Back in the saddle.

I took a 5 year hiatus from riding mainly due to traveling 75% a year for my job and just having too many other projects that took up my time. I've been riding since I was 14 or so on dirt bikes around the woods near my house and my friends house, at 16 got my first street bike. The bike progression since then went like this:

ZX-6
F3
ZX-6R
ZX-7R
CL350
CL350

I've never done any adventure riding but usually had a friend with a dirt bike or enduro and spent plenty of time riding tracks but not a lot of off-road/off-path stuff. It was always a dream to have an adventure bike, but nothing really grabbed my attention. I've been a die-hard Moto GP fan and thought my next bike would be another street bike and something fast now that I could afford the big guns.

In the last year I started to get the bug more and more. I would watch a race and really start to miss riding. I saw this video a few months ago and the feelings got stronger: https://vimeo.com/154395236 .

I've been a Honda fanboy for as long as I can remember when it came to cars but always loved the Kawi's for their comfort when it came to street bikes. I picked up a couple old CLs and really started to tinker with carbs and cafe mods and knew my next bike would be a Honda...I just didn't know when or what.

3 days ago a friend texted me: "I'm thinking we should get some Honda Africa Twins when they come out". Hmm...I remember reading about them a while back but haven't followed up. I instantly did a google search and that day I started to devour any and all information on the bike. I've probably read every review and watched every video on the web at this point, all in the last two days.

The technology, the passion, the stunning reviews, the history all combined perfectly to be the last crack in the dam and in that day I knew I would be riding one at some point.

Having an amazing wife who doesn't want me to die, but also lets me live my passions, I started scouring the midwest for a silver DCT. 15 calls later I found one in Davenport, IA, called my bank and got everything set up for a pickup this Saturday.

My mind has been racing non-stop since I knew I would be getting one. I'm sitting at my desk smiling right now just thinking about my first ride.

-Jacob