BMW F850GS and Honda Africa Twin 2019
Before you start reading the BMW F850GS vs Honda Africa Twin comparison, take a moment to think about what is important to you about riding a motorcycle? Imagine the lights of the city at night or the beautiful landscapes and hot asphalt ahead, and ask yourself what in all this makes you smile? How important is the sound of a muffler? Do you ride with a passenger, and how does it affect the behavior of the motorcycle? What do you think about when driving down the road or stopping at a gas station? This may all sound pompous and ridiculous, but it's really important because the motorcycles we're talking about today have their own character in literally every aspect. And the things you love about riding will take on their own special flavor with any of these motorcycles.
BMW F800GS
First, a little background. The BMW F800GS first hit showrooms in 2009 as an alternative to the R1200GS. This is a lighter, easier to use and maintain motorcycle, less susceptible to falls and more compact, and it is also cheaper. Here, instead of a cardan and Paralever/Telelever suspensions, a trivial chain and a regular fork are used, and the engine is not an oversized boxer, on which the motorcycle strives to lie down, but an in-line two with a volume of 798 cc. cm. In 2021, BMW took the F-series, added a new frame, updated the engine, generously poured in new technologies and called it all F850GS.
Motorcycle BMW F 850GS Adventure 40 Years Edition 2021 review
Description of the BMW F 850GS Adventure 40 Years Edition 2021 motorcycle is in the queue for publication of the article. Announcement: Today, for almost every new motorcycle that comes into being, marketers strive to carve out their own niche. This one is a road sport, this one is a recreational enduro. But what class should we include a motorcycle that has a little bit of everything? A good bike should have a reliable engine, comfortable ergonomics and simple controls...
The BMW F 850GS Adventure 40 Years Edition is a motorcycle not sold in Russia, equipped with a fairly high-power engine of 90 hp. Despite the fact that good models of motorcycles have a very respectable price, and the season for their use is relatively short, the motorcycle market is developing rapidly. And if you believe the words of dealers, then some models of recently released motorcycles are selling like hot cakes at the beginning of the season, and the models brought to Russia are clearly not enough to fully satisfy consumer demand.
A motorcycle has long ceased to be an alternative to a car, and the times when this equipment was bought only because there was not enough money for a full-fledged car are forgotten. Nowadays, two-wheelers can be called technological marvels in many cases, and their cost can be compared with that of prestigious cars.
Many people have started buying motorcycles for hobby purposes as riding or even collecting them has become a good pastime for many people. Many motorcycles, for example the BMW F 850GS Adventure 40 Years Edition, whose technical characteristics allow the model to be called a prestigious brand, are in demand among both beginners and experienced motorcyclists.
Motorcycles with an engine capacity of 853 cc / 52 cu-in cubic meters. see, appeared as a result of long work of inventors who sought to create a model that was not inferior in characteristics to other versions of the motorcycle. In some cases, these models are not only not inferior, but also ahead of other motorcycles, as they have minimal fuel consumption and other excellent parameters.
Motorcycles with an engine capacity of more than 400 kb. cm, which includes the BMW F 850GS Adventure 40 Years Edition - this category of motorcycles simply cannot claim the title of “motorcycle for a beginner.” On the contrary, this is already a serious technique that requires certain control of motorcycle equipment with a smaller engine capacity. Yes, she attracts more attention, she is the most beautiful, fast, interesting and there is a huge selection of models. But as power increases, the weight of the motorcycle inevitably increases. In this class you are unlikely to find motorcycles lighter than 180 kg, unless they are the latest motorcycle models.
Go to the entire range of BMW motorcycles, on this page you can find BMW F 850GS Adventure 40 Years Edition motorcycles from other years of production and information about them
Honda Africa Twin
You may remember that not long ago Honda showed the world a new motorcycle, strong and rugged, essentially a ready-made rally machine. It was a prototype of the modern Africa Twin, and Honda called it "a real adventure" at the time. As often happens with concept bikes, the production version became softer and lost some of its harsh charm, but even in this form it received wide recognition and rightfully headed the Honda touring enduro line. Recognition was so widespread that there was even an Adventure Sports option with a larger fuel tank and higher suspension.
