Well, that didn’t go according to plan.

“No keyless and no quick shifter, that’s extra” Riaan quipped as he handed me the keys to the 2022 Africa Twin. Smugly thinking to myself, someone reads my stuff. “You can figure out the controls, you are good with that kind of thing” he adds, I smile, after all, who doesn’t love a compliment! Imagine my disappointment when I realised he wasn’t joking as I set off in the Friday morning congestion, left thumb frantically fiddling around the controls for the indicator switch, eventually stopping on the roadside to orient myself with the cluster.

My last ride on an African Twin, CRF1000, left me cold and unimpressed. Slow and sloppy compared to what I was riding at the time. They had one chance to build on their Dakar legacy, surely this wasn’t it! I remember thinking they have added a battlestar galactic dashboard and parallel twin to the original frame. Surely not!

Needless to say, my reservations of the 1100, my2022, were short lived. Apart from the unnecessarily complicated and frankly dangerous controls the bike is sublime. They say too much power is just enough, perhaps when racing, but when offroad adventure riding, often times less is more. I prefer vtwins over inline 4s, but give me a parallel twin everyday, smooth, torquey and effortless. Manually adjustable suspension, set once and go, no second guessing electronic choices. Even the cable clutch impressed me, light and effortless. Easy on the eye, from all directions. But for that switch gear… well done Honda.

One does not simply win the infamous Dakar, more than once, by chance. So I decided to do a little research on the original legend in anticipation of my planned breakfast adventure with Luisa de Vasconcelos

Turns out, Adventures are won through planning, preparation, perseverance and luck. None of which were present today, well almost.

Not long into our journey, still warming the tyres, taking in the surrounds, a mild jolt that to the front wheel and we start losing pressure. With no puncture repair kit or tools, we quickly redirected to the closest fuel station, just making it before the front tyre completely deflated, with irreparable sidewall damage.

Remember the day I decided a puncture would never end another trip, ironically not too far from here, but with no tools on hand!

Online consultation with retired General Martin Jones suggested a gator and a tube, but public holiday in small town with no motorcycle shops anyway, we decide to throw in the towel and call CABS to recover us and bank the little luck we have had for the day.

Thanks you Riaan, more of the same, please.