to go to Germany to find it.

[gibbo]

Has anyne put a VTR engine in an Africa Twin?

Africa queens do a "Twindero" and there is also another german outfit that build the "desert storm" which is also an Africa Twin / Varadero hybrid. Expensive but very cool!
http://www.desertstorm-bike.de/

[xrv_jim]

Has anyne put a VTR engine in an Africa Twin?

Africa queens do a "Twindero" and there is also another german outfit that build the "desert storm" which is also an Africa Twin / Varadero hybrid. Expensive but very cool!
http://www.desertstorm-bike.de/

Well, it cetainly looks cool I just wish I could read German. everytime I try to do a site translation on altavista/babelfish it seems to screw it up. Anybody got a suggestion for a better translation site?

[Paul M]

xrv_jim
Just had a look myself - good idea (the bike, that is) for translation there is an icon under the picture that turns the site into english. I missed it the first time....

[xrv_jim]

xrv_jim
...for translation there is an icon under the picture that turns the site into english. I missed it the first time....

Doh!