Travel report on the BMW F850 GS. 34 days and 11 thousand kilometers
My name is Alisa Theakston, I am a ballet photographer from St. Petersburg. On May 28th my German friend Christian Schmitt and I started our journey from Hamburg. We had 34 days of travel ahead of us on the BMW GS F850. No museums, no excursions, no beaches, just the road. Stopping only to get some sleep after particularly difficult days. We drove from 300 to 500 km per day.
There were often speed limits on German roads, not only for cars, but also for tanks. On the first day we arrived at our first overnight stop in Denmark, a cute farmer’s house among meadows and fields. We stopped in the town of Skagen, at the northernmost point of Denmark, where the North and Baltic seas meet. The next day we spent the night on the ferry from Hirthals to Bergen. The ship had a huge parking lot and there were a lot of bikers, even grandmothers on motorcycles. The whole way through Europe the road was good and safe. In Norway we were greeted by rain, lots of tunnels, blocked roads and the most incredible mountain landscape. We were especially pleased with the 24.5 km long Lärdal tunnel. It is the longest in the world and the caves inside are beautifully illuminated. We traveled through Norway comfortably along the E16 highway from Bergen through Lillehammer. The only upsetting thing was the high prices for gasoline. There were also thorny situations; on the highway, a very aggressive wasp flew into the driver’s sleeve. It rained all the way in Sweden. We immediately felt the difference between water-repellent and waterproof clothing. The difference was not in our favor, incl. We were both wet and cold. On one of the rainy days the temperature was +1, which is especially pleasant at high speed. We were especially pleased with the overnight stay: the first time it was a guest house on a vegan young lady’s farm, the second was a huge tent in a campsite. No internet, no bathroom in the room, but the impressions were most vivid and I felt close to nature. We were very lucky to have pleasant, sociable hosts until the middle of Sweden. Then, all the way to St. Petersburg, the “SMS: the key is under the rug, don’t mess up the house” system worked. We never saw the owners again. You can't take a lot of luggage on a motorcycle, incl. After each overnight stay, we carefully stuffed our luggage with our feet into two side cases and two backpacks. By the end of the trip, the plastic cases looked terrible, however, they twice saved us from injury during an unfortunate motorcycle fall. The road flowed smoothly across the border with Finland without noticeable markings. The main innovation was reindeer every 40 km. So, following the deer’s butts, we reached our overnight stop. We rented a cabin at Santa's farm. It's especially cute in June. Everything is in Christmas trees, toys and candy under the pillow. On the way, we stopped by to visit relatives. They barely carried their feet and the motorcycle clearly became heavier from so much love and hugs. My hopes of meeting a moose were dashed. The border with Russia added to the fun. My companion and driver is German. Border guards are not eager to learn foreign languages, and I understand little about motorcycles and documents. She spent a lot of time so that the border guard and I understood each other and found out that our case is called “temporary cart”. He refused to believe that we would pass through Russia and not go back, then he himself got confused in the documents. After crossing the border, we instantly felt how the level of comfort on the road and in parking lots had dropped. The first stop was in St. Petersburg, where relatives tried to feed us and intimidate us, “for in Russia Great Danes are dangerous and there are Barmalei, bandits and dinosaurs on every corner.” My companion is stubborn, etc. we continued our journey: St. Petersburg-Tver-Nizhny Novgorod-Kazan-Izhevsk-Perm-Ekaterinburg-Tyumen. We have a new motorcycle and on the way we had to stop at a service center after 10,000 km. On the way, the dynamic ESA went out. Our iron horse was born in Germany and required calibration for the harsh Russian roads. Unfortunately, we have official BMW motorcycle service only in Moscow and Yekaterinburg. That is, if something breaks in another city, then get out as you want. Fortunately, the breakdown is not so bad and we made it to Yekaterinburg. We tasted the creative and unpredictable approach of some Russian drivers. After Nizhny