Ride Review: 2017 Honda Africa Twin STD & DCT

Honda Africa Twin STD & DCT (demo ride)

Woo, hoo, got lucky with the weather today for the Honda Demo Ride Day at Holeshot…caveat to comments below…this was a slow speed controlled pavement ride with no hwy or speeds >70kph…worst demo ride to date! Apparently at a recent Demo Days some idiot wheelied a Honda 500 & crashed it…so we got the knee jerk Parade pace today. A more comprehensive test ride including dirt roads would definitely add valued perspective.

STD:

• feels light, well balanced & carries it weight centralized, sits narrow between your legs & ass (a narrow seat, that never drew attention to itself on a 30 min ride, but…long distance comfort??) with a much narrower tank than the S10 or GS….the feel, the sound screams middleweight, more fleet of foot vs the 1200cc genre which feel like more substantial like tanks…almost flat footed at stops with seat in high position

• all controls very light, fluid & user friendly….feels oh, so familiar like you could close your eyes & ride, a very non-intimidating, balanced bike…it shifts almost telepathically, easily slipping into neutral at stop & while coasting… rider triangle good, bars are too low for me, would require risers for standing, width was comfortable, slightly narrower than the S10.

• the dash is small & very low requiring looking down taking your eyes off the road, with all display info being much smaller & harder to read than the S10…the tiny bar graph was useless, but the positioning & angle were problematic for me.

• the windscreen is small & non-adjustable (a wider/taller version is available) & has a NACA duct that seems reasonably effective at providing fairly clean airflow to my mid chest & up, mandating a helmet with face shield.

• the 270 degree crank, mild power pulses & exhaust note trick you into thinking it is a v-twin, but a sanitized twin….not quite as smooth & missing the enormous low/mid torque of the S10, but still feels snappy because of the 75 lbs lighter weight.

• fueling seems crisp with no low speed lean issues, power deliver is smooth, tractable, linear & powerful enough (test ride never exceeded 70km or 4th gear!!!), pulling cleanly from idle in the 1st few gears...pleasant, civil comes to mind…interestingly, despite it being relatively warm today & sitting at several traffic lights the cooling fan never once came on that I could tell.

• no detectable handling issues, the 21” front/18” rear wheel tracked well, displayed no flop or drop in corners & handles direction changes quickly like a good 19/17” setup.

• suspension felt tight, solid, effectively smoothing out the road surface, bumps & train tracks well, although demo ride did not allow much investigation & I do not know what settings were dialed in…it may be a little softly sprung as it had some brake dive & you could manually compress the front through much of its travel range.

Overall Impression:

An easy bike to ride, well executed, the pseudo v-twin sound & feel needs to be amped up noticeably (have heard aftermarket exhausts on video which sounds good), but is very pleasant for a parallel twin…a bike that feels very efficient, sanitized, reliable, Japanese….well, very Honda….reminiscent of a reliable, familiar friend, not the passion inducing mistress.

DCT:

• you notice the weight difference immediately, like the CG just moved up & oddly, out to your right a little (the DCT adds considerable bulk to the right crankcase)…the bike would drift right with hands off the bars, which I did not notice on the STD!

• The DCT has Drive, 3 S modes: S1, S2, S3 (each more aggressive in holding gear/rpm & speed) & Manual (paddle shifters), 3 Traction Control settings & ABS that can be turned off via a dash button

• It feels odd to ride clutch less for the 1st few kms, but you adapt….just remember not to blip the throttle at a stop...this bike will launch very quickly if you want, with the front tire getting light…the computer does all the thinking & for the most part I think Honda has done a good job of creating an auto shifting bike that may attract riders intimidated by a clutch…twist & go, just like a scooter…..the actual shift changes are well executed, being smooth & quick….it is in the programming of shift points that will not sit well with most riders & this explains why there are 5 modes, plus paddle shifters…D is pretty much useless because it is programmed for shifting up as soon as possible almost always selecting a gear 1, 2 or 3 too high for the speed (at least in city riding) D1 & D2 were most effective at getting it right, but I was forced to switch between them depending on how aggressive throttle response & gear holding I wanted (which somewhat eliminates the benefit of the auto shift), while D3 might be ok for track days or WOT riding….I did not like it when it would downshift shift mid corner, leaned over (this did not unsettle the bike at these speeds, but is counter intuitive to good riding techniques, particularly on slick surfaces)….using full manual comes the closest to the riding experience of the STD…in that context it’s like having perfect clutch less shifting every time…but even in full manual the computer will over ride things & shift on you making it impossible to over rev or maintain a gear under certain conditions

• The DCT seemed to detract from the smooth & serene low speed operation of the STD bike adding a little jerkiness & coarseness, plus the suspension did not feel as smooth (perhaps they increased spring rates slightly to offset the added weight)

• slow speed maneuvers were ok, but I miss the flexibility of modulating speed & balance slipping the clutch + foot brake

Overall impression:

I respect the effort & engineering Honda put into this bike because I believe it will become a part of motorcycling's future…but as long as I have a STD tranny choice it’s not for me…why would I buy an auto shifting bike that I still have to manually shift or select the appropriate Drive Mode to match the desired riding circumstances…. save money, weight & complexity & buy the STD for now…perhaps more saddle time would win me over, but it demonstrates the potential & just as the automotive world has evolved auto shifting to lofty plateaus…its most likely just a matter of time for the engineers to evolve their algorithms with more artificial intelligence to better match the demands of 2 wheeled motoring

Honda should have a hit, with a very competitive price point & well executed bike….their timing was impeccable, virtually owning this class of bike last year, but it’s middle of the road specs may be its Achilles heel. I spoke with a few riders who believe that the new KTM 1090R Adventure is the superior bike across the board…even if a few $$ more, the motor & suspension alone should justify the difference, cranks up the fun quotient ….my test ride is May 5th

2018 will bring increased competition with the new BMW F850/900 & Yamaha T7 & I read rumblings of a revamped Triumph Tiger 800 currently in testing so the AT’s market niche is about to get crowded.