Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports (2024) - Review

Technical Review: Ben Purvis
Riding Review: Simon Hargreaves

Price: from £16,299 | Power: 100.5bhp | Weight: 243kg | Overall BikeSocial Rating: 4/5

Honda’s modern Africa Twin is so familiar it feels as if it’s been around forever – but it was only reinvented back in 2016, with the Adventure Sports version not appearing until 2018. The original XRV Africa Twin, built for 13 years between 1988 and 2000, sold some 73,000 units across Europe. The current model has been around for nine years and has sold over 100,000 units. It’s so successful, it’s Honda’s third-best selling big bike since 2000.

The 2018 Adventure Sports Africa Twin was the big daddy compared to the smaller, lighter, more agile standard Africa Twin. It had a 24.8 litre tank and tall, touring screen, riding on jacked-up suspension with more ground clearance and a 900-920mm seat height. But it was also a bit confusing – the large tank and greater fuel range suggested on-road touring bias, but the greater off-road ground clearance and seat height made it a tip-toes handful and condemned most riders under 5ft 10in to an Africa Twin Adventure Sports-free life. That’s quite a number of potentially alienated customers.

In 2020 the Adventure Sports was revamped with a larger, torquier and more powerful motor, a host of electronics, semi-active suspension offered as an option alongside a DCT version – and, importantly, its seat height was lowered to a more manageable 850-870mm, making it more widely accessible.

And now, in 2024, the Adventure Sports completes its transformation into pretty much a pure road bike by swapping its 21in front wheel and skinny 90/90 tyre for a 19in and wider 110/80 rubber, lowering the now semi-active-only suspension still further, changing the balance of the bike and dropping seat height to 835-855mm – with a low seat option taking it below the magic 800mm level. Also for 2024, the engine has added a bulge of midrange power and torque, with a wider fairing and screen. Honda UK had previously announced they were only importing the DCT version of the Adventure Sports – but DCT sales account for around 55% of sales v manual transmission, so it seemed a bit premature to pull the plug on just under half the sales of your model. Accordingly, Honda UK have reversed the decision, and a manual Adventure Sports will also be imported in 2024.

2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Review

Despite the ‘Adventure’ name and tough, Dakar-inspired looks, Honda sees the Africa Twin Adventure Sports model as a more road-oriented tourer than the standard Africa Twin and for the 2024 model year it’s taken a big step in that direction with an array of updates aimed at boosting the bike’s continent-crossing ability. BikeSocial's Simon Hargreaves heads to Portugal for the press launch.

Above: Africa Twins from 1988, 1993, and 2016

Review – In Detail

Price & PCP
For and against
Engine & Performance
Handling & Suspension (inc. weight & brakes)
Comfort & Economy
Equipment
Rivals
Verdict
Specification

2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Price

No getting away from it: the absence of a non-semi-active version means the perception of the Adventure Sports’ starting price has gone up substantially. The base model is now £16,299 and the DCT bike starts at £17,599. Last year’s non-semi-active manual ATAS was £14,749 (some are still available) – which explains the perceived sudden leap in price.

Yet last year’s DCT semi-active bike was £17,449 – so it’s only gone up by £150 for a fitter engine, better roadholding and tarmac behaviour and a better fairing – which is actually good value in relative terms. So it’s only when comparing to other bikes in the class on performance and spec levels that the Africa Twin Adventure Sports starts to struggle. There are bikes with more spec that cost less.

But nonetheless the Adventure Sports is well-equipped and comes with heated grips, a 6.5in TFT dash with Carplay/Android Auto, cruise control, a wealth of rider modes and traction control, cornering ABS, semi-active Showa suspension, new selectable electronic preload adjustment, adjustable screen and USB and 12v sockets. But there’s no centre stand (£215) or quickshifter (£297, highly recommended), and a full set of aluminium panniers and topbox will set you back £672 (topbox and plate) plus £1295 (panniers and rails) – £1967. Plastic luggage boxes are £486 (topbox) and £870 for panniers – £1356.

Various packs are available:

• Adventure Pack costs £895 and includes decals, tank bag, engine bars and fog lights;

• Rally Pack costs £750 and includes wheel stripes, rad grill, engine bars, rally pegs and quickshifter;

• Travel Pack (plastic) costs £1020 and includes plastic panniers, inner bags and comfort pillion pegs;

• Travel Pack (aluminium) costs £1375 and includes aluminium panniers and comfort pillion pegs;

• Urban Pack (plastic) costs £785 and includes plastic topbox, back rest, inner bag and centrestand;

• Urban Pack (aluminium) costs £800 and includes aluminium topbox and centre stand.

