RUST magazine: RUST#37

adventure
WARREN’S SECOND OPINION
If someone said ‘big trailie’ to me,
the first thing my mind would
conjure up would be a Honda
XL600R or Yamaha’s XT600. I can only
guess that that is due to my aspirations
as a young kid to race bikes. In the
‘good ol’ days’ the big ‘thumpers’ were
built to be ridden by explorers and
raced by mad men – men of renown.
There was no such thing as general
‘adventure’ riding. Sure, there were
explorers and world travelers but the
advent of globalism was a long way off
and this market segment just did not
exist. Just like the significant change
in society, so have come the changes
in the use and enjoyment of the big
trailie and by consequence, the design
direction and development of the
Adventure bike.
As JB intimated, while I love bikes of
all kinds I’ve never been immediately
attracted to the Adventure bike set.
I associate too much with the hardcore
racing and gritty characters that
raced or blazed new trails on these big
beasts back then to be captivated by the
more genteel market positioning that
is Adventure biking today. The whole
adventure market as a result seems a
little contrived to me and as a result I
have never been overly enthusiastic
to get out and ride these bikes. Don’t
get me wrong, I’m not offended by the
growth of the Adventure bike market,
rather the opposite. I’m excited to have
a wider participation in motorcycling
and for people to experience the joys
and camaraderie that’s attached to
owning a motorcycle. Not everyone
can or wants to race bikes. The purpose
and appeal of adventure riding is to
experience travel outside the confines
of a car – and I’m all for that.
So when JB first floated the idea of
me attending the AT launch I was
intrigued rather than excited. A little
further in and an explanation that
we would be receiving instruction
from Dave Thorpe (three-time world
motocross champion) and my intrigue
was peaked. I needed to put my
preconceptions aside and give this
adventuring thing a go. That said, the
thought of the 250+kg weight of the
bikes had me fretting somewhat –
getting it wrong on these bikes could
spell disaster and with my recently
healed knee I had a good level of
trepidation and a healthy dose of
respect for the bikes.
The briefing, tutoring and terrain
were all spot on and I would highly
recommend any aspiring adventure
rider to attend an off-road training
course before setting sail for far-off
lands that involve any off-roading.
The riding, safety and recovery skills
taught are invaluable to any adventure
rider, besides the exercises are both
engaging and fun. A big thank you to
Honda and DT for what turned out to
be a fantastic experience.
On to the bikes. Of the three
variations of the Honda Africa Twins
that were available I rode both versions
of the Adventure Sport, the manual and
the DCT.
My first impression of the Honda
Africa Twin Adventure Sport is that it’s
a very sexy machine. The paint job,
the stance and the size all combine
to make an imposing impression.
The ride position on the road was
comfortable, off road, less so. The bars
were a little far back for me and the
foot pegs too far forward with no way
of adjusting them due to the routing
of the exhaust. The pegs were also too
thin and a rubber insert for on road
riding would be a welcome addition.
The bar-peg positioning combined to
w
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