New 2024 Honda Africa Twin 1100 & Adventure Sports Announced!

Welcome back everybody to another Motobob video and today Honda announced a brand new update to their awesome adventurer the Africa Twin with a whole bunch of tweaks for the 2024 model year. So in this video I'll tell you absolutely everything you need to know about it with the 11 key features. Now as a quick refresher there are fundamentally two bikes in this lineup you've got the base Africa Twin which is more stripped back and therefore off-road biased and then you've also got the choice of the adventure sports which gets more wind protection more techy features and more fuel capacity and that makes it the better choice of the two for longer rides and adventure touring. Now these changes for 2024 seem to have increased that distinction with the adventure sports looking even more like a road biased touring bike. The big one is that they've swapped out the front wheel size so previously it had a 21 incher which is most suited to good off-roading with more ability to roll over rough terrain but now they've given it a 19 inch front which is really more of a balance between the two. It should be slightly better off-road than a standard 17 inch road wheel but also not as vague and slow to turn as a big 21 incher on tarmac. Honestly this makes total sense to me I'd imagine that most owners of the adventure sports use it majority for road riding because it's a bigger bike with more weight and so really it only needs a little bit of off-road capability for easy gravel trails and the like. Plus the category leader has to be BMW's 1250 or now 1300 GS and that's been using a 19 inch front for many many years to great success. I'd expect this new adventure sports to feel quite a bit better on the road now and so I'm definitely looking forward to checking it out. Now another change they've made is that they've pulled the ride height down a little which ought to make it look a lot more appealing as a road biased tourer to a wider range of riders at different heights. The previous gen was adjustable between 850mm in the seat and 870mm and then there was a low seat option which would take it down to 825mm but if you're fully loaded with a passenger and luggage for a lot of riders that might feel a bit sketchy and they'd prefer to get both feet planted. So this new bike has a little bit less travel in the suspension it's down to 210 at the front and 200 at the rear as opposed to 230 and 220 on the previous gen. There's less ground clearance as a result so that's down to 220mm from 250 but the big positive is the seat height is down at 835mm in the standard setting 855 in the high setting and with the low seat accessory you can get it right down to 795mm. Now the other key thing here is that it also lowers the center of gravity and so that should not only help with handling on the open road but also those low speed maneuvers which can feel super sketchy on a tall bike with a big fuel tank. Now this one might be a little bit controversial but the other big change is that the Adventure Sports is now only available with their DCT box and no longer with a regular manual shift. Now DCT or dual clutch transmission uses two sets of gears and two clutches to shift either automatically on your behalf or with the triggers on the switch gear if you want to take control but there's no manual clutch or mechanical shifting peg. Now in my experience it's a brilliant system and it's really suited to touring style riding especially if you're two up with the seamless shifts meaning that you barely notice moving through the box and also I remember someone at Honda telling me they sell a lot of DCT bikes especially in these touring bias models and so perhaps they've decided that a manual Adventure Sports just isn't worth producing now but it still came as a bit of a surprise when I read it on the spec sheet. I'd love to know what you guys think down in the comments so do let me know do you think this is the right direction for the Adventure Sports or did the previous gen with a bit more off-road ability and the manual gearbox look like a better bike. Now I think because they've moved the Adventure Sports into this more road bias personality they've also taken the base model which was previously more off-road focused and they've tried to tweak the spec to make it more of an all-rounder to give the customer that option still. Firstly with the suspension with it previously only having the mechanically adjustable fork and shock but now you've got the option of Showa's ERA electronically adjustable system which was previously exclusive to the Adventure Sports like any other semi-active system ERA constantly adjust damping in real time to give you the optimal setting for the given situation and it takes its data from the ECU for speed, the inertial measurement unit for the bike's current lean angles and also a stroke sensor on the fork this means it can quickly match the riding conditions and it can even help with stuff like reducing brake dive or preparing for a hard landing after a jump. Now it's all hooked up to the riding modes or you can choose your own settings through the switch gear and dash and there's also 24 levels of preload on the fork and the shock so you can get the stance of the bike absolutely dialed. The downside is that it adds a couple of kilos to the total weight as well as 1500 quid to the price but at least now the customer has the choice to spec it if they want it. The only thing I will point out is that if you do want to go for DCT on this base bike you can only get it with the electronic suspension so that