As others have said elsewhere it feels like a handful if you're moving up from a CB500, feels underpowered if you're coming down from an R1250GSA. It's expensive to crash, so fit good crash protection like Outback Mototech bars & bash plate, radiator protectors, barkbusters, stubby brake lever & headlight shields. It'll save money in the long term.
Good point about the power/weight set-up. That's exactly the sort of reason I'd get a bike like that and the sort of riding I would do with it. Not a fan of DCT on adventure bikes - NC750X or Gold Wing yes. Black/grey/red is nice.
Honda haven't just recently created their Africa Twin, it's been around for a long time. The recent version tries to catch up in terms of spec with rival adventure bikes as frankly the spec of the old AT was just a little bit dated. The 2020 version finally has cruise control and a TFT. Who would have thought it, Honda? My preference is for lighter still such as KTM 790R. You seem to be riding a 2019 model????
Yamaha XT500 and Honda Africa Twin are the reason why ''Adventure'' motorbike class even exists today - Yes, you read that right, the reason why BMW R GSA, KTM Super Adventure, Triumph Tiger and so on and so forth, even exist in the first place, are Yamaha and Honda - and it all started back in 1979-1982 with XT500 and Africa Twin dishing out then unseen performances in Paris-Dakar race. Ever since then, people have been buying these bikes like hotcakes and using them to do round-the-world trips and extreme expeditions... With that, every single other manufacturer started copying Yamaha and Honda... Fast forward to today, 2024, where nowadays, you have dozens of different adventure bikes to choose from but Hondas and Yamahas models still being the most reliable, most capable and overall best performing in the class of adventure bikes. When you're doing very long, long distance, all terrain, all weather, varying climate trips, whether it's just a long ''point A to point B'' trip or a whole 3 month to 2 year long around-the-world trip, what you want from your bike is, in order: 1. Reliability, 2. The ability to fix everything on the bike, everywhere, anytime, all by yourself, 3. Adaptability aka. All Terrain, All Weather performance, 4. Comfort. EVERYTHING ELSE IS IRRELEVANT AND SUBJECTIVE! And for these 4 things, Honda and Yamaha are still to this day #1... From 1979 to present day! Especially Africa Twin, Tenere 700 and Transalp. These 3 bikes are the benchmark of adventure bikes! Close second place, after these three are the Kawasaki's indestructible KLR650 and Suzuki's V-Strom bikes!
Off road, or dirt roads do you mean? That terrain isn't what I would call off road by a large margin. Most of the ADV bikes have ride modes that turn down power response, add more traction control to reduce wheel spin and alter brake response. That helps reduce uncontrolled slides and front wheel wash out, but even as a veteran dirt bike rider in OZ I wouldn't take my Tiger 800Xcx out on a dirt ride. Dirt roads yes it eats them up. I have ridden all over our continent with load on the back. Single track with rocky hills, tight twisty handle bar width tracks, deep sand, would be suicide for a novice. Get a 250 cc dirt bike and practice on that until you can ride it flat out, then maybe tackle dirt roads with your adv bike. Small steps or broken legs?
If you put the bike in off road mode it cuts the power to a more managble 75hp. You can also set one of the user modes to really dial in the power you need for offroad.
This is the sort of bike that you use, when you need to cross 1000kms before muddy terrains. And frankly, like 80% of the time those bikes are doing road.
The previous gen was the most unreliable piece of shit I ever had. Rusting frame welding, fuelpump and injector issues not even a month after purchase(2019 jul), and wasn't sorted out till date, had a service for it back in october under warranty, I've been waiting for another service since december. If it is anything like the 2019model, I'de say stay the hell away from it!
You must've been unlucky lol. Friend of mine has got 45k km's in the saddle and I have 20k in the saddle on my Africa Twin. We both have yet to experience any issues. Honda's reliability is top notch! There's even a guy in Germany with 500k km's on his 2016 model
@@nikos-giorgos Maybe your first language is not English. But I am English. And to me what he says is crystal clear - 51s in - '...this is quite LITHE, it's quite nimble. Some people will pronounce it 'lee-th' and some people 'lie-to' as he does. But it's definitely 'lithe', which doesn't mean light. And for the record, I agree with you that 240kg is not light; although still far lighter than the 1200-1300 ADV bikes.
@@RichDunn You misunderstood my comment, probably your first language isn't English. I wrote that "I've heard it again, you're probably right", meaning you were correct, he says "lithe". But this bike is not lithe either, as I wrote in my comment... 240 can't be light nor lithe .
As others have said elsewhere it feels like a handful if you're moving up from a CB500, feels underpowered if you're coming down from an R1250GSA. It's expensive to crash, so fit good crash protection like Outback Mototech bars & bash plate, radiator protectors, barkbusters, stubby brake lever & headlight shields. It'll save money in the long term.
Good point about the power/weight set-up. That's exactly the sort of reason I'd get a bike like that and the sort of riding I would do with it. Not a fan of DCT on adventure bikes - NC750X or Gold Wing yes. Black/grey/red is nice.
🤣 🤣.. Thanx for one of best and shortest reviews.. Loved it.. Cheers mate
Honda haven't just recently created their Africa Twin, it's been around for a long time. The recent version tries to catch up in terms of spec with rival adventure bikes as frankly the spec of the old AT was just a little bit dated. The 2020 version finally has cruise control and a TFT. Who would have thought it, Honda? My preference is for lighter still such as KTM 790R. You seem to be riding a 2019 model????
