KoubaLink Can Lower Your Africa Twin

[advrider]

A common complaint about adventure bikes is that, while they’re extremely capable, they are also, as a whole, very tall. For folks without a superior inseam, there are some (few) factory options, but mostly this is a problem we need to tackle in the aftermarket.

The Curse of the Giant Bike

BMW offers factory low motorcycles. Harley’s new Pan America can squat like a city bus at stops to help out the inseam-challenged. But most other adventure bikes are unapologetically tall in the seat. What if you favor Hondas above all else, and love the look of the Africa Twin? What if you already own an Africa Twin and you’re just a little too tippy-toe on it for comfort?

Turns out KoubaLink might have you covered.

Who’s KoubaLink?

This lowering links manufacturer plays predominantly in the world of off-road motorcycles. They have now  introduced one, though, for the CRF 1000 Africa Twin. This link replaces the factory link, and will drop the rear of the bike one inch. That may not sound like much, but when it’s the choice between your tip-toes and being solidly on the balls of your feet at stops on this significant machine, that’s a big difference.

Gets Shorter Everywhere

Keep in mind that this will also remove one inch of clearance, so anyone who does hard-core offroading on their Africa Twin might want to think twice about lowering it. Any downed tree that you used to just be able to clear might be more of a hurdle with the bike lowered.

Geometry Problems

Also, lowering the rear of the bike at the suspension and not the front will make any motorcycle handle differently. Increasing the rake angle might make the bike steer a little heavier. When installing a lowering link it’s often a good idea to drop the triple tree a smidge, too, to get the bike back to factory geometry. If you don’t know what any of this means, handing the bike over to a suspension professional for this work is the way to go.

The link for the Africa Twin fits all years of the 1000cc bike, that is, 2016 to 2019, and retails for $179 on the KoubaLink website. They offer no option for the newer 1100cc machine yet. The part is crafted in the USA from billet aluminum, and if you do know what you’re doing, installing a lowering link and dropping the front end a smidge can be a pretty simple operation.

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