Novgorod, ROSAVTODOR took a special place in my heart. I remembered him with especially warm words at every pothole and crack. Along the way, we met dummies of police cars and suspiciously lonely young ladies in short skirts among the trees. It turned out they were flowers. From Tyumen we went to the border with Kazakhstan. We passed easily, only everyone asked why we were going to this desert. We drove through Petropavlovsk-Astana-Karaganda-Balkhash. Balkhash is a one-of-a-kind lake that combines salty and fresh waters. In fact, this is the main natural asset of the side, buried under a pile of garbage with factories on the shore. On the shore of the lake we spent the night in a town that has no name and no road. But we found a hotel there. The town looks frighteningly abandoned, like Pripyat. It turned out that its analogue was built there. After the explosion in Chernobyl, they changed their minds and abandoned it. Now this land is occupied by fishermen and their families. There are two roads from Lake Balkash towards the border: one through Almaty, the other through Shu. Everyone we asked claimed that the road through Shu is broken and has giant holes, but we can get through it on a motorcycle. We did not check how we could fly over it on a motorcycle and chose a decent road to Almaty. Then the whole way the temperature was above 38 degrees, gas stations every 100-150 km, police with huge fines and not a single store or cafe. Everything looked more like a desert: sand, camels, sandstorms, heat. Every hour we doused ourselves with water; the heat was unbearable in motorcycle gear and a helmet. You can only find food in local eateries and hope you don’t get poisoned. There I understood why people pray before eating. The local police are particularly harsh, and the drivers are unpredictable. The choice is to go off-road, on a terrible road, or on the worst road. We naively chose the road towards Almaty. The road along the lake and almost to the border has been excavated. Judging by the signs, it is under renovation, but it doesn’t smell like renovation. Nobody knows what the speed should be, there is no sign. And no one knows what the speed should have been before and there are no signs. Their fines are about 40 dollars and there is a lot of police. As a result, we drove 200-300 km at an average speed of 50 km, and all around us there was only desert and unbearable heat and broken-down asphalt. Suddenly we drove into a sandstorm, where nothing was visible and many cars were driving at great speed. Of course, no one would see the motorcycle there and it was a miracle we weren’t hit. At every stop we were surrounded by locals with a thousand questions and ignored that we were exhausted and sweaty lying in the shade next to a pile of garbage. Garbage is the only thing that is there in bulk everywhere. This is how the rule “Sorry, we don’t speak Russian” appeared. Of course, there are no bushes in the desert. But there are houses in which it is better not to breathe, not look or touch anything. The houses competed in the colorfulness of their aromas. When there was no shade or the place was particularly unpleasant, I curled up on the ground in the shadow of a motorcycle and doused myself with water. Even with a wet head and T-shirt, it was very hot. The white helmet saved me at least a little. At one of the gas stations, we met a man watering flowers with a hose. Of course, we persuaded him to drench us from head to toe. The heat was so unbearable that we decided to travel at night. In the town of Kaskelen near Almaty, we booked a hotel on Booking and expected to be in a room with air conditioning in an hour. Firstly, the address was indicated incorrectly, and secondly, when we found the hotel, it turned out that it had been sealed by the authorities for a week. Until nightfall we decided to sleep in a nearby hotel. We were so tired that we didn't care. However, I could not imagine such a dirty room. It's good that cockroaches didn't greet us, there was a bed and a relatively working air conditioner. The next day we were going to drive another 300 km to the next hotel. But we loved the local roads so much that we wanted to leave this wonderful country as soon as possible. As a result, we drove 300 km, then a little more and a little more to Shymkent and the border was already very close. At the border they wanted to separate us, and as a passenger I had to stand in a huge line with Kazakh women. This was not part of our plans. I