If you’re going to bring a motorcycle to SEMA it has to land with a splash, because there are so few two-wheelers on the show floor that people tend to overlook them. Honda partnered with Overland Expo to develop this gnarly Africa Twin that can do almost anything and go almost anywhere. If you wanted to take this beast out for a month of off-road adventure, you probably could. You know, if you had enough fuel.
Anyone driving a 4Runner with a roof top tent doesn’t have anything on a fully kitted Honda AT with the dual clutch and knobbies. The aftermarket game for motorcycles is easily as overland-heavy as that for its four-wheeled counterparts. You can get just about everything you need to turn a stock bike into a Dakar winner. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but this bike has a lot of kit.
Much like electric off-roading, the Honda’s DCT allows riders to focus on the trail ahead rather than on slipping clutches and keeping wheel speed in the sweet spot. The left side of your body just has to hang on and steer while the right side manages throttle and braking. The simplicity of that alone is worth its weight in gold, and the Honda DCT delivers in spades.
Starting with a solid off-roadable base is key. But adding the right accessories is the clincher. It starts with a set of crash bars, engine guards, and a skid plate from Outback Motortek, plus AltRider radiator guards to keep the bike in one piece when you inevitably drop it. There’s a full suite of hard and soft luggage from Jesse and Wolfman respectively, so you can bring along all of the gear you might need. Add in lots of auxiliary lights, a Garmin satellite nav and comms system, and a Superwinch to get you out of tricky situations, and this bike is, like, *ready* ready.
Spending that kind of time in the saddle means comfort is incredibly important. That’s why this bike was fitted with KonTour comfort seats, bigger foot pegs, and infinitely adjustable rear view mirrors, so that you can always be in the right position.
This bike looks like a real special machine, and I’d really love the opportunity to rip it around in the desert for a few days. Here’s hoping Honda offers something like this as a package in the near future. Or, you know, you could build your own.
I might go without the winch, though.
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