The low seat option, taking the Adventure Sports down to 795mm, costs £155.

There are two colours on offer – Matt Ballistic Black Metallic or Pearl Glare White Tricolour.

2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Engine & Performance

The 1084cc parallel twin engine, with its SOHC ‘UniCam’ cylinder head inspired by the CRF450R motocrosser and a 270-degree crankshaft to mimic the firing pattern of a 90-degree V-twin, is largely familiar but contains internal updates that promise a useful extra punch at low and mid-range speeds.

The engine changes are shared with the standard 2024 Africa Twin, which will also remain available with the manual transmission and non-electronic suspension as well as DCT and semi-active options, and while getting its own range of styling and technical updates.

Peak power is unaltered at 100.5bhp at 7500rpm and peak torque rises from 77 lb.ft at 6250rpm to 82.6 lb.ft at a lower 5500rpm – a 7% rise according to Honda – with more power and torque available throughout the bottom end and midrange.

The improved performance comes from a host of top end tweaks. Intake duct diameters are larger, and ducts are longer to flow more air faster. Higher compression ratio (up from 10.1:1 to 10.5:1) with a new-shaped piston crown gets more energy from each combustion stroke – the new piston is 0.4mm longer, requiring reshaped rods and crank to balance the new piston weight and forces. Cam timing is advanced by rotating the cam sprocket 2.5°, so valves open 5° of crank angle earlier than previously, but lift, duration and overlap remain the same – combined with adapted ignition and fuelling strategy, it gets air and fuel into the engine and burned earlier, boosting midrange. And at the other end, the exhaust is modded with removal of the butterfly valve and re-designing the end can’s internal piping to match the new power characteristics. As a result, the exhaust is free-er flowing, has more bass and is fractionally louder.

There are six rider modes – Tour, Urban, Gravel, Off-Road and two User-defined settings – each with customisable throttle response, power curves, ABS settings, traction control, engine braking and wheelie control levels. The traction control itself has seven settings, all assisted by the bike’s IMU that measures acceleration and lean angle to control the level of intervention. Wheelie control is also standard, also tied to the IMU and with three settings to alter how high the front wheel can be lifted.

Available with either standard manual or DCT, the DCT mechanism has been improved by – counterintuitively – switching from a sensor that measures hydraulic pressure to one that measures flow rate, which gives a smoother transition from standstill and at low speeds – and, according to Honda, gives, “...a more natural feeling when pulling away and at low speed”. More natural compared to what? A well-operated manual transmission?

As before, DCT – Dual Clutch Transmission – uses, as the name implies – two clutch baskets to alternate gearchanges hydraulically either in full auto mode or by using up and down finger levers on the left bar cluster (because there aren’t enough buttons on it already). In auto mode the changes are controlled by one of four selectable levels of performance following ECU-based algorithms (these switches are on the right bar cluster, possibly because they ran out of room on the left – Drive, then Sport 1, 2 or 3). There’s also a G-mode for gravel roads, which reduces clutch slip between shifts for more feel.

DCT removes the gear lever (it can be retro-fitted for £379, although you just paid £1300 to have it removed so not sure why you’d do that) and the clutch lever, and replaces them with a handbrake because it’s no longer possible to park the bike in gear to avoid it rolling off the side stand.

To be fair if I must, the Africa Twin has been the best application of DCT thus far because it’s the only Honda that uses dynamic real-time information from a 6-axis IMU to assist DCT in deciding when its inappropriate to change gear – say, mid-corner. It’s an extra level of fairly important refinement missing from bikes like the current NT1100 – although it’ll surely not be long before the new ATAS engine improvements, as well as a 6-axis IMU and semi-active suspension – find their way onto the sports tourer.

On the road

Unusually, Honda have supplied a previous-generation Africa Twin Adventure Sports on the launch in Portugal for a quick back-to-back comparison – and it provides a fascinating comparison between the two, revealing much more than just the expected differences in engine performance and chassis dynamic but also a few nuances that might otherwise have been overlooked.

In terms of the motor, the new bike is clearly fitter in the midrange, delivering more acceleration earlier in the power curve – so that when you open the throttle low in the revs and let the motor pull, you get into the good stuff sooner. It’s quicker to pick up speed.

