The new editions of the Honda Africa Twin are on their way, which means that there are new, previous renditions available at never to be repeated pricing. We borrowed a CRF 1100 DCT, kept it for a couple of weeks, rode the wheels off the thing and then, reluctantly, handed it back.
It’s still one of our favourite bigger ADV bikes and here’s why…

When Honda bumped their 1000cc twin up to 1100, they really were onto something.
The new Honda developed a personality, put out a lot more power without ripping your arms off, and gave you the choice of traditional manual transmission or, some peoples favourite, the DCT. The one we borrowed most recently is the Adventure Sport DCT, the one with a bigger tank, Heated grips and all sorts of things to make you smile. Rider modes, bluetooth connectivity with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, long travel Showa electronic suspension, a 21 inch front and 18 inch rear wheel, a broad, flat seat…
You know the drill, and it’s one of the prettiest big birds around according to everyone in this fine establishment. Just look at it!

Honda did tick all the boxes, and when you figured out how to navigate around the very aircraft-like buttons, screens and tech, you have a bike that can do just about everything.
We’ve ridden these bikes everywhere, freeways, back roads, up to Memel through the gravel and back, Barberton, Normandien, even to The Bike Hospital in GP central and every time we’ve ridden it we’ve come away smiling.

When you stand next to it, the Honda seems tall with its 22.5mm higher bars and Dakar-style display giving it a pretty macho front-end. Throw a leg over the saddle and the Africa Twin’s narrow waist makes it easy to get feet flat on the floor. That big 1100 parallel twin is completely happy to bumble along slowly through the traffic and shifts through the box gleefully to speeds well in excess of the national speed limit when you open the throttle.

Road riders might worry that long-travel suspension and a 21 inch front wheel might make the bike wobbly. Well, we’ve had this one around the track and surprised a few superbike mounted riders.
Séan has it around Redstar for a track day a little while ago and really did enjoy the Adventure Sport DCT on the track, he says : “I like the S-III setting on the DCT, it feels more natural to the way I normally ride at the track, If I need to hold the gear for longer and get highers rpm’s a quick flick of the switch from full Auto to the manual gear toggles is that is needed. I found this feature particularly useful along the straights when dicing another bike, to the next corner. However, out braking the other bikes did require very late braking and some swift down changes. I worked out that if I flicked the DCT back into full auto as I grabbed the hooks, the bike would auto blip and change down a heck of a lot quicker than I could ever dream of, this did give me a distinct advantage over a lot of my competitors. Hitting the apex and banging on the gas stands the Adventure Sport up fairly quickly and this is where the wheelie control did save my bacon more than once. Flick Flacking through the quick succession of corners and chicanes the big Twin DCT always seemed to be in the correct gear when braking or accelerating hard. Translate that into carving up the mountain passes and there were more than a few embarrassed sportbike riders who decided to stop and take in the scenery from a view point for some reason. – I dig this DCT setup bedonnerd!”

Speaking of DCT, we are a hung jury in this office as far as manual VS DCT debate goes. The traditionalists prefer manual, and that’s all good. The AT has a soft clutch and butter soft gear changes. One of the bikes we rode a while back was fitted with a Honda quickshifter and that was a great addition. The DCT model makes life easy, you see, much like driving an automatic car. Seriously, Honda’s DCT system is quite something and we have no idea why it’s taken other manufacturers so long to look at similar options.


With this one, Honda just got it right. It really is a superb choice for day to day commuting or those long freeways where you’ll probably be breaking national speed limits in comfort.
It’s made for that travel holiday on the fantastic gravel roads that South Africa has on offer – and you’ll be able to get plenty of aftermarket goodies that bolt straight on.
It’s no surprise that these bikes have sold so well.
And right now, you can get a fifty grand discount on any new pre ‘24 model.
That’s nothing to sneeze at…
While stocks last.