Yamaha XT500 and Honda Africa Twin are the reason why ''Adventure'' motorbike class even exists today - Yes, you read that right, the reason why BMW R GSA, KTM Super Adventure, Triumph Tiger and so on and so forth, even exist in the first place, are Yamaha and Honda - and it all started back in 1979-1982 with XT500 and Africa Twin dishing out then unseen performances in Paris-Dakar race. Ever since then, people have been buying these bikes like hotcakes and using them to do round-the-world trips and extreme expeditions... With that, every single other manufacturer started copying Yamaha and Honda... Fast forward to today, 2024, where nowadays, you have dozens of different adventure bikes to choose from but Hondas and Yamahas models still being the most reliable, most capable and overall best performing in the class of adventure bikes.
When you're doing very long, long distance, all terrain, all weather, varying climate trips, whether it's just a long ''point A to point B'' trip or a whole 3 month to 2 year long around-the-world trip, what you want from your bike is, in order:
1. Reliability,
2. The ability to fix everything on the bike, everywhere, anytime, all by yourself,
3. Adaptability aka. All Terrain, All Weather performance,
4. Comfort.
EVERYTHING ELSE IS IRRELEVANT AND SUBJECTIVE!
And for these 4 things, Honda and Yamaha are still to this day #1... From 1979 to present day!
Especially Africa Twin, Tenere 700 and Transalp. These 3 bikes are the benchmark of adventure bikes!
Close second place, after these three are the Kawasaki's indestructible KLR650 and Suzuki's V-Strom bikes!
very informative review 👌 keep reviewing bro 🤗
Off road, or dirt roads do you mean? That terrain isn't what I would call off road by a large margin. Most of the ADV bikes have ride modes that turn down power response, add more traction control to reduce wheel spin and alter brake response. That helps reduce uncontrolled slides and front wheel wash out, but even as a veteran dirt bike rider in OZ I wouldn't take my Tiger 800Xcx out on a dirt ride. Dirt roads yes it eats them up. I have ridden all over our continent with load on the back. Single track with rocky hills, tight twisty handle bar width tracks, deep sand, would be suicide for a novice. Get a 250 cc dirt bike and practice on that until you can ride it flat out, then maybe tackle dirt roads with your adv bike. Small steps or broken legs?
Do you think the seat height is a bit high?
I'm at 6 foot 2 inches and even I think so!
Had a go on a Africa Twin but it was to high of the ground for me.
The 2020 (1100) is lower than the 1000, if that's what you sat on?
@@RichDunn Yes I was on 1000 Adventure Sports DCT-----didnt help it was a very windy day lol .
The new one has an adjustable seat that can lower the ride height
Does the DCT version only comes in Black Colour??
J J nope, you can have any gearbox in any colour
Hondas attempt?
Agree
I think 100hp is still too much. You still cant use all of that. A lighter bike with half the hp could still conquer muddy terrains
Off-road I agree, but I guess the Honda needs to be a good road bike too
If you put the bike in off road mode it cuts the power to a more managble 75hp. You can also set one of the user modes to really dial in the power you need for offroad.
This is the sort of bike that you use, when you need to cross 1000kms before muddy terrains. And frankly, like 80% of the time those bikes are doing road.
No. No, it’s not. It’s deceptively powerful(3.3 seconds to 100kph), undeceptively heavy and expensive to crash.
so 3.3 seconds to 100kph is not fast / powerful enough for your riding style?
@@SW8-n1h what he's saying is, it'll be too much as a first bike.
B. Ing. White you misunderstood him, try again
doppelkupplungsgetriebe
The previous gen was the most unreliable piece of shit I ever had. Rusting frame welding, fuelpump and injector issues not even a month after purchase(2019 jul), and wasn't sorted out till date, had a service for it back in october under warranty, I've been waiting for another service since december. If it is anything like the 2019model, I'de say stay the hell away from it!
You must've been unlucky lol. Friend of mine has got 45k km's in the saddle and I have 20k in the saddle on my Africa Twin. We both have yet to experience any issues. Honda's reliability is top notch! There's even a guy in Germany with 500k km's on his 2016 model
It's quite light, yeah right, it's 240kgs.
Nothing remotely light about that...
i have a honda hornet 600cc and it's 210kgs...so for 1100cc big adv bike the 240kgs i believe is light enough...
He didn't say light, he said lithe, meaning: thin, supple, graceful.
@@RichDunn
Heard it again, you're probably right, but it's not lithe either...
@@nikos-giorgos Maybe your first language is not English. But I am English. And to me what he says is crystal clear - 51s in - '...this is quite LITHE, it's quite nimble. Some people will pronounce it 'lee-th' and some people 'lie-to' as he does. But it's definitely 'lithe', which doesn't mean light. And for the record, I agree with you that 240kg is not light; although still far lighter than the 1200-1300 ADV bikes.
@@RichDunn
You misunderstood my comment, probably your first language isn't English.
I wrote that "I've heard it again, you're probably right", meaning you were correct, he says "lithe".
But this bike is not lithe either, as I wrote in my comment...
240 can't be light nor lithe .
''honda's attemt''
lol 😂 😂