I’ve always wanted to own a Triumph Tiger, however, after going through a thread on Team-BHP, I decided to move on.
BHPian Kjasonm recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Hello, everyone.
My post will be about my own experience with various bike dealerships in Bangalore and how I ended up booking the 2022 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sport Manual. I am not going to touch on the specifications of any of the bikes since they are in abundance on this forum and YouTube. I will also include some thoughts on the accessories I intend to install once the bike is delivered a little later on in the thread.
This is IMHO a brilliant and undervalued bike with only one real issue which is the ground clearance. It is pretty poor and you end up scraping the bottom on most speed breakers in Bangalore (now I know why they call them breakers). It’s got a great responsive engine and is pocket friendly on maintenance. While it has been a fun ride I need something bigger and definitely with a lot more ground clearance. My previous ride was a Himalayan and purchasing a Vulcan was definitely influenced by the Mrs. wanting a more down to earth bike.
Now onto my options, test ride and dealership experience:
BMW F900XR or R1250GS
Ruled them out straight away for a couple of reasons without even going to the showroom. Personally, I do not like the looks of the F900XR and the R1250GS goes way over my budget. Plus maintenance and accessories costs are sky-high on Beemers and I am not made of money. So bye-bye BMW.
Kawasaki Versys 1000
The Bangalore dealership did not have a Test Ride vehicle and cited Covid as a reason (though we were way past the second wave and even Omicron had come and gone). While a very capable and affordable bike, it is heavily road-focused and also with only the base version of the Versys being available in India, the bike misses out on a lot of “Tech” like cornering lights and Skyhook suspension. A friend also told me that for my style of riding I would be better off getting something with a little more off-road cred.
Ducati Multistrada 950S
This was a near hit and miss for me. I went to the Bangalore showroom a couple of times. The first time they did not have the test ride bike and the second time I got to test ride it but only inside the compound of the showroom. No longer test rides available. Still, the bike felt good and you could tell it was powerful. After multiple follow-ups got to know that the test ride bike was available for sale since the 950S was being phased out in favor of the V2S. It had been dropped once and the right handguard was broken, there was one small scratch on the tank and it was a year old so I was hopeful that I would get a sweet deal on it. After many many more follow-ups was told the bike has been sold (I followed up numerous times between December and February about the bike and received very little to no response. Needed them to help sell my Vulcan so maybe that delayed things as well). See you later Ducati.
Triumph Tiger 850 Sport / 900 Rally
Now this bike is one I have dreamt of owning ever since I first saw the Tiger XCX 800 back in 2016. Fast forward to 2021 and the bike in its new avatar comes in the budget. 850 Sport which is more road-biased and the Rally Pro which is an off-road beast. I test road the Rally Pro twice (the second time was without the front windscreen as a customer had dropped the bike and broken it during a test ride almost a month ago and they had not yet gotten round to repairing it) and was thoroughly impressed with the handling and the fact that I was sitting at a height that was above the roofs of most cars but yet cornering did not seem too difficult. Now budget came into play and was dillydallying between the 850 (Head) and 900 (Heart). Then I read the Team-BHP thread on the after-sales service.
Reading the thread killed off any desire I had to own a Tiger. The last thing I can afford is to have my dream turn into a nightmare. Part availability issues and the fear of having to leave the bike in the service center for months at a time as well as less than competent service meant that it was time for me to say farewell to the dream. Though from what I have read if you are in Mumbai or Kerala you should be good as they have a much better service experience.
Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sport
Honestly, as I write this I am still surprised that I actually booked the bike and I can hardly believe it. I had never thought of owning the bike, did not like the way it looked in photos and had never seen the bike in person so it was never on my radar. When I finished my test ride of the Tiger on a sunny Saturday afternoon my wife and son did not want to head home yet and wanted to drive around a bit more, so I thought to myself what else can I do – Alright let’s go look at the Honda just for kicks. Luckily it was right near the Tiger showroom. As I walked in and explained what I was looking for I was told that the test ride bike was in the service center and would not be available for a couple of days (because a customer had dropped it – I mean what is it with customers dropping these bikes. Maybe the showroom should do some sort of pre-test to prove you have what it takes to ride one).
But then the salesperson did something that no one else in the other showrooms had done. He took my name and number and said that as soon as the bike was back he would send it home for me to test ride for at least an hour minimum or longer if I needed to as he believed that this was a decision that was best made once you spend time on the bike. The max I got to test ride the other bikes was all of 15 minutes. He took the time to explain all the features of the bike including what’s changing in 2022 and I could almost imagine it in front of me.
I was impressed with his knowledge and confidence in the bike and that got me thinking. I went back home read up all I could on both the Africa Twin and the Tiger 900 Rally Pro (I had more or less abandoned the Tiger 850 Sport by this time – Heart wins) and that’s when I found the threads about the servicing horrors of Triumph. I reached out to a friend who had bought the Africa Twin last year and he vouched for the bike and also explained that the same servicing issues were the reason why he did not go for the Triumph (a lot of his friends are Triumph owners and they are not too happy). That sealed the deal for me. I went back to the showroom Monday evening and booked the Africa Twin without even test riding it. I know it seems like an impulsive decision but I have been in the hunt for an ADV for a while now and somehow this just felt right.
A couple of days later, the bike (it’s the 2021 DCT version) was available for a test ride and I decided to do the test ride at the showroom. Believe me, pictures do not do justice to the bike when it is in front of you and then the ride experience itself in a word is near “Perfect”. Honda engines are known for their reliability and smoothness and I believe that is partly due to the fact that they do not try to draw too much power from the engine. It was fun riding the DCT with the paddle shifters not to mention all the other ABS, traction and wheelie options to play with. A long test ride later I was convinced that I had made the right decision. I still went with manual due to the cost difference and also because I enjoy shifting gears the old fashioned way.
I guess that’s it for this post. Thank you for reading. I have a long list of accessories and will post more once I get closer to the actual delivery of the bike which is hopefully in April or May.
Here’s what BHPian Axe77 had to say about the matter:
That’s an absolutely brilliant choice. Would love to see any pics from your test rides of the Rally Pro as well as the ATAS.
If you can elaborate on the specific difference in your riding impressions between the Rally and the Honda that would be most helpful. The manual AT and Rally Pro do go head to head in many people deciding in that price and size segment.
Even I would pit these two bikes head-on whenever I want to change over from my 800 Tiger so would be keen to know that aside from service issues, just bike for bike what are your comparative observations from the ride.
Good luck with your delivery in April / May – have they indicated what the color scheme for the Manual bike in 2022 would be like?
Here’s what BHPian Turbanator had to say about the matter:
Congratulations!
Can you share what all is changing on MY2022 as per the SA? There are no expected changes except for an increase in prices over MY 2021.
Here’s what BHPian the_skyliner had to say about the matter:
Congratulations! ATAS is an amazing bike.
If you are someone who also likes to take the bike off-roading then you have made the right decision. I heard that the “blue-white” will be MT this year and DCT will come in black color.
Why there is so much delay for 2022 deliveries? Last year they delivered in March IIRC.
Keyword: 2022 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports: How I ended up booking one