BUYING BIKES & KIT Longtermers: Africa Twin and Interceptor 650 get modded
After months in mothballs, I’m racking up the miles again. So what’s new?
It’s been a strange few months, dominated by our news feeds and limitations on our freedom of movement. For me, it’s been the most ridingdevoid period of the last 25 years, and I’ve not enjoyed it. But since England’s rules started to relax, I’ve taken every opportunity to get out for a ride – both on my own bikes, and the mighty AT. It’s been euphoric getting out again, even if we’re still a long way from everything being close to ‘normal’ again.
So what’s happened over the last two weeks and almost 1200 miles? 4356 miles When the lockdown smacked us firmly in our freedom and MCN decamped to our home offices, spare bedrooms, dining room tables and workshops (which we’re still inhabiting) the Africa Twin got locked away in the garage with 4356 miles on the dash and didn’t move again for months. With no riding allowed, the best I could do was fit a few new bits, ready for the eventual arrival of easing.
The primary mod I made is a set of ADVance Guard handguards (nippynormans.com, £199). They’re clever, too. The AT’s standard handguards would struggle to deflect an unladen swallow at standard flying velocity – these guards will knock down walls. They mount to the bar ends and the bars directly (rather than a wobbly flexible plastic mount on the lever posts) and are rock solid. They also have three states: normal, extended (where a big aerofoil rises to provide greater protection/ wind deflection), and naked – where the deflectors and centre panel are removed to leave just the tough aluminium frame.
They’re also heavy – which is a good and bad thing. The increased mass (one standard guard 127g, one ADV guard 582g) means better damping of bar vibes, but you can feel the additional mass on the bars at low speed. Would I recommend them after 1000 miles of use? Yes – they work brilliantly, they’re clever, versatile, tough as hell and well put together – but that sturdiness adds extra mass and they’re pricey. 5380 miles My first decent rideout for three months came just last week, when I switched my Mac off, cooked the family a BBQ and suddenly thought: ‘I wonder if I can get to Wells-nextthe-Sea in time to watch the sunset’. Turns out I could. Just. It was a 172-mile round trip – and it felt absolutely awesome. But rather than stopping for chips, I merely noticed a few. And some rust. The AT’s only area of grottiness is the area behind the front wheel. White frames are all well and good, but when it starts to chip and rust, it really shows. A sad bit of tired ugliness on a bike with less than 6000 miles on the dash. That bellypan always looks a mess, even after a ruddy good scrub, too. And those downpipes are a real lowlight. The rest of the bike is mint, so these eyesores are a real shame. 5462 miles As I stopped on Wells’ harbour wall to grab a happy-snap I’d not even got my helmet off before a chap appeared at my elbow to start asking me about what tyres I was using. Nice chap, called Chris, who owns a Lucky Strike Cagiva Elefant (which he refused to sell me) as well as a plethora of Corgis and other bikes. Turns out he’s been reading MCN for 40 years and had been following my AT tales.
So how are the Pirelli Rally STRs coping after almost exactly 3000 miles? Pretty well. The front is immaculate, but there’s no hiding the squaring of the rear. It’s the second rear tyre that has squared fast on the AT, and having used STRs on numerous other bikes,
I’m confident to say that the AT has squared it more readily than, say, an R1250GS would. The STRs also feel slightly less gluey in 90/90 R21 and 150/70 R18 sizes than they do on fatter, smaller rims. They’re still a big step up over the Karoos I whipped off 3000 miles ago and will probably suffer another 1500 miles legally, but the wear is now making the rear squirrelly at partial lean, regularly illuminating the TC light. Perhaps it’s time to try something new.