Although weight is down this year, with the 6.5 gallon fuel tank topped off, the bike can feel top heavy when maneuvering at low speeds and off-road. This sensation disappears completely once you are traveling more than 10 mph on the road.
Off-road, that top heavy feeling, together with the compliant suspension can limit riders to fire roads and less demanding trails. Honda says they focused the standard Africa Twin model more towards the dirt, while the ES is primarily focused on street riding.
We did like the Gravel setting off-road, which allowed the big bike to absorb bumps and dips while remaining under control at a reasonable pace. Again, the basic spring rates on the ES are too light for more aggressive dirt adventures, and the A41 tires are largely biased towards street use and offer decent traction for light dirt riding only.
Navigating the myriad of settings adjustable by the rider can be a bit confusing at first, and there is definitely a learning curve. If we owned an ES, we would probably leave it in Tour mode by default, and set up the two user modes for different purposes, such as sportier riding on the road and off-road.
The braking system includes twin 310mm discs in front squeezed by four-piston radial-mount calipers and ABS, with a single disc in the back. Braking was strong and predictable, and Honda has worked out a good compromise between the power and bite needed on the road, and the more subtle feel needed in the dirt.
Our bike also came with optional, hard saddlebags. The bags are aluminum and add 35 pounds to the bike with their mounts. They are reasonably large (37 and 33 liters), and look well integrated on the bike.
The new Honda Africa Twin CRF 1100L Adventure Sports ES is a sophisticated, refined adventure bike with a much needed increase in horsepower and torque over the prior model. If you are looking for an adventure-styled motorcycle (including the upright comfort that comes with it) coupled with Honda reliability that is primarily focused on road use, you should take a close look at this motorcycle.
There is a lot of competition in the Adventure bike category these days, but Honda tries to differentiate the Africa Twin, in part, by maintaining a degree of genuine off-road capability. We suspect the other Africa Twin model with tube tires and lighter weight might be the better companion for the more dirt-focused rider.
The Adventure Sports ES model we tested is priced at $17,199, while the base Africa Twin model begins at $14,399. Take a look at Honda’s web site for additional details, specifications and available accessories.
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The dyno chart on one of these looks pretty good. Nice and smooth through the HP and torque line, a nice build up in power with no jerkiness. Typical Honda stuff. Should be fun to ride, but waaay too tall for a munchkin like me.
I have a 2019 1250 GSA and a good friend upgraded his 2016 AT DCT to a 2020 Adventure Sports DCT. He thinks my GSA feels like a sport bike and I feel like his feels much more like a mature enlarged dirt bike. After being at the 2018 Wing intro and riding a DCT equipped Tour model and riding his AT’s and prior VFR1200 with DCT transmissions, I would never get a large bike with a manual transmission that offered a DCT version. Honda has continually made improvements with their DCT transmission and it is a winner. If their Adventure Sport had tubeless tires and cruise control in 2019, I would have seriously considered the Honda instead of the GSA. They didn’t, bought the 1250 and absolutely love it.
Looks like a great ride that would satisfy all but the most OCD/anal retentive. By that I mean the “ifonly” and “more power/less weight” crowd. Mick’s comments on bikes such as this becoming the choice for touring riders is likely correct-o-mundo, especially if you tour solo. Good insight Mick, thanks! I think there used to be a product called the “bar-snake” that would help deaden handlebar vibration.
I would likely take the DCT version of this one just because it makes sense for some one such as I.
Thanks for the review, Dirck!
Merry Christmas, everyone! While I have no interest in the Africa Twin, I met a guy at the last Yamaha demo ride who had two of them. He’d put a lot of miles on the first, so bought a second this year, and put about 30k miles on it. I forget his exact wording, but he indicated that it was his favorite bike. If the people who own them ride them and love them, it sounds like a pretty good endorsement in my book.
I have the base 1100 manual, I’ve ridden dirt roads a few times and gravel but that’s all I dare, I have better bikes for that. Great all-rounder, the motor is an absolute jewel and feels way faster than my 17 DCT, as it should I guess. Sort of wish it had a 19″/17″ front/rear wheels but not a deal breaker.
Reliability aside, hard to justify buying this bike over the many KTM offerings out there..
Honestly, the Honda does things in its own way. It’s not trying to be a KTM and appeals to a certain kind of rider. The KTM would probably be the better bike for me personally, but I know a lot of guys that for whom the Africa Twin is the perfect bike.
Besides the fact that Honda makes great rider oriented bikes, they also get you where you’re going, and then get you back. Some people like this.
Adventure bikes are all too tall for me. They look cool though.
Would have made a lot more sense to give the ES a 19/17 wheelset.
I predict that if/when they do, reviews will say how much better it is on pavement, and not really that penalized for the kind of off-pavement riding that the bike is designed for.
But I guess the curbside cred of 21/18 trumps function.
