Which is better suited to conquer the world: Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports or Triumph Tiger 800 XCa?

Power 160 hp? Forget about it! ABS on corners? Forget it! Semi-active suspensions? Forget it! The Japanese focus on simplicity. After all, a motorcycle that is short and not loaded with electronics is easier to repair far from civilization. Let's see if the Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports has returned to its roots.

Honda Africa Twin

Do you love long drives, driving with passion and staying off the beaten path? It seems that there are more such psychos in the world than you think. Even the conservative Japanese from Honda noticed this. At first glance, you may not believe it, because the Adventure Sports version is not anything revolutionary. The rocker steel frame still houses an inline twin with the cranks offset at 270o, making it perform similar to a V-twin with the cylinders flared at 90o.

According to Honda, six engine mounting points strengthen the frame. This and the corresponding geometry eliminate the need for a steering damper. The engine still has excellent manners and performance that is not very impressive compared to the competition. Power 95 l. With. and the torque of 99 Nm does not throw you into your lap. A new damper shaft drives the water and oil pumps, and the 2.3kg lighter battery pack sits directly behind the cylinders, minimizing the size of the engine and lowering the bike's center of gravity. Honda engineers claim that this power supply has the same duration as their “500”(!).

Adventure Sports still use tires, but the enduro wheel spokes (21 inches front, 18 inches rear) are now made of stainless steel. Off-road genes, in addition to the picturesque appearance associated with the Africa Twin XRV 650 model, are emphasized by the factory light bar and a powerful plate under the engine.

Armored motorcycle - in the field you will appreciate the durable plate under the engine. And best of all, you get it at an affordable price.

Africa – new deal

The Honda Africa Twin is starting to push elbows two years after its long-awaited comeback. To notice the difference, just throw your leg over the Adventure Sports seat. I associate a larger fuel tank with the Tiger 1200, and it does not interfere at all when driving while standing. Now you fill it up with 24.2 liters, and the folks at Honda say that's enough to last... over 500 kilometres. Wow! But in reality, this is difficult to achieve, because you have to take into account combustion within 7 l/100 km.

The controls have been repositioned, with the handlebars raised and pushed back and the seat height raised to 920mm. I'm 190cm tall so this position suited me, but shorter people will complain. Fortunately, while waiting and without the use of any tools, the seat can be lowered by 20mm, and a narrow “waist” (like in the regular Africa) makes up to 2cm a significant difference.

The new version of the dashboard looks better, has new functions and improved readability. Ideal? Not yet. Especially in bright sunlight.

It is impossible not to note the new tidy, but if you were expecting (like competitors) a color TFT display with a diagonal of at least 5 inches, you will be disappointed. The screen isn't broken and looks a little better, but the styling is reminiscent of its predecessor. Both functionality (finally, a refill range) and readability have been improved. However, especially in bright sunlight, you need more screen contrast.

The throttle cable no longer covers the dashboard, because it simply doesn’t exist: Honda set it to ride-by-wire. Best of all, the electronic throttle didn't detract from throttle feel or response. And this is just the beginning of changes in electronics. You now have pre-programmed driving modes (Tour, Urban, Gravel) as well as a Custom mode.

All modes can be freely customized in terms of settings for maximum power, engine braking strength (both on a 1-3 scale), and traction control sensitivity (it now has 6 instead of 3 degrees, and you can turn it off completely). They have intuitive controls (3 buttons on the left side of the steering wheel) and the ability to change each of the mentioned parameters while driving. At the same time, 1 is the maximum power, the greatest engine braking force and very weak traction control - to this extent it comes into effect very late.

Honda Africa Twin

Two Africas on the road

In order to keep up with the new Africa Twin, on the old one you need to shift in time and push harder, or put up with a slower pace, have fun with the powerful, smooth traction and clear throttle response of the carburetor engine. The old lady is damn fun to drive fast, she allows you to get the most out of your V-twin, and the brakes settle well before cornering. The old suspension behaves great on the road, not perfect, but doesn't do anything scary either. By the end of the mountainous section of the road I was sweating, the engine was hot, the tires looked tattered, and every corner had a black skid mark from the braking point to the apex.

Stopping nearby, his partner got off the new Africa and, smiling from ear to ear, took off his helmet. At the same time, he looked like after a relaxing massage session - relaxed and satisfied. That's what 30 years of development means - one pace, one road, same level of riders and two completely different bikes. I was almost screaming with delight at how smartly the old lady and I managed that sharp left turn, and my partner behind me was simply enjoying the views while listening to the music in his helmet, without feeling any excitement.

But when he pushed on the new Africa Twin, I could no longer keep up with him. We go through turns equally quickly, but the difference of 31 horses is clearly felt on every straight.

The difference in the characters of the two motorcycles on the road is absolutely amazing - on the old lady you always try your best to go fast, and she assents and plays along with you - yes, they push you, cool! And the new Africa happily rides behind the old woman, but at the first opportunity it will overtake and easily fly off into the distance. It's more comfortable, its brakes are better, and it always has enough traction to overtake almost anything. But for some reason she doesn’t encourage you to drive too fast.

Influence of genes

The Japanese have talked a lot about enhancing off-road genes. And these were not words thrown into the wind, as evidenced by the completely new, fully adjustable Showa suspension. True, they do not have electronic adjustment (everything is attached in the classic way - with screws), but they have more than 20 mm of jumps than the regular Africa Twin (224 mm in the front and 240 mm in the rear). And at the same time, Honda engineers deserved applause for installing the hinges. You can easily notice the high driving precision, comfort and stability on the asphalt, both when driving fast on narrow paths and on highways at a speed of about 150-160 km/h (there is simply no way to go faster). Then we are not talking about instability or nervousness even when riding on tubeless tires (tested on Continentals TKC 80).

