Africa Twin question - re: wheel sizes

I would like to get some opinions from you dirtbike and dual sport aficionados out there. I rode dirt bikes when I was younger but I only rode them off-road and didn't venture out onto the highway much. Besides, I can barely remember those days anyway. I am seriously considering the Africa Twin but I'm wondering how the 18/21 combination with that narrow front tire will handle roads. I am a little worried about the smaller contact patch when leaning into corners and I am also worried about how it would handle road imperfections i.e. uneven surfaces, cracks, grooves, dirt, water, etc. I know a lot of you guys have ridden this wheel combination so I would appreciate any insight on the matter.

The Africa Twin has got me intrigued. Almost twice the horsepower and a lot more torque than the NC plus the ability to do some off-roading. it's almost the same weight as the NC and the ergos are similar. Shots of it without the body plastic show it to have a fairly low center of gravity as well, though probably not as good as the NC.

As a side note I have also been lusting after the BMW S 1000 XR but that bike would surely land me in jail or worse.

There is some compromise using a 21" on the street for the reason you gave but it's not so much the bike is not safe or capable of high speed street riding. If the bike is used almost exclusively on the street the 21" does reduce choices for good handling street rubber however. You are pretty much forced to use a dual purpose bias ply tubed tire. Radials are not available.

There are a lot of folks riding 21 inch front wheel Harley Wide Glides and Harley Breakouts on the roadways of this county. They all do quite well on the roadways with these tires at normal roadway speed limits.

The sport bike guru's want 17 inch tires because these tires give the best performance and handling on the asphalt. The odds are, you will not be traveling at these 150 mile per hour speeds.

The dirt bike guru's want 21 inch front wheels and 18 inch rear wheels as these tires handle best in the sand. The odds are, you will not be traveling across any deserts.

If you are going around the world, I would highly recommend the Africa Twin.

However, the NC7 will handle the dirt at safe speeds and the asphalt at safe speeds very well. The Front Suspension 41mm fork, 5.4 inches travel and Rear Suspension Pro-Link single shock; 5.9 inches travel is far better than the average cruiser street bike's 3.5 to 4 inches of suspension.

I have ridden street tires on many a dirt road, and dirt tires on many a asphalt road.

I have ridden 650 DS bikes with the 21/18 wheels and they handled pretty well on pavement. Tire selection for a lot of pavement does make a big difference. The bike handled pretty well with the Kendal 657. With the Kendal 270s I could get both wheels to loose grip in turns if pushed to hard. When the knobs are on you still can move pretty good but you don't attack the turns in the same way. The larger diameter wheels handle any rough roads surfaces much better. The narrow 21" tire can be fun depending on the tire you are using on grooved highways. But that really was never very concerning under 75 mph. I have two sets of wheels. One set up for pavement, and for dirt.

I was considering the AFT also. I would not have any problem with the set up. But I am not a knee draggers. I ride bikes with that set up the same way I ride in the dirt. Weight forward and weight the outside peg with body attitude vertical. If the rear does break loose I can turn like a supermoto. If do ride it like that. When in, doubt give it gas. If you don't, you will become very familiar with the dreaded high side.

I think I will stick with the NC for awhile yet. With different tires it will work just fine for the graded dirt roads I will be on.

I think the way we define off road means everything in these tire/wheel size discussions. If off road is "unpaved" yet hard or packed enough enough to take a car or light truck on then any street biased tire/wheel combo under a skilled rider will do just fine. I did 20 miles of dirt roads last Saturday on my NC with nearly bald OEM tires but the roads were Forest Service maintained and in good condition and it had rained in the last week making some sandy areas safer. What sand there was damp and cohesive enough to ride 25 to 35 mph on. The harder sections were 55 mph stuff. If the road was deep sandy I could not have done it with street 17" wheels on brand new knobbies. The 17" will not allow yaw angles and stay up on top of the surface when the fork is deflected.

I'm making a categorical judgement here but some riders with no dirt experience would have not been able to ride an Africa Twin on the same roads I did last Saturday. The bike moves around under you, it's normal on a loose surface, but if he/she had no dirt experience the movement would have prevented riding faster than feet-down duck walking. I've seen it with very good street riders with years of experience but beginners at off road riding on dual sports set up for it. They cannot suspend logic and speed up when the bike gets loose under them. I know my own limits - I took a couple roads Saturday that started out promising but soon turned to deep sand two-track I could not negotiate with a stock NC700X.

The AT is very interesting to me but I know that the NC fits my riding desires much better and allows me to do some off road when the pavement ends but I'm 99% on pavement and not willing to give up good street rubber for 1% of the time I'd need a 70/30 or 50/50 tire.

[...some riders with no dirt experience would have not been able to ride an Africa Twin on the same roads I did last Saturday...]

I agree completely about someone with only street experience being totally unnerved by how the wheels move side-to-side in the dirt - regardless of the wheels sizes. For a street rider that usually means the bike is going out-of-control!

As Old-Can mentioned, 21" street tires are out there and plentiful.

There is little issue with the smaller width tire on the street either. Very few of us will go edge to edge on even the stickiest street tire, those dual purpose compounds can definitely hold their own on the street.

Check out some of the test rides on YouTube, they have the Twin leaned over pretty darn good at significant speed.

If you have no dirt experience, a 500 pound motorcycle is not the place to learn. Most people will use the brakes instead of the throttle when they first start riding off road. It takes some time and experience to learn that the throttle will let you regain control where the use of the brakes will have you go down. It seems like most here that take the NC off road have dirt experience. It makes a difference.

But I am pretty sure that the AFT would be a lot more comfortable than the NC in any type of dirt especially deep sand.

Answer on AiiM Africa Twin

Those who have ridden it say that the 21 inch front isn't bad at all. Bike feels stable and no vagueness like KTM 1190 AR. Latter I rode last year and I wanted to like it, but I didn't...