2020 HONDA CRF1100L AFRICA TWIN & ADVENTURE SPORTS ES
R I D E R E V I E W
P70
Our thinking was we'd get a DCT on the Adventure
Sports, so we'd get the DCT and semi-auto suspen-
sion in one package (which is what I assume most
buyers will go for). Instead, we've got a conventional
gearbox on our AS. Those crazy Honda cats.
The off-road DCT behavior takes a little getting used
to. The first mode of Drive is next to useless on dirt,
as it's always forcing you into a higher gear than you'd
normally use. This has the added issue of giving you
less engine braking than you may want when you roll
off the throttle—something far from ideal in the dirt.
In the Sport mode, things are a little better, but still
not perfect. Sport mode allows for the transmission
to hold a gear longer than Drive, enabling you to max
out the available acceleration for that particular gear.
On dirt roads, the Sport mode works reasonably well,
but take it up some snotty, rock-strewn hills and you'll
see the system's limits pretty quickly.
The DCT still doesn't know when to shift correctly,
especially when the rear wheel comes off
the ground under acceleration. During one
particular photo session, the system would
continually shift from second to third gear at
the wrong time, losing the needed drive to get
up the hill. Once things leveled out, the DCT's
behavior was more predictable, but it was still
an annoying trait.
Another issue was freewheeling. A number
of times I would come over a crest, the revs
would peak out (as though spinning the rear
wheel), and I'd use the rear brake to calm the
rear suspension. This seemed to cause the
DCT system to drop all engine braking for a
split second, like the clutch was pulled in all of
a sudden, which threw me off course. After a
scare, I tried to make the system do this again,
which it did, twice. Needless to say, I wasn't
best pleased.
(Above) The colors on the
Adventure Sports look
awesome in the metal.
(Top left) Bodywork is
skinnier on both bikes but
more noticeable on the
base model. (Above left)
The new 1084cc motor is a
gem—torque for days.