I agree that this bike would benefit from the smaller diameter wheels for on road touring use. Both BMW and KTM, who know a thing or two about off road vs touring machines use a 19/17 combo on their road focused ADV bikes. Truthfully, if Honda had done that with the ES, I very well might have bought one this year.
Honda used to think a 23” front wheel was ideal. Give them some time.
I suppose more attention will be given this engine since it will be used across several platforms.
These ADV bikes are rapidly becoming touring bikes for people who think touring bikes are a bit over the top. As such one would think that Honda would have addressed the handlebar vibration on the highway. I wonder if the had guard end mounts are aluminum or steel. Heavier ones would help on the vibration front.
Two things in the review remind me that I still don’t live in the future.
First is the overly soft spring rates. Really? Reviewers have been pointing this out for decades and they still do today, and probably will ten years from now. I don’t recall ever reading a review where the guy thought that the spring rates were too high. You can almost guarantee that you will need to swap in new springs on a new bike from a number of manufacturers.
Second is the comment on the luggage. 35 pounds empty? And get a load of how awful the mounts look without the bags. At 35 pounds the system should be a whole lot more seamless than that. Or should I say a lot less of an afterthought.
It is funny how people think that a stiff suspension is supposed to handle better. I understand that Ducati actually delivers their bikes with the suspension set up firm even though it increases lap times because their customers want firm suspension “for better handling”. I would think that Honda put this bike through all sorts of on and off road tests (and simulations) and adjusted spring and shock rates to give the greatest amount of traction in all circumstances.
I didn’t say stiff suspension. I complained of overly soft spring rates. For every bike there is a static sag and a laden sag. The springs should have only enough preload to produce the required static sag, just the weight of the bike on its suspension. The bike should then have the proper amount of laden sag when loaded with the rider kitted out for a normal ride.
You’ll find that way too many bikes are sprung for a 140 pound guy who rides naked. Honda probably added weight to this bike and left the spring rate where they were on the base model. Bad form Honda.
The reviewer set the suspension for rider with luggage didn’t he? Where did they add the most weight to the bike? The rear. Guess what…
Way too many riders equate wallowing suspension with plush suspension. So The OEMs cater to them. In truth, you could take a bike as delivered and do nothing more than put the correct springs in it and improve the bike’s ride, and handling, a great deal. The fans of wallowing could simply back off the preload until the springs rattle and go back a notch or two and everyone would be happy. I don’t get it. Why make experienced rider buy springs? You don’t gain a ton of experience by not being a long term customer.
Great comments on spring rates. I’m a 220+ pounder, and I really dislike having to buy fork springs and especially shock springs to get the right sag. Maybe the old air assist forks and shocks weren’t all bad.
And there you have it, the Grand Unified Theory of Motorcycle Suspension.
You know. If you look at the first photo at the top of the article. You can see that even without the bags and not a terribly heavy rider, the rear of the bike is swatting a bit. Even though he is obviously not accelerating hard. For that rider, the thing needs a shock spring at the very least.
From both that photo and the comments made by the reviewer. It looks and sounds to me that the spring rates aren’t even balanced front to rear. Unfortunately, this sort of thing is not an uncommon problem on off the rack motorcycles.
I’m a 200 pound rider. So I expect to have to buy springs. But more often than not I end up doing something like going one step in front and two in the rear to balance the suspension.
One would think that the OEMs would at least balance the things. What’s the deal? Industry wide push to hire tail dragging test riders?
Well, they have to pick spring rates for some weight and skill set. The vast majority of riders are inexperienced. By that, I don’t mean they haven’t been riding a long time. Most riders get as good as they are ever going to get after the first year or two of riding and never really improve beyond that. Their Spidey senses might improve, but their skills flatline.
As such, it probably makes more sense for manufacturers to proceed as normal. Better to let the very small percentage of riders who know what we want out of the bike to pay for the changes rather than the masses who would otherwise complain about the “harsh” suspension stock bikes would have to come with to please someone like me.
You really ought to allow that mature riders come in different sizes and weights which are quite unrelated to their skill-set. I’d hazard a guess that the average US rider is heavier than many other nationalities, and it begs the question as to whether US-made bikes better-suit their potential owners than do European or Japanese bikes.
The weight issue is legit. If I had to guess, most manufacturers spring for a 165 lb average skilled rider. But again, if 95% of your buyers are fine with that and the cushy feel it provides, there just isn’t any incentive to change.
See, it’s good you didn’t buy the first one because this one is better. Come to think of it, you should probably hold off getting this one because they’re going to improve it some more soon…
It’s refreshing to see that Honda did not feel the need to inject massive amounts of horsepower into a bike that would never be able to effectively use even 80% of it. I’ve always been far more impressed by a nice torque curve, which this bike appears to have. Besides, what good is power if its not useable.