I took my Africa Twin to the Honda Adventure Centre but I rode one of theirs instead

One of the great things about off-road schools – besides allowing you to learn new skills and grow your confidence on challenging terrain – is that if you crash, it’s on someone else’s bike! This is a big deal when you want to find out how your brand new, £16k+ pride and joy works in the dirt. But the Honda Adventure Centre’s two-day course gave me another opportunity, too. 

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• Update one: A camping trip on the ATAS
• Update two: Aftermarket luggage for the ATAS

For as long as I’ve had my licence I’ve had a preference for big adventure bikes. Usually with a 21in front wheel and blocky tyres. After 2000 miles on the 2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports, its road-focused nature (19in front, Bridgestone A41s, clever electronic suspension) is mightily impressive. But what do you lose by ‘downgrading’ to the more off-road oriented base version. And are there any gains to be had?

The Honda Adventure Centre is nestled on the east side of the beautiful Exmoor National Park, 220 miles from my Peterborough home. A four-hour ride offers ample opportunity to measure the ATAS’ touring cred.

Averaging around 52mpg, the distance is well-within the 280-mile range of the bigger 24.8l tank. The seat, however, isn’t. It’s a bit flat, square and hard – so after a couple of hours, while the bike could easily keep going my backside can’t.

Aside from that it’s an easy journey, with the Honda’s massive frontal area and adjustable screen providing great protection from fatigue-inducing winds, and its superb engine happily burbling along, easily punching out the occasional overtake. The suspension is a bit bouncy since I loaded it up with gubbins, but five button presses is all it takes to electronically adjust it.

Pulling up alongside the standard CRF, they look more different than I expected. The bright red base bike certainly looks smaller, even with engine bars fitted (my bike’s massive SHAD panniers add to the effect).

The stubby screen, skinnier tank and taller, thinner front wheel give it a very different appearance – especially shod with 50/50 on/off-road Dunlop TrailMax Raid tyres. The Adventure Sports looks far flashier in its HRC colours. But there’s a wellies-on, sleeves-up, toughness to the standard Twin that I find very appealing. 

This morning on these damp and drizzly North Devon roads, there are some immediate observations; the basic suspension is really nicely set up for a solo rider, and plenty composed and plush. The short screen makes it noisier. There’s no vagueness from the Honda’s big front wheel but there is a slight tendency to wander if you’re cornering quickly. Nothing alarming, and it’s to be expected. 

Weirdly, even with these bikes set to the lower-powered off-road mode, the throttle response is crisper and the Twin feels punchier.

Off-road, the CRF is a revelation, climbing and descending tricky rock and rut-strewn hills with relative ease. I struggle with the weight and size of it in low speed turns but dropping the seat to the low position helps me feel more confident. Having proper instruction from Honda’s expert adventure riding coaches helps, but it’s amazing how capable the bike is when you let it find its way.

The Adventure Sports is an incredibly competent road bike, but over three grand more than the arguably more useful standard CRF. Time to stick some knobblies on and take to the trail to see how it copes…

Boss level unlocked

In isolation, my Africa Twin felt punchy enough but the school bikes had a whole new level of responsiveness from the throttle. Honda Technical suggested my bike may need an ECM reset as the electronics can adjust their parameters over time, effectively changing how the bike behaves. It’s an easy dealer job so I put my ATAS in for the reset and I’ve never experienced such a performance increase from a single mod – it feels like switching to race mode after languishing in rain mode.