The power delivery feels smoother and richer too, as if Honda have somehow increased the quality of the engine’s combustion as well as its quantity. The 1084cc parallel twin has never been lacking in responsiveness – to me it’s always felt a more lively and potent engine than its reputation suggests. After all, it’s an 1100cc twin – it’s 10cc larger than a GSX-R1100’s displacement, and only 2 lb.ft down on peak torque... and no-one ever accused a GSX-R11 of being a bit lacking in the midrange heft department.

But the alterations Honda have made to the engine don’t just add more performance – they change the way that performance feels; if anything, they tame it a little from the happy-go-lucky liveliness of an off-road bike to the slower, more considered response of a road bike.

Maybe it’s the heavier crank or valve timing changes, but the whip-crack of the old bike’s motor has been replaced with a more measured, calmer sensation when you blip the throttle. There’s a sonic difference too – the old bike barks with a mid-frequency yap when you pump the gas; the new bike thrums with a bassier, more mellow tone – the result of refining the pipework lengths and removing the butterfly valve in the end can, and perhaps increasing induction roar from longer intake trumpets.

The old bike’s dramatic lurching as weight transfers between quickshifter changes is also gone, replaced by a more seamless flow of power – no more swaying about as you swap gears on the manual bike. Honda say they’ve evolved the quickshifter strategy – I checked the settings were the same on both old and new bikes (the character of the engine cut can be altered in the bike’s settings); the new bike has a softer ignition cut that causes less weight transfer and front-to-rear pitching (although this may also be a result of modified suspension performance).

Even the new bike’s throttle action is slightly heavier than the quick-action flickability of the old Adventure Sports – the spring is slightly stiffer.

All these changes sound every small – but they all contribute to a substantial shift in feel between the two bikes – the pervious Africa Twin has one wheel very much still off-road in everything from its throttle response to exhaust note to its gearshift behaviour to its throttle feel. The 2024 Adventure Sports subtly alters all these to move both its wheels pretty firmly on tarmac. 

For DCT fans, the evolution in shift character of the new bike is also an improvement. It still takes some acclimatisation from a manual box and it’s still not immediately clear to me that the benefit of not having to use a clutch or foot lever and having an engine that won’t stall outweighs the disadvantages of less engine braking control (a significant part of my riding style), worse low speed control – and not to mention costing £1300 more and adding 10kg. But there’s no doubt the new system makes pulling away from standstill and operation at small throttle openings less clumsy – and, most importantly, Honda UK are still offering both variants to their customers.

2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Handling & Suspension (inc. Weight & Brakes)

The 2024 Africa Twin Adventure Sports’ chassis is shared with both the standard Africa Twin and the previous model but for the new model year there are a couple of key changes to alter the Adventure Sports’ position in the market.

Firstly, there’s no longer the option of a basic version without Showa EERA electronic suspension, and secondly the 2024 bike gets a 19-inch front wheel instead of the 21-incher of the old model and the standard Africa Twin.

The EERA suspension offers four settings – soft, mid, hard and off-road – all pretty self-explanatory, plus a ‘user’ mode that allows you to make more changes while on the move. The rear preload is also adjustable while moving.

The switch to a 19-inch front wheel, wearing a wider 110/80-19 tyre, instead of the old 21-inch rim is part of a clear shift towards an on-road focus. It might blunt the bike’s off-road ability slightly, but for the majority of the time it promises better grip and stability. Honda has also reduced the suspension travel for the Adventure Sports from 230mm front, 220mm rear to 210mm from and 200mm rear, dropping the centre of gravity and the seat height in the process to make the bike more manageable. Welcome, given the Adventure Sports’ hefty 243kg weight (253kg with DCT).

The combination of shorter suspension and a smaller front wheel means there’s 30mm less ground clearance than the standard Africa Twin, the trail is reduced from 113mm to 106mm, and the wheelbase is cut from 1574mm to 1550mm.

Like the base 2024 Africa Twin, the latest Adventure Sports swaps from tubed tyres to tubeless ones, in this instance Bridgestone Battlax Adventure A41s are standard, with more off-road oriented Michelin Anakee Wild rubber as an option.

The radial-mount, four-pot brakes and 310mm discs are the same as the standard Africa Twin, coupled to cornering ABS controlled by a Bosch MM7.10 IMU that oversees the antilock, traction control, wheelie control and rear-wheel-lift control systems.

