Africa Twin - spares for West Africa trip
 

Hello,

I’m beginning preparation for my trip through West Africa. It will be a 5’500 km tour, lasting 2 weeks. Expected terrain is 90% tarmac, 10% gravel.:mchappy:

The bike that I’ll take is a ’97 Honda Africa Twin that I bought 6 months ago and it now has 30’000km on the clocks.



Beyond the normal service these are the extra tasks that I intend to perform. And this is where your feedback and experience is needed::confused:

• Clutch and throttle cable - will pre-install alongside the existing ones. If the originals break it’s an easy fix
• Regulator - I plan to take a spare regulator. AT regulators are prone to fail. Anyway I’ve installed recently a voltmeter in order to check the regulator’s health and predict problems in an early stage
• Fuel pump – the existing pump is still the original one (13 years…). Still hesitating to take a spare OEM or install the acclaimed Facet
• Clutch and brake levers – will take a pair of levers. I have handle bar protection but who knows, I don’t want to get stranded in the middle of Africa because of a cheap lever
• Wheel bearings – will replace before leaving. AT rear wheel bearings are prone to fail

Feedback is welcome! On the points mentioned and some others that you think of.?c?

Best Regards,
Luis CaBRita

Hi Luis,
For sure install the Facet fuel pump, they're not expensive and it will never break.
Put a plastic protection shield in front of the two lights, (I cut mine out of an old visor,heated it to straighten, and attached with strong wire to the fairing bolts).
It's a heavy old 'bike so practice lifting it up ! back to the bike , squat down, hands on the frame or footpegs and straighten your legs, the bike will come up easily......
Good luck and enjoy !:D

we plan to leave on a RTW on two africa twins next March, and two friensds of mine are currently driving their AT's to Capetown (from Europe)

Think you have everything you need.

We have done an overhaul on our fuelpumps (the electronic mechanism), and I have one spare per bike.
Rectifiers: change for a proper aftermarket (heard bad stories about Tourmax...) and take your original one as a spare.

I take throttle/choke and clutch-cables, as well as a set of levers.
Have put in a new battery in mine; preventive. And checked the brake disc thickness; as we plan to drive 2-3 years this should be okay... quite expensive to change!
Wheel bearings: I do not change them preventive, but check them at every tyre change. Standard sizes, so you should be able to get them everywhere?

For the rest they are quite rigid!