renamed myself from passenger to translator and saved us a lot of time. Passing the border with the temporary import of a foreign motorcycle at their border is an unforgettable pleasure. Uzbekistan greeted us with a crowd of beggars, vagabonds and unnecessary attention. We decided to find food and leave this country as quickly as possible. Gasoline in Uzbekistan you will find, at best, 91st or 80th. And, of course, there is no cash register there. Everything is handy and on parole, but the gas stations look terrible. Drivers are even more reckless and try to hit you and grab everyone along the way. Tashkent looks like a big city that has everything. A striking contrast with the border, although everything is very close. The city boundary ends abruptly and we are surrounded by cows. Before us is a landscape of 20 gas stations, wall to wall. Two of them work. Already at night, with the last of our strength, we reached the border with Tajikistan. The first half of the border is “whoever wants to come in”, the second - not a single employee. When the fellow border guards arrived, it was more like a strange game. Nobody knows anything, some table with a client and an enormous young lady in a camouflage T-shirt and leggings. When we crossed the border and our eyes were already drooping, darkness fell. No lights, no lanterns, no gas stations. Absolute darkness, only the shadows of cows flickered in the light of our headlights. Local drivers are especially extreme; they may not turn on their headlights at all, even in such darkness. All that remains is to pray and try not to fall asleep. Miraculously, we arrived at the hotel in the city of Khujand. That day we drove 1500 km and 2 borders in 24 hours. On the last day we reached our finish line Dushanbe. The road through the mountains was winding, narrow, with large changes in height and an abyss on the right side, but very beautiful. Local careless drivers drive along it at insane speeds and disregard traffic rules. If it weren’t for Christian’s experience and driving talent, we would have been shot down on the territory of Kazakhstan because... Then the driving style of the locals became worse and worse. At the entrance to Dushanbe there is a special attraction. The only road runs through the “Tunnel of Death” (Anzob Tunnel). Its length is 5 km and 2700 m above sea level. It is narrow and there is no lighting there. Cars with crazy drivers and headlights, not necessarily on, fly out of the darkness towards you. A couple of years ago, in addition to darkness, this tunnel had water and a worse road. Tajikistan is distinguished by a beautiful mountain landscape, dirty air, portraits of the president on every billboard and building, crazy drivers and a heat of 42 degrees. We will stay here under the auspices of the air conditioner until the end of summer. The balcony offers the best view in the city: the presidential palace, the world's largest flag, mountains (if they are visible due to gas emissions and a sandstorm), factories in the middle of the city without a purification system. In total, we rode a motorcycle through 9 countries, 28 cities, 11,000 km in 34 days.
Comparison of BMW F850GS and Honda AfricaTwin 2021 touring motorcycles
BMW F850GS 2019
Despite their different backgrounds, the purpose of these motorcycles is almost the same. And so, we took these two motorcycles and compared them with each other live, realizing that many buyers are doing the same thing, but virtually.
Both bikes have the same 270-degree flare phases on their larger cylinders (853cc for the BMW, 998 for the Honda), both have 21st front wheels, 229kg curb weight, panniers, and both are designed for long-distance road use. As if to further the similarity, both the BMW F850GS and Honda Africa Twin have very similar paint jobs, and it looks like their manufacturers are ready for a serious duel with these very similar guns.
As with any comparison, in practice the differences will not take long to appear. I sit down first on one, and then on the other, and immediately understand that the F850GS is slightly higher than the Africa Twin. The difference in seat height is only about a centimeter, so it's more a matter of feel than actual numbers. Honda's deep seat and tank make it feel like you're sitting IN the bike rather than ON it. The high windshield and wide handlebars emphasize this feeling. On the BMW, the tank is slightly flatter, and the small curved windshield practically does not cross the line of sight.