does push the price up a little bit and your choice is slightly limited in that regard. Now the other big change for this standard Africa Twin is that it now gets tubeless tires which for most people I think will be easier to fix at the roadside with a plug. I know that some more serious off-road riders still prefer tubes like the previous gen had but realistically for the majority of people this is going to be the better setup. Now it gets Metzeler Karoo street tires as standard which are a great all-rounder but ultimately I think they're more road capable than they are off and so the more blocky Michelin Anarchy Wilds are also Hamburg approved in case you want to fit those for extra grip in muddy conditions. Also on the base bike you now get the accessory socket as standard so you can power stuff like your navigation device and also the heated grips come as standard too and that was previously only the case with the Adventure Sports so I think Honda have pretty much addressed all of the issues that would have previously made you think twice about taking this base model for longer road rides and that includes the windscreen which on the last generation was quite stubby in its standard form with the Adventure Sports getting the taller touring variant. Both models now get the same five-way adjustable screen which of course gives the rider the choice of increased visibility on dusty or muddy trails with it pushed down or more wind protection on the road with it in the high position. So semi-active suspension, heated grips, accessory socket, tubeless tires, a decent windscreen that all combines to make this bike look much more appealing on the road but whilst also still preserving its excellent off-road credentials with that big 21-inch front wheel, the brilliant chassis and also the slightly lower overall weight than the Adventure Sports. There is more good news though for keen Africa Twin fans with some tweaks to the engine for both models that mean they've found a bit more torque. So while peak power remains the same at 100 horses at 7,500 rpm, a new airbox design, new ECU settings, new fuel injector angles and a redesigned exhaust system means that there's a seven percent boost in peak torque which now comes in at 112 newton meters up from 105 and also it's made lower in the rev range at 5,500 rpm as opposed to the 6,250 on the previous gen. So a quick look at the dyno chart that they've included in their press kit shows a substantial bump in power and torque in the mid-range and this was already an excellent engine with loads of mid to low rpm chugging ability. That was really its forte in my opinion and so effectively they've cemented its place as one of the best adventure bike engines on the market. Another area in which I'd say the Africa Twin excels is much more superficial but that's with the looks. I think I'd even go so far as to say that it's the best looking large capacity adventure bike on the market over a thousand cc let's say and so do let me know if you think I'm wrong down in the comments and let me know which you think beats it because I don't think there is one. So you've got a little bit of a styling update for 2024 on both bikes it looks a bit more chiseled and it's got some new graphics but really I'd say it's a slight improvement perhaps not a massive overhaul but I think given my stance on the looks already I think that's a good thing it's just been tightened up a little bit a touch more modern but no big changes that ruin it. I will say the base model looks a little bit better on those tubeless rims that lace to the edges they always look nicer to me and the adventure sports does look different with that 19 inch front I think it looks a touch less aggressive but realistically probably a good trade-off that most riders would be willing to take for the better handling on the road. As for the colors well we've got a red version a black version and a tricolor for the base model all of them look excellent in my opinion and then the adventure sports comes in either black or the tricolor and I particularly like the graphics on the adventure sports tricolor with a bit of a retro feel to them. Now everything else stays pretty much the same on these two bikes as far as I know so the frame the brakes the tech with the rider aids the modes the tft display with carplay and android auto but there's a decent amount of new features and so I would have expected the price to go up a little bit but still on the very most basic version with manual gears and mechanical suspension we're talking £13,199 for 2024 which I think is just 150 quid up on the previous generation and for anyone who's been stuck at the side of the road with a flat tube I'm pretty sure they'd pay the 150 quid to be able to quickly plug it. The most comparable spec of the adventure sports is with DCT and electronic suspension and again that's 150 quid up to £17,599 quite a lot of money but in my experience it's a brilliant bike and these tweaks should make it even better. As always though I'd love to know what you think of these two bikes down in the comments so do let me know are these new changes for the better or would you stick with the previous generation and if you want to see my review of the adventure sports DCT electronic suspension here in the studio and also find out why I think it's a little bit underrated then I'll stick it on the screen now so you can give it a click and give it a watch. Please do hit subscribe if you want to see more of the latest motorcycle news like this right here on YouTube. Many thanks for watching today and I'll catch you in the next video.