Honda Transalp and Africa Twin

The Honda Africa Twin is a 650cc (RD03) or 750cc (RD04, RD07) cousin of the 600cc Honda Transalp. The earlier Africa Twins are very similar in construction to the Transalp, and many parts can be put onto a Transalp. Potential improvements include a larger fuel tank, an aluminum swingarm, taller suspension, and a rear disk brake.

Africa Twin Models

There are several models of Africa Twin. The important thing to remember is that RD07 parts are cannot be used on Transalps. Many RD03 and RD04 parts, however, bolt straight up to a Transalp. The following chart shows years and models. Note that only models relevant to the US-spec Transalp are shown:

Year	Africa Twin	Transalp
1988	RD03 XRV650
1989	RD03 XRV650	PD06
1990	RD04L XRV750	PD06
1991	RD04M XRV750
1992	RD04N XRV750
1993	RD04P XRV750
1994+	RD07

For a full breakdown of Transalp models (PD06H, J, K, etc) see Deti's page.

For a full hisotry of the Africa Twin (RD03, RD04L, M, N, P) see this page (Japanese).

Fuel Tank

RD03 and RD04 fuel tanks (identical other than color scheme) fit the Transalp frame. According to this page, "the left AT petcock is the same as the petcock for a 1990 NT650 Honda Hawk" ($55 at BikeBandit.com).

Interference

The RD03/RD04 tank's petcocks may interfere with the Transalp engine.

Blackbert says that the right-hand petcock hits the clutch cable mount, and the left-hand petcock hits the coolant line. The right petcock is larger due to a drain plug, so swapping it fixes the clearance problem on the right-hand side, but leaves the left side unfixed.

Support Bracket

Ladder106 replies that the Africa Twin tank requires a support, which is shown here.

This item may be listed on ebay as "Verkleidungshalter" (translates as "Fairing bracket"). Currently, I don't know if this is different from "Kühlerhalter" ("cooler holder") which certainly appears to be identical.

It appears in the XRV650K microfiche as

XRV650K "PIPE COMP., COWL MOUNTING" 64209-MS8-000

Fuel Pump

The Africa Twin tank needs a fuel pump in order to pump the last few gallons.

Stock Africa Twin

The Africa Twin's OEM fuel pump is electric, and it's prone to failure due to internal electrical contacts which arc and destroy themselves. The pump itself can be hardwired and controlled by an external relay, which prevents the arcing problem.

Substitute Pumps

Many people run vacuum-operated fuel pumps.

Another alternative is an electric fuel pump from Spruce Aircraft and Supply.

Swingarm

The Africa Twin has an aluminum swingarm which is is longer than the steel Transalp swingarm. It can be fitting with relatively few problems. Notably, the drum brake stopper has to be ground to fit the Africa Twin swingarm (assuming an Africa Twin disc rear wheel hasn't been used as well), and a 124 link chain is needed.

• Translated "Transalp with Africa Twin swingarm" (from transalp.de).

Interchangeability

These parts diagrams indicate the compatibility of many of the swingarm parts between the Transalp and the RD04 Africa Twin. Green indicates that the part numbers are the same, while red indicates that the parts differ. Yellow indicates that the part numbers are different, but the parts may be compatible nonetheless.

Rear Brake

The stock drum brake housing can be machined to fit into the slot on the RD04/RD07 swingarm.

Alternatively, an Africa Twin rear wheel can be used to get a disc brake. This post provides the following information:

Model	Rotor Dia.	Internal Dia.	Bolt Center Dist.	Bolt Dia.
RD04	256mm	144mm	166mm	10mm
RD07	256mm	144mm	166mm	10mm
PD06	240mm	105mm	125mm	10.5mm
RD03	240mm	105mm	125mm	10.5mm

He finishes with:

brake caliper brackets are absolute interchangable between RD03, 04 and 07 regards their place against swingarm. If you have 240mm disk, use bracket from RD03, otherwise from RD04, 07 regardless which AT swingarm you have. I tested that caliper from PD06 '94 fits in RD03 and RD04 caliper bracket perfect, I guess, same with RD07 bracket.