Honda has taken the Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT (yes, it’s a mouthful), already the more street-oriented of the Africa Twin duo, and made it even more inviting to the casual off-roader looking for a versatile light-adventure touring motorcycle. The 2024 edition is not a complete revamping, the changes are wide-ranging and add up to something significant. With that in mind, let’s go riding on the 2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT from the mountains to the deserts to the open highway and get to the Fast Facts.
- Honda replaced the Adventure Sports’ 21-inch front wheel with a 19-inch wire-spoked hoop. We had been asking for this for a while, and our requests were finally fulfilled. With a street slant, the 19-inch front wheel makes much more sense for touring and canyon carving due to its larger contact patch and reduced gyroscopic impact. Although we didn’t hate the 21-incher, the 19-inch has a better feel on pavement. The front end is more planted, whether riding in a straight line or through twisties. It’s simply nicer to have a 110mm wide front tire than a 90 on the street.
- Off-road, the 19-inch front wheel remains an improvement on the 2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES. If you’re seriously riding off-road, a 21-inch front wheel is the way to go. However, for dirt road riding, the wider 19-inch front tire has that much-desired planted feel. The wider tire also gives more flotation in the sand—the kryptonite of ADV motorcycles—and offers more protection for the front rim. Sure, a 21-inch front wheel will roll over rocks, through ruts, and across dips. However, the standard Africa Twin is the right choice, if that’s your mission.
- We successfully took the Adventure Sports off-road in the deserts and mountains of Southern California, and there’s more to the 2024 upgrade than just the 19-inch front tire. Honda shorted the Showa suspension travel by almost two inches in the front and nearly an inch in the rear, lowering the seat height by over a half inch—huge helps for casual off-road adventuring. Further, the automatic clutch implementation is improved at slow speeds, which is critical for technical dirt riding. The 1084cc SOHC parallel-twin gets a boost in the low-to-mid rev range that is as welcome off-road as it is on the pavement. To get there, the motor got a small compression ratio bump, along with new valve timing—intake and exhaust—and ECU adjustments to complement the mechanical changes.
- The 2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT is impressive in varied desert terrain. This is true despite the 90/10 street-/dirt-biased tubeless Bridgestone Battlax Adventure A41 tires, even if you don’t air down.
- Put the bike into the Off-Road mode and let the suspension and power delivery work their magic. We took it on dirt roads and single-track desert trails that are smooth and sandy, as well as some nasty rock-strewn roads. The impeccably calibrated DCT lets the rider pick through obstacles at stalling speed without the risk of actually stalling. Many ADV crashes are at slow or no speed, and the ability to not have to work the clutch or worry about the engine stopping makes a huge difference. You may think you can do better with a clutch, and you may be right in specific circumstances, such as popping the front end over an obstacle; however, there’s a good chance the DCT outperforms your left-hand finesse.
- In the mountains, the Adventure Sports ES DCT tackled elevation changes, cross-ruts, and sand sections impressively. Climbing requires nothing more than twisting the throttle—the more muscular motor thumps along with plenty of nicely delivered power, and the DCT means you can slow down as needed without working the clutch. It’s a liberating sensation that translates to enhanced confidence, which means better riding. On downhills, the Africa Twin is planted; putting the weight up front is less treacherous with a 110mm cross-section. The 19-inch tire floats over sand that the 21-inch tire knifes into, so I prefer it for fun ADV riding. Sure, if you treat an ADV motorcycle like a dirt bike, the 21-inch front wheel makes sense. For the rest of us, the 19-inch is a superior choice. The rear remains an 18-inch wheel, though it doesn’t feel different from the usual 17-incher.
- Nothing about the changes that enhance the 2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT in the dirt hinders it on the pavement. The previous version was a fantastic adventure-touring platform, and the 2024 is even better. More grunt, a lower center of gravity due to the shorter-travel suspension, increased seat padding with a lower seat height, and that wide front tire all make life on the pavement easier and more enjoyable. It doesn’t matter if you are working through technical twisties, ripping through high-speed sweepers, or tooling down the road at extra-legal speeds—the Adventure Sports feels perfect. It’s planted at all times, never giving you a feeling of unease unless you intend to force the issue beyond its intended use. The DCT improvement is felt when working through traffic or negotiating your way out of a parking space, and DCT is fantastic at speed.
- To appease the touring crowd, the new Adventure Sports gets more wind protection. You can hit the Interstate or back road at a higher speed in more comfort in 2024. In addition to more protection, the aerodynamics are improved. The windscreen is five-position adjustable, so something should suit you and whatever conditions. A lower center vent reduces turbulence and air pressure issues. It takes two hands to adjust the windscreen height, so you’ll have to do it at a stop, unless you engage cruise control, which we would never recommend.
- The Nissan calipers are up to the Adventure Sports job. They haul down the 559-pound bike (curb weight with 6.6 gallons of fuel) predictably, with the rear caliper effectively chiming in when needed. We would like a linked braking option, if anyone at Honda is up for it, as the added application of the rear brake makes a considerable difference when needed. The ABS settings adjust with the mode setting and are always impressively transparent; if we’re setting it off, we’re not feeling it. At the same time, we weren’t skidding the Bridgestones.