On the road

The change to a 19in front, lowering the Showa suspension travel by 20mm and altering the damping characteristics has a profound effect on the Adventure Sports’ chassis dynamic and corning feel. The most immediately obvious effects are in vastly improved braking stability, a slower but more connected turn-in, more mid-corner confidence, and dramatically reduced weight transfer under braking and getting on the gas. In short, the Adventure Sports is now a bit less lanky, gangly Africa Twin and a little more solid, steady NT1100. That’s not a criticism but illustrates the change in feel of the bike and the direction the changes have taken it (and it’s worth pointing out effectively the chassis changes perfectly dovetail with the engine changes – it’s a distinct illustration of joined-up engine and chassis development).

The ATAS now steers without the top-heavy toppling sensation of some 21in-front big adventure bikes (looking at you, Triumph) but has a steadier, rolling rate of turn – you really can feel the roll axis of the bike has been lowered. You can also detect the change in weight of the steering, literally, through the bars. The previous model was hardly skittish, but any nerves are banished from the front end – it steers like a road bike, it grips like a road bike.

It's a complete change of riding style. The previous ATAS required a point-and-squirt technique: get braking done upright because you can’t trail brake, let the suspension settle, then turn-in without a huge amount of lean, get on the gas early and drive the bike out on the rear. Cornering revolves around coping with long-travel suspension and a skinny front tyre.

Now the revamped ATAS allows a more classic, sweeping line – you can trail brake deeper into the corner, get more lean angle, and feed the throttle in sooner. It actually takes a while to reconfigure your brain to realise this kind of cornering is possible on an Africa Twin.

Honda say the 19in front reduces spoke flex (because they’re shorter), and the 8.9mm wider rubber puts more meat on the road with a flatter construction and more rigidity (now a true radial). They even say increased internal air volume improves stability and ride comfort.

Suspension changes have also played their part in increasing the new bike’s road bias. Honda didn’t say much beyond the settings are ‘refined’, but damping is presumably adapted for less suspension travel and feels more tightly controlled (‘stiffer’ isn’t the right word). Ride quality feels, if anything, more refined than previously.

As before, the semi-active modes are linked to riding modes – Hard suspension for Tour riding mode, Mid for Urban, Soft for Gravel and Off-Road for, er, Off-Road riding mode – the only way to ‘adjust’ between suspension settings on the road without altering the Rider Mode is to set up two identical User rider modes and have a different suspension setting for each one.

Pre-load is four-way adjustable from the bars, jacking up from Rider (lowest) to Rider, Pillion and luggage (highest). Honda didn’t give the range of adjustment, but I would say it feels somewhere like a range of around 20mm difference in seat height. In User mode, there are up to 24 steps of preload available.

2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Comfort & Economy

That reduced suspension height promises to make the Africa Twin Adventure Sports both more comfortable and more accessible by bringing down the seat height down 15mm to 835mm (adjustable to 855mm), while and optional low seat drops it to under the 800mm mark at 795mm. As well as being lower, the standard seat is 5mm thicker than the previous version, increasing comfort, with 8% more seat area to spread your weight on.

Like the standard Africa Twin, the Adventure Sport’s screen can be adjusted to five positions and sits on a new-look front fairing designed to improve wind protection and aerodynamics.

At 24.8 litres, the Adventure Sports’ fuel tank is 6 litres larger than the base model’s and with claimed economy of 57.6mpg it should be good for a range of over 300 miles.

On the road

The new bike’s lower seat height is obvious and welcome – even at my 6ft, the previous model often required a tentative dab during a tight U-turn; the new model feels much easier and safer to spin round. It’s also comfier – because the pegs and bars are 20mm lower, but the seat is only 15mm lower (because it’s 5mm thicker), it means the seat is actually higher relative to the pegs and bars, which opens up leg angle slightly and means a less compact position and more freedom to move around the bike.

The seat more heavily tapered than previously, making it wider at the back but the same width at the front – so the lower seat height isn’t compromised by more width. It’s still not the comfiest seat in the world – Suzuki’s V-Strom 800 DE currently holds that record – and after a fairly short day in the saddle I was ready for time off. But it’s not uncomfortable by any stretch.

New aerodynamics from a wider fairing and adjustable screen (via a pair of pinch clips) help reduce buffeting to road-bike levels – a huge improvement over the first Africa Twin and better than the previous model. Again, wind and weather protection have improved the road-bias and touring ability of the Adventure Sports.

Fuel consumption on a moderately rapid road ride, mostly on twisty roads, was 40.1mpg, giving a max range of 220 miles, and around 180 before reserve.

