2018 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Review | First Ride

How does Honda’s new flagship ADV stack up against its base-model brother? -- Old-time motorcyclists like to wax poetic about the days when you had one motorcycle to do everything. Whatever the machine, it was your dirt bike, your streetbike, your racebike, and your date bike. Walk into a dealership today, however, and you're presented with so many models with so many slight differences that understanding the purpose or need for each motorcycle can be quite challenging. Enter the 2018 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports: Not a replacement for the already dirt-capable Africa Twin, the Adventure Sports is being marketed by Honda as a premium trim level that encourages you to "go farther." But what does that mean when the base model is already pretty premium and already pretty capable of going far? I rode this new Adventure Sports (a.k.a the CRF1000L2) machine at the domestic press launch in Prescott, Arizona, and I can confirm that it's a fantastic motorcycle. Regular readers will remember that we published a first-ride review of the bike from the European launch back in February, but we also wanted to ride the bike on our own turf to better understand the differences between the Adventure Sports and the standard Africa Twin. For whom are these bikes intended? And what actually separates them as far as options, pricing, and performance? Standard Equipment On A 2018 Africa Twin vs. 2018 Adventure Sports The confusing thing about the 2018 Adventure Sports is that it has been released almost simultaneously with an updated base-model 2018 Africa Twin. That base model, due to hit dealers shortly after the Adventure Sports, will come standard with the following equipment: New instrument panel Throttle by wire Three riding modes (Tour, Urban, Gravel) Minor intake and exhaust changes Lighter balancer shafts Lithium-ion battery Seven levels of HSTC (traction control) Wider footpegs with steel brackets Redesigned passenger pegs Redesigned LED turn signals That’s quite a list of upgrades. Before Honda educated me, however, I thought a lot of those changes were exclusive to the Adventure Sports model. So where does that leave the Adventure Sports, which is due to be released later this month? Well it gets everything listed above in addition to the following: Fuel capacity increased to 6.37 gallons (extra 1.4 gallons) Fork travel increased to 8.9 inches (extra 0.9 inch) Shock travel increased to 9.4 inches (extra 0.8 inch) Ground clearance increased to 10.6 inches (extra 0.8 inch) Seat height increased to 35.4 inches (extra 1.2 inches) Redesigned flat seat Handlebar height increased (extra 1.3 inches) New windscreen (80mm taller) Larger skid plate Standard crash bars Redesigned steel luggage rack Standard heated grips Standard 12-volt accessory socket Rear storage pocket 30th anniversary paint scheme What's The Price Difference? You get more on the Adventure Sports. No surprise. But do you get more for your money? The Adventure Sports package will cost $1,500 extra, whether it’s on the DCT or manual model. But Honda is adjusting prices for all Africa Twin models for 2018, so this is how it all stacks up: CRF1000L Africa Twin Manual: $13,499 CRF1000L Africa Twin DCT: $14,199 CRF1000L2 Africa Twin Adventure Sports Manual: $14,999 CRF1000L2 Africa Twin Adventure Sports DCT: $15,699 For more information on the Africa Twin Adventure Sports, check out the first ride review: www.cycleworld.com/2018-honda-africa-twin-vs-2018-honda-africa-twin-adventure-sports Riding Gear: SCHUBERTH – E1 in the Radiant White graphic Jacket: Held Carese II in the Blue/Grey Pants: Held Torno II in Black Gloves: Held Airstream II SPECS: PRICE: $14,999 (manual); $15,699 (DCT) ENGINE: 998cc, liquid-cooled parallel twin TRANSMISSION/FINAL DRIVE: 6-speed/chain CLAIMED HORSEPOWER: 94 @ 7500 rpm CLAIMED TORQUE: 73 lb.–ft. @ 6000 rpm FRAME: Steel semi-double cradle FRONT SUSPENSION: Showa 45mm fork adjustable for spring preload, compression, and rebound damping; 8.8-in. travel REAR SUSPENSION: Single shocks, adjustable for spring preload, plus compression and rebound damping; 9.4-in. travel FRONT BRAKE: Two dual-piston Nissin calipers w/ 310mm discs; ABS REAR BRAKE: Single-piston caliper, 256mm disc w/ ABS RAKE/TRAIL: 27.5°/4.4 in. WHEELBASE: 62.2 in. SEAT HEIGHT: 35.4/36.2 in. FUEL CAPACITY: 6.4 gal. CLAIMED WEIGHT: 533 lb. (556 lb. DCT) AVAILABLE: June 2018 CONTACT: powersports.honda.com Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/c/Motorcyclist... Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyc... Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcycl... See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/