Philosophy
AfricanQueens -
for more than 30 years
your expert in travel, rally and adventure
on two wheels.
Since 1994, we successfully develop and distribute custom parts, accessories and riding gear for rally-racing, enduro sports and travel on two wheels. Our special focus and personal passion belongs to powerful two-cylinder trailbikes - the heirs of the Paris-Dakar-racers from the peak times of the toughest desert race in the world.
More than 300 items out of an extensive product range of over 800 result from our company's own designs and manufacture. Other products, e.g. classy, handcrafted covers and conversion parts by small Italian manufactories such as Boano or Ricky Cross are exclusively distributed through us on the German market.
AfricanQueens stands not only for specialised parts for use under tough conditions, we also offer you everything else you'll need for your motorcycling adventures: from spare and wear parts, to care products and lubricants as well as high-quality and functional clothing such as Klim USA. AfricanQueens motorcycles - completely redesigned and converted stock bikes - are extensively tested on rallies and extreme journeys in order to guarantee the best configurations for different types of motorcycles types and riding applications. Our product range developed from these experiences allows a complete and high-quality conversion of many modern enduro & trail bikes:
Complete conversions are carried out by our in-house workshop, whose range of services also includes general maintenance and servicing work, installation of accessory parts as well as technical inspection approvals and registrations.
The AQ products range includes parts and accessories for:
BMW:
F & R GS models, HP2
Honda:
CRF, XR, AfricaTwin, TransAlp, Varadero
KTM:
LC8 Adventure / Adventure S
Yamaha:
TT600R,Ténéré, Super Ténéré
MZ 660 Baghira, and more.
For more products and detailed information please visit our Online-Store or feel free to contact us for individual advice.
History
During his first desert tour, passionate AfricaTwin rider Stephan Jaspers realised that he would need a larger tank and other specialised accessories for longer journeys. To meet his own needs for professional rally and travel accessories, he set out to build an international network of contacts to various suppliers. Word-by-mouth and eventually an article of the German magazine "Tourenfahrer" caused such strong demand for these hard-to find products, that he founded the company AfricanQueens still in 1994. The introduced product range was determined by Jaspers’ own experience in rally-racing and traveling.
In 1995, he took part in the Elba 500 rally with his own Africa Twin. At the same time, two customers of AfricanQueens also piloted two AT-based quad-bikes. These curious monsters were also equipped by AfricanQueens for the Dakar '95.
In 1996, he participated the Transdanubia Rally on an XRV650 Marathon, one of a limited 60 famous Honda factory Dakar bikes, which were sold to the public. Only one handful of Marathons made it to Germany, of which alone three were imported by AfricanQueens.
From 1997 to 1998, the experience gained at Transdanubia and the Munich-Breslau Rally built the foundations for conversions, as they are known today from AfricanQueens: Performance kits, slim rally fairings, desert tanks, racing front forks with self-produced yokes and numerous other special parts.
In 1999, during the Optic 2000, the first comprehensive test of a fully optimised AQ-Twin took place. Tanks, rally fairing, engine tuning, fork etc. proved themselves under the toughest conditions. Further tests followed at the Munich-Carthage race the following year.
2000-2001, AfricanQueens focused mainly on turning Honda’s Varadero into an off-road-capable adventure bike. The Marathon XRV1000 immediately caught enormous attention. Reduced to a dry weight of 200kg, this conversion offered all the advantages of reliable Honda technology with vastly improved all-terrain competence.
Shortly after the presentation of the Marathon began a second "Varadero" project, the Twindero XRV1000, a stripped down Varadero with AfricaTwin looks and off-road-capable suspension: At that time the dream of many AfricaTwin riders.
2002 - With the presentation of the Rallye Forte 840 in the autumn, AfricanQueens re-focused on the AfricaTwin as a conversion base. Two tank halves at the front with a total volume of 30 litres plus 20 litres in the rear, shift the center of gravity downwards for a better, lower and more centralised weight distribution. Suspension travel of 320 mm measured at the rear wheel combined with 78 hp round off the technical profile of this sports device. The seat position is significantly improved by the AQ seat, thus facilitating easy rider-weight shifting and fatigue-free long distance riding in open terrain.
2005 - AfricanQueens products are now available directly through an importer in Italy.
2006 - Distributors in the Netherlands and Poland join.
2008 - Moving to the newly established Motorradzentrum in Pfaffenhofen/Ilm. African Queens becomes an official Honda and Gaerne partner and is expanding its product range to include other motorcycle brands and especially BMW Enduros.
2007 - The first BMW HP2 conversion is presented. The first Rally GAS GAS will be presented by AQ’s Dutch importer.
2011 - Return to Geisenhausen, Holledaustrasse 10.
2014 - The AQ XRV890 Legend is introduced and receives its first laurels, winning the ‚Over 450 ccm‘ class at the Transanatolia Rally.
2015 - Honda listens to the fans' long-standing plea for a true successor and presents the new CRF1000L AfricaTwin. AQ goes to work immediately...
2016 - AQ unveils the brand-new CRF1000R rally bike conversion.
AQ Team
"The motor,
that drives AfricanQueens,
is a team full of passion
for rally-racing and
adventure motorcycle travel."
Since the founding of the company by Stephan Jaspers, the driving force and the heart of AfricanQueens have always been people with great passion for rally and enduro sport as well as for motorcycle adventure travels. From this passion, and their own experiences during races and on journeys, fresh ideas for new products and designs are born. AQ headquarters in Geisenhausen / Bavaria is the place where these inspirations are developed into technical prototypes and finally finished products. Custom-built solutions and limited series are often made directly by the in-house workshop, while for higher numbered serial production a network of medium-sized companies and manufacturers, built up over many years in the region and neighboring European countries, can be synergetically and efficiently employed.
Personal customer contact and feedback are as important as a good product. That is why AfricanQueens offers you the possibility to visit our shop in Geisenhausen or to contact our team for individual advice:
Stephan Jaspers (management, resale, design)
Tugay Yürekli (workshop, technology, development)
The Press
"The 'Legend' offers motorcycling in it's purest form, without computerized aids like traction control or semi-active suspensions", enthuses Dirk Thelen. The final verdict after his test ride he'll later on summarize in one word: »impressive!«.
MotorradABENTEUER 4/2015
AfricanQueens came to celebrate a huge success at this years Transanatolia Rally, which took place late August in Turkey. Pilot Franchesco Cantanese won 1. place of the "Over 450ccm" category.
MotorradABENTEUER 6/2015
Over 100 press publications including comparison tests, riding reports, rally and sports coverage,
travel stories, product recommodations and more, listed in our
About AQ