Today I circumnavigated and summited the island of Maui on a Honda Africa Twin that I rented from Riders-Share.com. About 225 miles in total, including the famous "Road to Hana" and some less-travelled, twisty, one-lane, two-way roads on magnificent cliffs.
Haleakala, the summit in the National Park, is over 10,000 feet elevation, While some of the road is at sea level - and by sea level, I men including wet pavement from wave spray.
Some pics...
At end of the ride, I checked my MPG: Mango Pineapple Guava Shave Ice. So I can report excellent MPG for this ride.
I've been curious about the Honda Africa Twin for a long time. This was a DCT model. It was comfortable and I had a great day. But I don't think the DCT is for me. I'd like to try one with a manual transmission.
While I applaud Honda for trying something new, I got really frustrated with the DCT. It would upshift automatically when I was trying to pass uphill... and upshift when I let off the gas to corner (meaning I was constantly either bogging the engine to exit, or hitting the manual downshift button with my left thumb. Sometimes it would downshift mid corner, which I found unsettling (especially in the dirt road sections). The DCT was kind of nice on straight and level, and small grades with easy curves - like a giant scooter. On the rough pavement and dirt, when I stood up, I kept doing "phantom shifts" with my left foot... but of course, there was no shifter.
I suppose we will all have to get used to stuff like this as we move toward electric motorcycles. But I still like manual shifting. I think it's part of the fun of riding.