RECEPTION RAIDERS
‘Definitely a nice place to be’
Best ride Six days riding the Trans Euro Trail across Spain. Breathtaking scenery, endless off-road trails, challenging climbs and routes that take you up into the clouds.
Longest day 13 hours on the TET that ended with a two-hour search for fuel in the dark.
What hurt first? Off-road: shoulders. On-road: bum.
Anything to confess? It’ll do an indicated 122mph sat bolt upright with no dramas. High point Realising just how user friendly it was. Low point When a sales rep in his BMW out dragged me on the motorway. What do you most admire? It’s Honda’s flagship adventure bike, but it’s not trying to be a GS. It’s still essentially a simple and relatively basic motorcycle.
What’s it really good at? Everyday life. As a package it works whatever the type of riding you’re doing. And really bad at? It struggles to get your adrenaline pumping.
What’s broken or fallen off? Nothing has broken but the fuel gauge is inaccurate and I’ve run out of fuel twice as a result. One minute you have a 20-mile range; one mile later that’s down to ten miles and the next minute you’re pushing your bike to the nearest fuel station.
Tell us a secret It’s been dropped twice off-road, but apart from a small crack on one of the side panels you’d never know.
What did you think at the beginning? That it looked great, but it would feel lacking after a 160bhp KTM Super Adventure S in 2017. And now? That I was right, although I’ve grown to like it a lot more than I thought I would.