Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin DCT
The Africa Twin is not just a pretty bike. According to Honda it’s a true adventurer with real off-road capability. The trouble is, I have next to no off-road capability myself. So, there was only one thing for it: point the big twin towards Wales and the new Honda Adventure Centre on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. This was my best bet of finding out how the bike handles on dirt, while also having the chance to pick up some off-roading skills myself.
The centre has a fleet of brand-new Africa Twins (they use the geared model, not DCT), so you don’t need to put your own bike through the test, which made me slightly less nervous about the whole thing. However, the thought of riding the 94bhp, 232kg, 1000cc bike off-road was a little daunting. Luckily, Honda has teamed up with Dave Thorpe, three times world motocross champion, to ensure the training is top-notch. I figured that if there was anyone who could get me up to speed with trail riding, this was the man for the job.
Honda Adventure Centre owns a huge bit of land, with an off-road training area, and a seemingly endless maze of trails. The setting is ideal for getting to grips with the bikes.
The training started at the Honda Adventure Centre HQ in Merthyr Tydfil, with the basics of how to get on the bike (yes, it turns out there’s a right and wrong way to do it), riding standing up on the pegs, and how to lift the bike up after a fall. “You will drop it at some point, so better we show you how to pick it up now,” Pat, one of our trainers, merrily explained. Gulp!
Once the whole group was happy with the basics, it was time to hit the dirt. The training ground and trails are a few miles from the HQ, which meant a little ride to get familiar with the bike.
I had already noticed how easy it was to ride the Africa Twin at crawling speed in city centres, and it turns out that the same easy handling and balance are evident off the Tarmac too. As long as you get the controls right and don’t upset the balance by your own movements, the big bike is very happy to turn in small circles, slide and skid without losing control, and plough through big puddles as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.
One of my worries before the training had been the size of the Africa Twin. It’s a long way down from the lofty 850mm seat, and once that 232kg starts to go, there’s no stopping it. As it happened, I did indeed drop the bike a few times during the day, but aside from picking the bike up, it felt incredibly nimble and light bouncing around the Welsh trails. In the right hands it’s a very capable off-roader.
On roads I have felt that the factory set-up for the suspension is slightly too soft, so I’ve tweaked it a bit to suit me better, but on the dirt the initial softness of the standard setting, in the forks in particular, translates into steadier handlebars and easier control. Long suspension travel means that you're unlikely to bottom out the suspension unless you hit a massive crater. Overall, the bike seems surprisingly accommodating, and a pleasure to ride around the trails.
I’ve never really appreciated the benefit of switchable ABS because I tend to do all my riding on roads, and there’s very little benefit in switching the ABS off on Tarmac. Get on the dirt and it’s a different story: being able to switch the rear ABS off gives more control, especially for experienced riders on steep declines, but I still felt more comfortable with the ABS firmly on. However, away from the hills in the safety of the training ground, I did find locking the brakes enormous fun and I tried to convince myself there were important lessons to be learnt from skidding around.
Experimenting with traction control (or torque control as Honda calls it) was also interesting. The Africa Twin offers three levels of control and the option to switch it off altogether. It was impressive how you actually gained more control going uphill by reducing the level of interference and letting the torquey engine do the work for you. Again, on the training ground, letting the rear wheel spin freely was not only a good opportunity to get a feel for grip, but also fantastic fun.
After spending the two days on the geared Africa Twins, we had a chance to try the DCT version (like our longterm loan bike), which turned out to be very pleasant in this environment too. The fact that you don't have to worry about the clutch made riding a lot simpler. For a novice like me, the DCT was a simpler tool for the trails, although not having the clutch lever there to take the drive from the wheel felt a little daunting.
Since I did the training, Honda has announced that the X-ADV adventure bike/scooter concept will become a production machine, with a DCT transmission system, so maybe the future of off-roading is unravelling in front of our eyes here. At the end of the course I felt like my off-road riding had come on in leaps and bounds. From a very tentative start I had progressed to a level where I felt much more comfortable on dirt in general, and on the massive Africa Twin in particular.
But the two days of training were not only a great introduction to trail riding, they were also a demonstration of the off-road capabilities of the big brute. Considering its size, weight and power, I was amazed how agile and responsive it felt on the Welsh trails. I also discovered that riding on dirt can be as much fun as riding on roads, so I will definitely be doing some more trail riding on the Africa Twin in the coming months. Wish me luck – I reckon I might need it!