ALTERNATIVE ADVENTURE

Honda’s reworked its rugged X-ADV into a smaller and easier to manage package based around the engine from its Forza 350 and SH350. Could the ADV350 be about to make adventure motorcycling even more accessible?

- Ross Mowbray

Specification

HONDA ADV350

Engine: 330cc liquid-cooled single

Power: 29bhp (21kW)

Torque: 23ft-lb (31.5Nm)

Frame: Tubular steel

Suspension: (F) Showa 37mm USD forks nonadjustable (R) Showa non-adjustable twin shocks

Brakes: (F) 256mm disc with two-piston Nissin callipers. (R) 240mm disc with single-piston Nissin calliper.

Tyres: (F) 120/70 x 15 (R) 140/70 x 14

Seat height: 795mm (31.2 inches)

Weight: 186kg (410lb)

Fuel tank: 11.7 litres (2.57 gallons)

Fuel consumption: 83mpg (3.36 l/100km)

Warranty: Two years

Price: £5,599

Contact: www.honda.co.uk

A scooter might not exactly be your first port of call if you’re in the market for a new ride that’s happy on both Tarmac and trails, but Honda’s carved out a little niche for itself in the ever-popular adventure motorcycling segment in recent years.

Honda’s got a solid base to work from. Its mid-capacity scooters are renowned for their capable performance and exceptional build quality. While it's a half scooter, half adventure bike, the X-ADV has proved itself a big success since its release in 2017, with a healthy 44,000 of the things sold up until the end of 2021 (and it was actually Honda’s best-selling bike last year, too). That’s why it should come as no great surprise that the Japanese factory has decided it’s time to introduce a smaller, more affordable and learner-licence friendly machine into its extensive range of scoots and bikes. And here it is the ADV350.