To open this buffer, you must use a hex key and remove two screws.

The glass is 80 mm higher than in the regular version. But it has no height adjustment for complete happiness.

On the other hand, descending into not too difficult terrain means that the suspension picks up even deep bumps very smoothly, despite the more than 100kg rider on board. Another reason for praise is the bike's balance - it's hidden very effectively in a bike that weighs more than 10 kg more than the standard Africą Twin. The Adventure Sports weighs 243 kg with fluids, which is 5 kg more than the KTM 1290 Super Adventure C.

Nice job compared to the previous seemingly minor changes to the Africa Twin: slightly wider footpeg width, slightly longer exhaust covers which are lighter and still sound good) and redesigned passenger footpeg kits. Thanks to this, you can easily fit a larger foot on off-road trips.

The mega-elastic engine also performs well, and it accelerates smoothly from low revs without the slightest protest. The throttle response is predictable, and at the same time instant and decisive. Added to this is a slightly actionable clutch lever and a precise gearbox. To turn off ABS (a separate button in the dashboard), you need to stop. It should be remembered that the ability to disable ABS applies only to the rear wheel.

Characteristics

Off-road driving

I don't like off-roading, but I'm getting more and more screwed. Before enabling the DCT version, you need to do a few things. First of all, use the G button on the dashboard. It activates a program that detects whether the motorcycle is moving forward or not, and thanks to this, the motorcycle selects the appropriate gears. In addition, you must select the gearbox operating mode (D, S, manual).

If you are lazy by nature, you will appreciate the D mode in the city and on the route (which will ensure minimal fuel consumption). It won't endear you in any other way, and it's evil on the field - it's quick to block higher passes, sometimes quite unexpectedly. So I quickly turned on S mode immediately at the highest third level. That helped. Before turning, you should force the car to slow down (the button under the left thumb). Overall it works well, but the DCT has one major drawback: it increases the weight of the bike by up to 253 kg.

Honda Africa Twin The DCT version can be intimidating due to the number of buttons on the steering wheel. In fact, almost everything is logically arranged and thought out (the turn signals and horn are not confused). On the right you select the gearbox operating mode, on the left you manually control the gears, change the traction control settings and control the readings on the dashboard. Heated grips are standard.

Honda says that of the 51,000 Africa Twins sold worldwide in 2016, up to 45% will be DCT versions. The Japanese boast about the high failure rate of this system. Importers claim that since the beginning of sales of motorcycles with automatic transmissions, there has not been a single gearbox malfunction. However, I would choose a traditional box, and spend the few thousand rubles saved on fuel.

2022 Africa Twin Adventure Sports

Sum of all benefits

It seems that the Japanese went a little with the flow. Until now they have rather tuned road bikes to suit off-road requirements, in which case they have adapted a bike with clear off-road genes for the touring bikes. You won't find cruise control, phone connectivity, hill descent assist or electronic suspension here, but here you have to answer a very important question: do you really need all this when traveling on a motorcycle?

The Honda Africa Twins Adventure Sports exudes performance, balance and capability. But, to be honest, I would like richer equipment and larger equipment, but I would not hesitate to go on a trip.

In terms of price, the Africe Twin Adventure Sports is certainly closer to the touring enduros above 1200cc, but its performance is closer to the BMW GS 850, KTM-1090 or Triumph Tiger 800.

The base model Honda Africa Twin has also been redesigned. Most important are the weight reduction (2kg - plus including smaller exhaust) and the new and improved electronics (this does not apply to either traction control or driving modes, however). A more readable instrument panel with new functions (identical to the Adventure Sports) is also important.

Travelers will continue to complain about the lack of a cigarette lighter, cruise control, heating controls and daybeds. The relatively low windshield is unfortunately not adjustable.

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Tire selection

When designing the new “Africa”, the Japanese company relied on the same wheel sizes as on the KTM Adventure 950, 990, 1050 R, 1090 R, Super Adventure 1190 R and 1290 R models. That is, 90/90–21 and 150/70–18. This family has been on the market for many years, and tire manufacturers have added wheels for Red Adventurers to their range. You can find cheap and expensive, road and toothy, and even rally and mud. For driving mainly on roads, standard tires are not bad. You can install Pirelli scorpion Trail 2, Conti Trail Attack 2, Shinko E 705. A slightly more toothy option that allows you to get off the road more confidently would be Pirelli MT 90 A / T, Continental TKC 70, Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR. For trips where asphalt is rare, choose the Conti TKC 80 Twinduro, Metzeler Karoo 3, Mitas E -10, or Shinko E 804–805.

BMW, with its Liquid Goose, was a pioneer by using the unique sizes 120/70-19 and 170/60-17. At the very beginning, even standard tires were in short supply, but now the situation has improved, and these sizes have become an inter-industry standard for touring enduros. To the above models you can add Michelin, which studiously ignores the 18” size - Anakee 3 for asphalt and mud Anakee Wild. From asphalt, Mitas Terra Force is also quite good, as well as Metzlers: classic Tourance and Tourance Next.

Information provided by the online store www.motorezina.ru
From the life of engine covers > March 18, 2022 09:39 Mikhail Pimus