As we reported here, Honda South Africa has realised that its brilliant Quest adventure riding challenge needs a shot of publicity to bring it to the wider public’s attention.
To that end, Honda is sending a fleet of Africa Twins around the country to Honda Dealers to promote the event and not only give people the chance to ride the Africa Twin but also to encourage them to register to take part in the event.
Not that Honda has been short of entrants in the past, with 3-4,000 entries coming in which were then whittled down to 30 who would go on to attend a Boot Camp which would see the final 14 go through to the event itself.
As my esteemed colleague, Dave Cilliers, said, “In the past, Honda has not got the mileage out of Quest that was intended or deserved.” This has spurred Honda South Africa, most ably led by Riaan Fourie, to revise its approach, not to the event itself, but to the buzz around it.
In order to do this, there will not only be the aforementioned Road to Quest events at dealers around the country but training days held at venues such as the ADA Training Facility near Hartebeespoort Dam.
Riders of any make of adventure bike were invited, not just Honda and around 30 riders arrived on a mixture of KTM, BMW, Triumph and Honda motorcycles for what proved to be a relaxed but instructive morning in the capable hands of Diete Engelbrecht and the team at ADA.
The team at ADA are well versed in the different skill levels of riders who visit them for training and know that pushing riders too far too fast will only lead to them becoming discouraged rather than encouraged, not to mention damaged motorcycles and riders. Diete managed the morning with a nice line of humour and he also has the knack of making you believe you can do anything with the right approach.
Nothing we did was extreme or dangerous but that’s not to say it wasn’t challenging. The majority of the day took place on the skid pan and concentrated on the basics: picking up a bike on its side, skid braking (with rear brake only), skid turns and pivot turns.
At all times, we were encouraged to leave our own personal bubbles and take a look around to see how others were faring. Invariably, that involved noticing that nearly everyone else was just as bad as you were and that bikes were on their sides left, right and centre. Clever psychology, that: it made you feel as if you might not be the worst rider there and that, just maybe, you had a handle on the techniques and skill required.
A couple of exercises on small, but steep, slopes and a spell in the sand pit rounded off the day and, while all that might sound rather tame to those of you who ride adventure trails weekend in, weekend out, there are many of us who only manage to do it once in a blue moon and a short reminder course such as this is the perfect way to get your eye in again.
I’m not sure there wasn’t one attendee who didn’t regret the day was over so soon nor, similarly, that there wasn’t anyone there who hadn’t surprised themselves. With the right instruction, you quickly discover new and unsuspected depths to your talents.
Of course, the main thrust of the day was to let people know that you don’t have to be an expert to enter the Quest. There are many entrants who have got through to the final stage who have never so much as imagined they could ride through thick sand, let alone do it. Many of the successful entrants are committed road riders with absolutely no experience in adventure riding. Very few are Roof of Africa-quality riders.
The ultimate skill is not the purpose of the Quest: the thinking behind the event is to take people out of their comfort zones and watch how they cope with adversity, and how it brings out the best in them. Are they team players? Can they see further than their own challenges and consider others and the environment through which they are travelling? Can they lift up those who are struggling both physically and mentally while maintaining their own morale? Do they constantly put themselves second?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you need to stop procrastinating and get your entry in. They are not open yet but will be soon. Keep an eye on Honda Wing SA’s Facebook page for further notices.
Will I be entering? You bet I will. Right now, after the couple of years we’ve all endured, I need something to remind me to take more time to push myself and realise that I’m not alone: that others might be worse off than me and that maybe I can help them. If it involves riding a motorcycle through this incredible country we call home, then so much the better.
See you at the starting line!
Huge thanks to Triumph South Africa for the loan of a stunning Tiger 1200 to use at the training day at ADA. Among the massed ranks of KTMs and Hondas, it got a lot of attention, all of it justified. On the skid pan, it proved totally stable and forgiving, with near-perfect weight distribution and balance. On the road there and back, it just had so much ability, comfort and dynamism, not to mention a fantastic exhaust note thanks to the new 1, 3, 2 firing order and the T-plane crankshaft.
The 2022 Tiger 1200 will rightly go down as one of the great adventure bikes, an impressive achievement by Triumph when the previous Tiger 1200 was already so good.
