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is 55000miles alot for africa twin?? is 55000miles alot for africa twin??
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  #1  
Old 2 Mar 2008
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is 55000miles alot for africa twin??
hi all im thinking of buying an 97 africa twin for a overland trip,uk to oz.the bikes been well looked after but are the miles high?im keen on it because the AT has a good reputation for being reliable and the price is right for my budget at £1600.recently had new exhaust,petrol pump ,tyres and full service and seems to ride well....hmm what do ya reckon...
cam.
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  #2  
Old 2 Mar 2008
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it all depends...
if it's been well looked after that bike should give you another 60,000 miles plus, but then again it could have some serious problems with that mileage.

How long have you got before you go? - ideally you could get the valves set and replace all the bearings, maybe fit new rings (check compression first), belts etc. For a few hundred quid in parts the bike should have the same potential as when it was new. In theory if you keep on replacing the parts that wear (and are therefore designed to be replaced) and keep it well looked after you should be able to put millions of miles on a bike
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Old 3 Mar 2008
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Hi there "camnz"..
...and welcome to HU!!

Concerning your bike choice - I think it sounds great!

I myself own a 1992 Honda TransAlp, the little brother (or is it sister) of the AT. When I bought the bike almost 2 years ago it had 45.000 kilometers on the clock. It is running perfectly, I didn't have any repairs so far (lets knock on wood). Fitted new tires before I went on my Hokkaido touring, 3.500 kilometers plus and again no problems what so ever. On the way I met a 70 year old Japanese guy riding the Honda AT - his bike had something like 120.000 kilometers on it, first engine, it looked great and he told me that he was more or less living "on" his bike. So, yes, I'd go for it, accept the advice of other people (changing a couple of things like bearing and so on) and 1600 BP should be ok.
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Old 4 Mar 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by camnz View Post
hi all im thinking of buying an 97 africa twin for a overland trip,uk to oz.the bikes been well looked after but are the miles high?im keen on it because the AT has a good reputation for being reliable and the price is right for my budget at £1600.recently had new exhaust,petrol pump ,tyres and full service and seems to ride well....hmm what do ya reckon...
cam.
Buy it or post where it is for sale so I can... (not that i need an other one.)
55k is just broken in!!
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Old 4 Mar 2008
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cheers
wicked thanks guys ive put a deposit on the AT and pick it up on saturday.will look into doing rings,bearings maybe but later on just keen to get a few miles on the clock first!!
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Old 4 Mar 2008
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congratulations - just had a look at one for sale near me, bit more expensive at 3k but only 17,800 on the clock,

No need to do the rings if the compression is ok, or do bearings unless they feel poor, esp. if you're not about to disappear off somewhere

Enjoy your AT!
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Old 5 Mar 2008
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wicked thanks guys ive put a deposit on the AT and pick it up on saturday.will look into doing rings,bearings maybe but later on just keen to get a few miles on the clock first!!
And now join the XRV.ORG.UK forum everything you would ever want to know and not know about the AT and its riders...
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Old 5 Mar 2008
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At
congrats on your purchase, I brought mine with 60.000 kms the guy sold it after 10 years and he brought a newer RD07 - anyway the newer bike hadn't been used something link 5.000 kms he ended up having to change all sorts of bearings and seals...

Moral of the story, low mileage isn't always the best solution...

On my first big trip the rectifier blew... carry a spare !!

Salut Matt
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Old 5 Mar 2008
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i herd the petrol pump and rectifier were the most common faults ,petrol pumps just been done so might chuck another rectifier on aswell.cheers bud.
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Originally Posted by goodwoodweirdo View Post
congrats on your purchase, I brought mine with 60.000 kms the guy sold it after 10 years and he brought a newer RD07 - anyway the newer bike hadn't been used something link 5.000 kms he ended up having to change all sorts of bearings and seals...

Moral of the story, low mileage isn't always the best solution...

On my first big trip the rectifier blew... carry a spare !!

Salut Matt
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  #10  
Old 6 Mar 2008
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A - twins
Try Wemoto.com for a recifier, is around £100 ... it seems they dont have a known life some last years other months, so keep 1 with you, as it will break when you're a long way from home. Its only 2 minutes and the simplest of tools to replace.

Basically any electrical problems and check the rectifier, again it varies... on my RD04 the motor stopped at around 50km/ph restarted, within 5 minutes stopped again... the Assistance said once the engine was running I'll be able to ride home !! 1 km and it died this time nothing ... batteries can also be cooked, check your battery water level.

There are various technical solutions, including fitting computer fan motors, but I'm trying a voltage monitor, simple light fitted to the dash monitoring the charge ....

I'll attached my spare somewhere on the bike with the connectors covered - its always there then !!!!

last note, I tried buying online from a after market seller... after the 3rd attempt at delivering the correct item, they suggested I cut the connector off my old one and solder it to the new - it was time to cancel my order !!!
Enjoy the bike..

Salut Matt
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Old 6 Mar 2008
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As a Ducati owner (well Cagiva, but I can't blame them for the shoddy electrics) I am overly familiar with rectifier failure. It seems the main cause of rectifier failure is the ground getting poorer over time as dirt ingresses and metal corrodes. A good preventative measure is to clean up the ground contacts from time to time and check the resistance, or wire your ground directly to the negative terminal using a decent thickness of wire, in addition to the ground earth
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Old 7 Mar 2008
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Thats low mileage for a twin thats been cared for...and for that price it seems good.
If its a black one like mine it will be fast too...as everyone knows black is the fastest colour.

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Old 7 Mar 2008
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Buy that @! I bought one of my @s at that mileage and it's now at 102,000. If it has had basic servicing done correctly then it's just fine. Ask for the service history, even if it's the owners personal record. I log everything I do to my bikes and its really useful for my own info on tyre wear, etc etc.

If I didnt have two @s already, I'd buy it.
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Old 7 Mar 2008
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your bike looks fat mate!,i like the color was bidding on a black AT on ebay last week but it went way over my budget.mines blue,must be the 2nd fastet color aye....
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Thats low mileage for a twin thats been cared for...and for that price it seems good.
If its a black one like mine it will be fast too...as everyone knows black is the fastest colour.
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Old 8 Mar 2008
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No, silver/red is known by experts to be the fastest colour, and the most reliable.
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