Africa Twin. Running in and pimping out.

There's a lot of shite written in the internet about running a bike in. Ride it hard once its warm, only use so much throttle, only take it to whatever number of revs etc etc. What I do is try and go on a few runs on twisty roads without revving the arse off the bike but making sure I'm not labouring the engine either. When I picked up the Africa Twin I booked it in for it's 600 mile service 3 weeks later. 600 miles in three weeks? Easy peasy. Or it would have been if the temperature hadn't dropped making the gritters come out and cover the road in salt. A few heavy downpours washed all the corrosive badness away and I got out for a few nice runs.

I've also ordered a few accessories for the bike. I've got the Touratech luggage rack and tankbag and panniers. I'm still waiting for delivery of the crash bars and pannier rails, this is a bit of a pain in the arse as I had a trip planned for the start of April and having pre-ordered my stuff in January I was sort of expecting it to be here by now. credit where credit's due though, Touratech UK gave me a loan of their prototype pannier rails so I made the trip, but I'll write about that all later on.

Accessories haven't been the only stumbling block. The Honda heated grips are crap and my left hand switch gear had a button pack in. Honda are on these problems though, the bike's getting new switchgear shortly and we're waiting to hear back about the heated grips. This aside the bike had been great fun, I'm getting more used to chucking it about and I've made a few minor adjustments to the suspension. It's more than quick enough for what I need and pretty comfy on a long journey. I'll let you know how I got on with it loaded with luggage and camping gear but so far I'm a happy bunny.

More soon.

Mike