Engine
I'm starting them. The new BMW F850 engine awakens sharply, like James Bond awakening from the villainous chloroform - sparkling eyes and in full combat readiness. It is energetic and revs quickly, and has a higher idle speed. At the same time, it is quieter than you expect.
Honda Africa Twin 2019
The Honda Africa Twin engine is rather imposing, like an awakening basset. Its more imposing sound is reminiscent of an expensive watch - it sounds significant and weighty, and it seems like it has even more cubes than it actually does. The Africa Twin has a low idle and a wonderfully thick exhaust note.
Despite the similarity in engine design, their characters differ, making motorcycles different. We drove about 150 km, and the BMW showed itself to be more cheerful and nimble - from pulling away at a traffic light to entering and exiting through the garage door. On winding roads, the feeling was confirmed, also thanks to the BMW two-way quickshifter, which quickly clicks through the gears and tempts you to open the gas wider.
It is important to understand that this engine is a big step forward from the previous generation BMW F800 with a 360-degree crankshaft. Die-hard BMW fans will miss the nasal whine of the old engine because it now sounds more like a boxer, and they'll have to accept that German bikes now have the sound of American V-twins. But in fact, this engine is better - it produces traction smoother and more readily. Unfortunately, the quickshifter is not configured ideally, so shifts can be both MotoGP-like clear and unpleasantly slurred.
BMW F850GS and Honda AfricaTwin 2019
The BMW F850GS engine is great, but it just doesn't live up to the deep rumbling and big-bore thrust of the Honda Africa Twin. The Africa Twin appears prim and arrogant at first, but actually has a fiery temperament to match its name. It's damn nice to drive it on the highway and turn it smoothly on a gravel path. Compared to the F850, the Africa doesn't feel heavier, just a little more substantial, as Honda has done a lot of work on the ride's stability and composure. But there is no particular difference in their behavior on winding roads - both motorcycles are fully suitable for long-distance touring.
The clear road (read: empty motorway) helped us experience the real difference between the two. In terms of convenience, any of them is beyond praise. The Honda seat felt too soft, but the wind protection was better. True, when buying such motorcycles, you usually don’t hesitate to experiment with aftermarket catalogs, weighing them to suit your tastes. An unpleasant surprise on the Honda Africa Twin was the lack of cruise control. Why a motorcycle so suitable for touring and equipped with e-gas does not have such a simple function is unclear. But to be fair, this little thing pales in comparison to the F850GS’s big drawback – the power reserve. Even with a consumption of 5 liters, a 15-liter tank will be enough for 300 kilometers in a good case. At some point, the reserve caught fire at 200 kilometers - and this is completely unpleasant. The consumption of the Africa Twin is slightly higher, but the tank volume is significantly higher - and this is a plus.
Off-road motorcycles
About halfway through the trip, we headed off the pavement to the coast to test the bikes off-road. Both motorcycles have customizable fuel maps, some flexibility in ABS settings, not to mention advertising brochures with photographs of stern, courageous people telling about the delights of traveling not along the road, but in a direction. But with a bunch of belongings in the back seat and in full panniers, on road tires, and even with almost no off-road driving experience, this was just a test. A loaded rear reduces feedback through the steering wheel, but despite this, both off-road vehicles performed quite well. The smooth Honda Africa Twin engine is particularly good in poor grip conditions, but the BMW F850GS engine held up almost equally. What it lacked was not traction, but a sense of charisma and impressiveness, which Honda has in abundance.
BMW F850GS and Honda AfricaTwin 2019
Both bikes allow you to turn off the ABS while on the move, which was useful when we were passing hairpins covered in deep dust. We jumped over roots and rocks protruding from the side of the path and turned into corners with the full feeling that we were on the last stage of the Dakar. At some point, the flat dirt road turned into a lunar landscape - and the motorcycles covered this section at full speed, making a frightening sound with their suspensions, but the main thing is that we didn’t fall.
