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You forgot to mention that there is no comfortable lounging for your passenger.

Very true, but this type of riding is not really suitable for taking passengers anyway.

I was hoping my partner might manage to ride on his own: he might even be able to find a matching pair of wheels amongst one of the six variants of the Africa Twin.

The front wheel on one of these is always larger than the rear wheel, unless you are speaking of me getting 2 matching bikes.

I was planning to travel mid-weight: carrying only me, myself, and I.