Gravity vs. Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L

Posted by

Lorry

On August 20, 2017

And something in between that’s called: The Ultimate Protection Combo by Outback Motortek.

Week after week there are incoming emails from our customers who own Africa Twin 1000 Hondas and it’s always *pretty and positive.

*(Ok, I’ll be honest. Not everything is perfect. We were asked to improve our installation manuals. Guess what? We have! The content is now increased by about 25% or put it this way, we’ve added 5-8 more photos and description of each manual.)

Back on track again. I want to share a legitimate story illustrated with photos and a customer testimonial. I find it particularly fond because this customer (Fred) from Málaga, Spain was our first ever European customer patiently waiting for our Honda Africa Twin accessories.

In 2016, he started out with our crash bars and he was ecstatic to finally receive and mount them. We were equally ecstatic to receive an email back from him that “All went well with the installation” and the first impression are, well, “Impressive“, just to quote him.

Fast forward to 2017 July and Fred emailed again:

Fred: “Hey Lorry,

I’m thinking about going for the ultimate protection combo, but since I have the upper bars already… I’d need the skid plate and the engine guards only.“

Reply from me: “Of course. We have in stock what you need and appreciate your loyalty to Outback Motortek”

Fred: “I will take both then. I believe you have everything available, because I leave on the 27th of July.”

“And the trust is already earned. Two weeks ago a van knocked my parked bike over in the city and the bars held up perfectly.“

Just a few days later the skid plate and engine guards arrived. It still left Fred nearly ten days to mount the products that resulted in the Ultimate Protection Combo after all. Once everything was successfully installed, he was ready to hit the Pyrenees Mountains which are actually part of the Trans Euro Trail (www.transeurotrail.org), very similar to the Trans-America Trail (TAT, www.transamtrail.com) and Trans Canada Adventure Trail (TCAT, www.graveltravel.ca).

Of course, we’re so stoked to manage to get him the parts for his epic off-road journey, which certainly requires proper armour.

End of the story…

Or so we thought but…

There was something we did not expect though. Fred reported back early August with an email which was titled: “You saved my day!”

I couldn’t click fast enough to open the email! I got even more excited to see photos attached and it totally blurred my vision which resulted in not paying attention to all what he said about the crash. Well, these photos didn’t need much explanation but I bet you’re eager to find out more?

Fred‘s email:

“Hi Lorry,

Finally I dropped it. First time ever. I was driving in terrible heat (43 Celsius) and made a stupid mistake. I had wanted to stop earlier to chill in the shade but there wasn’t much around me.

So I broke my rule: resting before getting too exhausted.

She (the Africa Twin) took a good hit but no damage at all to the bike! A good thing because I was alone with no civilisation in sight. She is heavy to pick up on a down slope! Just scratches to the bars and a dent but they all stayed in shape. Thanks for the quality products!“

One more advice from Fred: “You want to ride the Pyrenees solo? ….put on Outback Motortek!

We were and still are tickled pink. The great thing is: Fred is not our first customer to shower us with such compliments.

I won’t take any longer now. See those photos below.

A quick look at Honda’s publicly available OEM factory parts list and you can add up some of the potential costs to fix this damage, should there be no “Ultimate Protection Combo” on your Africa Twin 1000

Above the engine: Middle cowl US$345, Radiator US$475, Fan+Motor Assembly US$179

Engine and its components: Right crankcase cover US$ 274, Water pump US$ 150, Pipe header US$871, Pipe cover (shield) US$75

On top of this, one without our protection would have to replace these parts by himself/herself (cost $0) or trust a mechanic with this job and drop a few hundred dollars.

See, Fred did not have to worry about it, nor did he have to worry about hiring a tow truck. He could continue and finish his highly anticipated journey through the beautiful region of the Pyrenees Mountains.

Finally it’s the end of the story.

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