Approach to creation
These two motorcycles differ from each other in the approach to their creation. The BMW is finished with polish - a chic display, a quickshifter, tubeless spoked wheels, heated grips, a center stand and an electronically controlled rear suspension - these are things that the stock Africa Twin does not have. True, all this is available in the accessories catalog, but one of the interesting features of Africa - the DCT dual-clutch automatic transmission - is simply not in the BMW catalogs.
This comparison gave us an understanding of how a simple motorcycle can compete with one loaded with luxury features - and how easily it can win this argument. The Africa Twin doesn't have a stock quickshifter, but it does have a nicer transmission and a more responsive clutch. It does not have Bluetooth support, but it is easier to reset the tripmeter. And even though it doesn’t have a button for adjusting the rear suspension preload, it does have a fork adjustment (which BMW doesn’t have for some reason) and is generally more comfortable, even despite the slightly soft springs.
Honda Africa Twin is available in the most basic configuration - plus you can order additional panniers. BMW also has a basic package, but it seems that only on paper: dealers offer to take one of the advanced ones, for example, Select Package with quickshifter, heated grips, cruise control, driving modes, ABS, traction control, pannier mounts, preparation for installation of a navigator and a nice tidy. The Premium Package adds keyless entry, LED headlights, tire pressure monitors and ESA electronic dynamic suspension. And don’t forget to purchase additional panniers, they are sold separately.
BMW F 850GS
It's a pity that it had road tires. I wanted to remember my youth and jump around the cavernous quarries to my heart's content. Lively starts with a fountain of sand or gravel, keep your distance gentlemen, I’m riding a “Gus”...
So I went to Moscow, found out about the new roads, found out how much the fines are these days, drove 4K+ on the GT and started wanting something new. Once upon a time, in the test fleet of my favorite BMW dealer there was a magnificent moto, the S1000RR, and it was there for about two months, and after some ridiculous mileage, it was wound on a pole until it disintegrated into atoms. I don’t know whether the rider survived or not, but there won’t be any more motorcycles like this on the test for obvious reasons, which is a pity.
There is nothing to do, you need to choose something else.
Opposite? Well, half of them are scramblers and cafe racers... these need tight pants with a turn up, sneakers without socks, a beard and a boyfriend from behind, gently squeezing your sides, sucking on smoothies and liquid... I’m as conservative as a mammoth’s shit on this issue. Not good...
Older goose? Again, it’s boxer + the suspension is identical to the RT, only it has more moves, but why would I take the RT for the test again, even modified to the Rogue mode. In general, I didn’t...
And then the eight hundred and fiftieth GUSS caught my eye. In-line, two-cylinder engine. With some kind of cooling. They say it sounds like a V-Twin, don't believe it. As a former Witwin owner, I say...it doesn't even sound close to the V-Twin, don't be fooled.
I received this “parsley” without a windshield. I was so happy when I rode it to my brother’s dacha. 130-140-150... doesn't blow away, cool! Why then couldn’t I ride more than 120 on a Harley?
On the way back, I realized why. I rode there with a tailwind, and dragged back at 90-100 km/h. The wind is blowing, everything fell into place.
To ride something like this, you need to have a trained vestibular apparatus. The suspension travel is hellish, it nods when braking, and rolls you back after stopping. The first feeling is that you are rolling... it’s scary and I press the brake harder!
When starting, everything is exactly the opposite; you have to lean forward very much so as not to unload the wheel. Although it is expressed to a lesser extent, the suspension is still adaptive with electronics, but you see... it still rolls a lot.
It’s very strange, but apparently due to the specifics of the suspension, it seemed to me that it lacked brakes. I'm used to the GT that the brake works from the index finger until the ABS is activated on a slope... but here everything is different. I'm more inclined to think that this behavior is not a bug, but a feature... in general, it takes some getting used to the brakes.