2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Equipment

Like the standard Africa Twin, the Adventure Sports features a big, 6.5-inch TFT colour touchscreen display, which can be operated with gloves on, to control its main functions and modes. Bluetooth is standard, as is Apple Carplay and Android Auto, with a USB port to the right of the display to physically connect a phone.

As well as LED headlights and DRLs, the Adventure Sports features three-stage cornering lights that automatically illuminate the inside of turns depending on lean angle, as measured by the IMU, and like previous models there’s a large sump guard despite the focus shifting further towards on-road use.

Options include a variety of packs – Rally Pack, Urban Pack, Adventure Pack and Travel Pack – to add more protection, luggage and equipment. There’s also the low seat option, a variety of side tank pads and an SC-Project slip-on silencer among the optional parts.

Off-road

If the Adventure Sports’ changes for 2024 make it a better on-road machine, it’s no great surprise to discover they have the reverse effect on its off-road ability. The Adventure Sports was always an unwieldy beast off-road; the big tank and tall centre of gravity counted against it – but not as much as simply not wanting to scrape something so pretty by throwing it at the scenery.

The new bike is significantly less capable for a given level of rider – off-road heroes will still be able to spank it like they’re in the Dakar, but for the average mortal the wider 19in front finds less grip off-road, standard Bridgestone A41 tyres are basically road tyres (knobblier Michelin Anakee Wilds are an option), the lower centre of gravity is potentially helpful but it still feels like a top heavy handful, the bars are way too low in stock position (we didn’t have scope to alter it on the launch) and the engine, throttle, suspension performance and chassis dynamic are all now weighted to perform on tarmac – despite the presence of Gravel and Off-Road modes (which now look increasingly redundant). On the launch we’re treated to a 5km stretch of fire trail which, instead of reminding me how capable the ATAS is off-road, serves to illustrate the opposite. For my level of ability, I would’ve found an NT1100 just as capable. In summation – yes, you can take the ATAS off-road and if you’ve got the chops, have at it. I haven’t, and wouldn’t, unless forced to.

2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Rivals

The 1084cc capacity of the Africa Twin Adventure Sports, not to mention its high levels of kit and hefty price tag, tilts towards the larger end of the adventure bike market but its relatively tame 100.5hp output is more in keeping with the latest mid-range offerings from rival brands. On paper, the closest rivals might be the likes of Suzuki’s V-Strom 1050DE, with 106hp and 252kg weight, but the tech is more aligned with the likes of Triumph’s Tiger 1200 Rally Pro, which uses similar Showa semi-active suspension.

But the changes to the Africa Twin’s front wheel size and ride dynamic now focus is squarely at other 19in front semi-adventure bikes: Triumph’s Tiger 900 GT Pro, Ducati’s Multistrada V2S and Suzuki’s 19in front V-Strom 1050.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro | Price: £13,895

Power/Torque: 107hp/66lb-ft | Weight: 222kg

No semi-active, comes with heated seats, grips, q/shifter, cruise, TC & modes, engine bars, fog lights, adj. screen & centre stand.

Suzuki V-Strom 1050 | Price: £13,199

Power/Torque: 106bhp/74lb-ft | Weight: 242kg

No semi-active, comes with q/shifter, cruise, TC

Ducati Multistrada V2 S | Price: £15,961

Power/Torque: 113bhp/69lb-ft | Weight: 222kg

Semi-active, q/shifter, cruise, TC & modes, adj. screen

2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Verdict

It’s been a long road for the Adventure Sports to find its way to this point. Initially a compromised and confused confection of touring and off-road ambition, the bike is now firmly and effectively weighted to tarmac expertise and yet retains all the gorgeous Honda Africa Twin paint, finish quality and style we’re accustomed to. Simply sitting and admiring the bike at standstill, especially adorned with panniers and topbox, gets the touring blood pumping like few others. You can ride it a long way in comfort and look mighty fine while you’re doing it. You’d certainly rather tour on the new bike than the old one.

But it’s such a different machine to its predecessor, it’s entirely possible you’ll prefer the gangly, long-legged, slap-happy, yapping off-road dynamic riding style of the previous bike – its new road manners might not be for you.

Either way, the ATAS remains a lot of motorcycle for your money – and it’s a lot of money for your motorcycle. The 19in front, equipment list and price tag puts the Adventure Sports in the headlights of some new rivals – Triumph’s Tiger 900 GT Pro would give it a run for its money in terms of spec, literally, and Ducati’s Multistrada V2 S would test the veracity of its road-biased claims.

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2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports - Technical Specification

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