- The key to getting the most out of the 2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT is proper setup. You have two ways to approach the challenge. You can simply go with Honda’s six-axis-IMU-informed presets—Urban, Tour, Gravel, Off-Road—and that will get you most of the way there. Enticingly, Honda offers two user-programmable modes for riders. We set one up for dirt and one for pavement. The modes control the semi-active suspension settings, power output, traction control, wheelie control, and ABS—cornering aware, as applicable. The bad news is that changing them is a deep dive into the menus. A small saving grace is that you can program the Star button as a favorite—we choose traction control, as that adjustment is critical in changing off-road conditions.
- The automatic transmission Drive and Sport shifting modes return. Oddly, there is one Drive setting and three Sport settings. The Drive mode is for casual use and upshifts rapidly to prioritize fuel consumption over performance. The three Sport settings are noticeably different, so experimentation is in order—don’t neglect this basic configuration. If you want to shift manually via the paddle shifters, M is there for you, and it works great. The button/rocker cluster is still on the right-side switchgear. Make your selection at start-up—it is how you get out of neutral. The cruise control is also on the right switchgear; operation is intuitive and flawless.
- As much as we like the DCT system, there is still room for improvement. The DCT is that downshifting still needs work, especially when off-throttle and letting the speed get low; expect a very clunky downshift unexpectedly. Also, add some throttle in a way the DCT doesn’t like, and it will shift hard on corner exits. It doesn’t disrupt the bike as much as it does the rider. Perceptive owners will learn the DCT’s idiosyncrasies and ride around them. If you’re not willing to do that, expect a rude awakening occasionally. Don’t worry—the standard shift version, with a quickshifter, is available for dedicated Luddites.
- There’s also an ambiguously named setting: G-Switch. This is an on/off choice. With it on, there is less clutch slip and a more direct connection between the throttle and the rear wheel. With G-Switch turned off, the clutch slips more, which makes power delivery smoother. This is especially helpful when maneuvering in tight quarters. So, while the name makes no sense, the function has an undeniable impact on the riding experience.
- The switchgear cluster has an avalanche of buttons and switches. There are eight buttons and a switch on the central portion, with a button, paddle, and turn indicator switch below that, and a paddle and two switches on top! Learning the system will be challenging if you don’t ride the bike regularly. The dash is easy to read, has tons of information, and has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.
- Honda encourages factory customization of your ride. Three “Packs” are offered to get you started—Travel, Adventure, Rally, and Urban. The good news is that the accessories available in each Pack are available separately. There’s also a Low Seat for shorter-inseamed riders and a taller Comfort Seat.
- The 2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT is truly a chameleon. However, instead of blending into the background, it changes its nature at your beck-and-call. Get the settings right, and you will love this motorcycle if you’re interested in light-duty adventuring and lots of pavement time. If you aren’t picky, the stock setting will be adequate. For those searching for perfection, the HATASESDCT (how’s that for an acronym?) stands ready, though it will demand your attention and perseverance. This is a superb update for the Adventure Sports model, and we wouldn’t get it without DCT—the functionality is just too much to pass up.
Action photography by Kelly Callan
Static photography by Don Williams
RIDING STYLE
2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT Specs
ENGINE
- Type: Parallel-twin w/ 270-degree crankshaft canted forward 22.5 degrees
- Displacement: 1084cc
- Bore x stroke: 92.0 x 81.5mm
- Compression ratio: 10.5:1
- Valvetrain: SOHC, 4vpc
- Fueling: Ride-by-wire w/ twin 46mm throttle bodies
- Transmission: Automatic and manual-shift 6-speed
- Clutch: Fully automatic dual wet-multiplate clutch w/ slipper function
- Final drive: 525 O-ring chain
CHASSIS
- Frame: Steel, semi-double-cradle
- Front suspension; travel: Showa EERA semi-active 45mm inverted fork; 7.3 inches
- Rear suspension; travel: Showa EERA semi-active shock; 7.9 inches
- Wheels: Wire-spoke tubeless
- Tires: Bridgestone Battlax Adventure A41
- Front tire: 110/80 x 19
- Rear tire: 150/70 x 18
- Front brakes: 310mm floating discs w/ radially mounted 4-piston Nissin calipers
- Rear brake: 256mm disc w/ single-piston Nissin caliper
- Parking brake: Cable-actuated single-piston caliper on rear disc
- ABS: Cornering-aware standard
DIMENSIONS and CAPACITIES
- Wheelbase: 61.8 inches
- Rake: 27 degrees
- Trail: 4.2 inches
- Seat heights: 33.7 or 32.9 inches [optional Comfort Seat: 34.8 or 34.1 inches; optional Low Seat: 33.3 or 32.5 inches]
- Ground clearance: 8.7 inches
- Fuel capacity: 6.6 gallons
- Fuel consumption: 48 mpg
- Curb weight: 559 pounds
- Colors: Pearl White
2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT Price: $17,599 MSRP
2024 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT Review Photo Gallery