But the car steers like a bicycle. If anyone remembers, I initially argued that you need to learn on HEAVY, the most DIFFICULT motorcycles to control. After them, anyone will be controlled simply, intuitively. That's exactly what happened to me. That's why this moto handles like a feather. I didn’t feel it at all, I sat down and drove off.
Dynamics. But here everything is very cool! He's driving like hell! Well-chosen gears in terms of torque and length, excellent throttle, quickshifter, wind at your back... it's easy to climb! They are interesting to drive, for example in the city. Nimble and nimble. They are very fun to drive off-road! But he has absolutely no place on the highway... there you are, a gray mouse, blown away by the wind, burrowed by everyone...
Off-road. Well, off-road, country road... clay, sand, coarse gravel. I went to RT there once, it was quite sane and even quick. I was moving faster than cars.
I don’t even think about climbing there on a GT, I’ll fall 100%, there are slopes with sand and ruts. But on a gooseneck I somehow covered these 12 kilometers in one direction, at a speed of 60+ mph. And it was fun. No, I won’t say that it’s comfortable to ride like this, especially when the gravel starts, a conventional fork hits the hand and wrist with feedback. It won't last long. Telelever, by the way, does not have such a problem... this is a big plus for the older goose that is 1250!
The hard seat on every bump gives a kick in the ass, saying... “dear, you’re not an old man, stand up, don’t show off...” And I stood up in places and it was cool and comfortable.
When I arrived at my destination, it turned out that my brother was not at home, I was just glad. He and his wife went off on a quad to pick mushrooms and promised to return soon. But I asked him not to rush, and I drove him to the quarry. This is another 10-20 kilometers along an intersection with compacted sand. Thank God it rained and the sand in the forest was compacted; if it had been dry, I would have 100% fallen into the ditch. I rode the distance very quickly, overtook a column of ATV riders and ended up at the quarry, where I took the photo. This is where I remembered my youth, twisted wrists, sore forearms... loose sand, road tires, wind and sun in my left eye. I dragged him along such paths to my heart’s content, I suffered but never dropped him, I went to buy some cookies for tea at a local village shop...
Tidying is a separate story. A bright, high-quality and fast display is part of the motorcycle’s multimedia system. This is an option, you guessed it. But the kind that makes it worth buying a motorcycle.
You can connect your phone with BMW software to it and use navigation. Of course, it won’t show the map, but it will make noises in your helmet, and on the dashboard itself, arrows and warnings about necessary actions will appear! Actually, this minimum is enough for any driving where there is cellular communication and at least a little mobile Internet. For everything else, there is a separate BMW navigator, in my case Navigator VI...
Upon arrival at the dacha, hot tea was waiting for me, cookies I had brought and a tired but satisfied brother who had picked a whole lot of mushrooms.
Eh, I would also love to go on a quiet hunt, but this year it somehow doesn’t work out. And all this matsacyclism is still an infection, but a very, very pleasant one. The way back was no different, except for the aforementioned wind in the mug, which prevented me from going faster than one hundred meters... however, for a real motorcyclist this is not a hindrance, but only a challenge. And I came out a true victor!
Hello everyone and have a good working week!
p.s. yes... about the purchase. Do I need to buy it personally? Well, of course you should! There’s nothing to even think about. However, I cannot imagine such a solution as the main one, one motorcycle. It's good as an addition to something more serious. Therefore, someday I will buy myself such a toy, go for mushrooms and go fishing in a good mood. For everything else, there is my favorite motorcycle, the GT-shka...
What is important to you on a trip?
All of this brings us back to the question of what is important to you on a trip. What will you dream about - the connection between your motorcycle and your smartphone or the ability to customize the fork? The electronic rear suspension or the transmission and engine that perform and sound like a dream? About cruise control or an extra 70 km of power reserve? It will be difficult to stuff a Honda like a BMW, but at the same time, the BMW F850GS cannot be brought to what the base Honda Africa Twin can.
