Kiwi Canuck tries his Luck with a Six Fiddy

[trevor]

Trevor, the DCT is something that I was a bit concerned about when I was researching the AT and never thought I would buy the DCT model.

If they had both in the showroom I probably would've bought the standard, but they didn't as this was the last one in BC for sale, so I made the plunge.

After the first few rides and figuring out how to put it into Sport 3 mode I was hooked.

I've not tried manual mode yet, using the thumb paddles on the left handle bar control pod, but I do occasionally use the downshift button to drop a gear when needed.

The DCT encourages me to ride briskly, the gear changes are almost seamless, and I love the auto blip when it's shifting down through the gears, the only gripe is the shift from 2nd to first can be a bit sudden in certain modes.

As most testers have noted, the DCT tends to upshift a bit earlier than a rider would, but that can be overcome by using manual mode or riding in Sport 3 mode.

I sure love the bike as a package and expect that I'll keep this bike a while.

David

Thanks....did you get rid of the Vstrom?

[Kiwi Canuck]

Thanks....did you get rid of the Vstrom?

Ha ha my wife keeps asking why the VStrom is still in the garage. "I thought you were going to sell it"

I am going to sell it, but I'm just figuring out what luggage and racks I can re-use on the AT, not much by the look of it but I'm determined to at least use the rear rack adapter plate and Trax top box for when I ride into the city, it's nice to store my helmet and jacket rather than lugging it around with me.

Also with just the top box I can be skinny enough to fit through small spaces in traffic (kind of like lane filtering but that's illegal), I just make an extra lane from time to time as needed.

I'll also keep the SW Motech Trax side boxes and then buy Mosko Moto Back country 35's soft bags for trips that involve off road, so I'll have both soft and hard luggage options.

Because it's a new model there is a bit of delay in getting after market parts for it, but they are starting to be rolled out and getting tested in the real world.

I looked at the Touratech racks as they look really good and work well with Mosko Moto bags but the racks will not work with my existing boxes without some sort of adapter plate, so once I've figured all that out, I'll then sell the bike with the remaining gear on it.

A longer answer than perhaps needed but there you have it, yes I'm going to sell the VStrom.

David.

[BigD_83]

I missed the post about the Africa Twin. That's a fun-looking motorcycle. Do you have plans to use it to its potential?

[Kiwi Canuck]

Do you have plans to use it to its potential?

Nope, I'm not that good of a rider anymore, but I'm intending to ride it to the best of my ability.

The bike is actually pretty easy to ride fast and it feels like a big DR650 with the road manners of my VStrom.

I have a 15-16 day trip planned to go up to NWT and Yukon this summer, I'm taking my son Alexander who is 14, we intend to leave shortly after he gets out of school, so mid to late June.

David.