The technology found in the F850GS works well and gives it an expensive, quality feel, but it couldn't overcome our confusion over the range and uninformative clutch handle. The Honda Africa Twin is a simple motorcycle, for better or worse. For us, even without cruise control and tubeless tires, this is good.
This story began for me, probably like many others, with a childhood dream. Like many at a tender age in the 80s, I drove along the country roads in an “Orlyonok”, in the spokes of the rear wheel of which a piece of a plastic sour cream can was attached with a clothespin. I fell asleep on New Year’s Eve, imagining the “Carpathians” under the New Year’s tree in the morning. But for some reason Santa Claus stubbornly passed by, and the childhood dream remained unfulfilled, plunging deeper and deeper into oblivion over the years. And only sometimes, already several years later, something suddenly sank into the heart when peers drove past in Java-old women and Voskhod. The bluish plume of smoke and the smell of exhaust awakened memories of the dream, but everything quickly dissolved into new worries and life problems. Someday later, I thought. Then... The decades passed by, but this “later” never came. Other hobbies appeared, I fell ill with turbo-quattro lighters in the late 90s. In the 2000s, I traveled almost everywhere from the Mediterranean to the Barents Sea in an LR Defender. But it’s not for nothing that they say that the first 45 years of childhood are the most difficult for a boy. On the eve of the end of this, of course, not an easy period, by the end of the 2019 motorcycle season I went to a motorcycle school and opened category A. I had to learn from scratch, but the motivation was off the charts. Choosing your first motorcycle, like many others, was not easy. I shied from one extreme to another, from class to class, reviewed all thematic reviews on Youtube, but the love of travel ultimately took its toll. So, after much hesitation, everything became clear with the class - tourenduro.
Before the start of the 2020 season, I sold Def and went to buy an updated Africa. What the hell, you ask? What Africa? Is there a small Goose in the profile? Oh yes! The coronavirus spring has made its own adjustments. Registration for the new Africa in March was already underway for July, and the big Geese were also completely out of stock.
I thought about KTM for a long time. The 790 was confusing with its tanks and ambiguous appearance. I agree that no one buys a motorcycle to fall. But, due to lack of experience, I also could not rule out such a situation for myself. Subsequently, several times I came across information about broken fuel connections after falls. 1290, in my opinion, was wonderful. Almost perfect. Outwardly, I really liked him. I won’t argue about tastes, although I admit that someone here will disagree with me. Of course, I was a little intimidated by the power of 160 hp, which was excessive for a first-season model, but then I came across numerous complaints about wobbling on large KTMs and somehow naturally warmed up to it. The candidate has dropped out.
What's left then? Suddenly I found the only 2021 F850GSA in stock, still in the box. Last year, while visiting motorcycle dealerships, I checked the box next to the 850 Adventure. In principle, I considered it as a backup, but a compromise option. Bought. It so happened that this is exactly how he revealed himself. These turned out to be something like comfortable sneakers for all occasions. If you want, go to work (although the steering wheel is, of course, too wide for the Moscow aisles), but if you want, drive away from the Moscow Ring Road. There is absolutely beauty here. 92 petrol - please. 4.5 liters per 100 km – you’ll get it. On bad roads it’s generally easy. The equipment couldn't be more complete. The quickshifter is just a bit harsh, I didn’t like it. As for the rest, beautiful awning, everything is fine... When traveling together, the dynamics, of course, drop, but it’s comfortable for both of them, because There is enough space in the back. There was a whim in the first month - changing the saddle to a comfortable one, but the two seemed happy. I abandoned this idea.
It’s not particularly heavy, if you knocked the motorcycle over on its side (in the first week, I didn’t even understand how, I dropped it in the parking lot) – it’s easy to lift it alone without any problems.
At first I decided, I’ll ride for a year and change it to Africa. I drove around and changed my mind. Let him stay.
