By akademiotoelektronik, 11/12/2022

Honda ADV 350 test: When Daktari goes down to town…

A priori, paste "adventure" and "scooter" in the same sentence, it is like trying to grant "empathy" with "police prefect", or any other oxymoron.In short, there is as who would say something that does not stick.A scooter is done to remove any emotion and take you to work by protecting you from the elements and making your life easier.The adventure is to try to complicate it, it is to get out of your comfort zone, it is anything but daily switch;It is, like an Africa Twin, a motorcycle that makes you dream of sunsets on the Namibia desert every time you open the door of your garage, even if it is to go throwThen in a cubicule and go to suffer your eight hours daily.

And yet: what was not our surprise (in any case, mine), to learn that for Honda Europe, the best sale, it is none other than ... attention, suspense, drum bearings and all the tintouin ...The X-ADV.The "hybrid" scooter with adventurous hints of the urban jungle has passed over 44,000 copies since its launch in 2017.Not bad is not it ?

Add to that another parameter in the equation: in France, in the category of 300/350 scooters, it is the Forza which dominates the game with 1,768 copies sold last year against 1300 Yamaha Xmax 300, the Honda being evenup 12 % when the Yamaha only recorded more 3 % additional desirability.

In short, shake everything and you will easily understand that an AVV 350 has everything you need in its game to become essential on the market.Besides, he is there, and we were able to test him under the Sicily sun ...

Honda ADV 350: Presentation

Again, stops with shortcuts.Some might think that Honda was content to graft a front face of X-ADV on a forza 350, like "neither seen nor known I kiss you", and voila.This is not quite that, even if, we are not going to lie, the engine and the frame are exactly the same, point for point, and it is rather a positive argument because the forza 350 is also aVery successful scooter, kinship links with the X-ADV 750 are both obvious and rewarding for those who will be able to set their sights on the "small".

By digging a little, it is clear that, in addition to the front and its distinctive visual signature to LEDs, from the Honda design studio in Rome;The ADV 350 also has a handmade, with an adjustable windshield (manually) in four positions on an amplitude of 133 mm, mixed tires (Metzeler Karoo Street) mounted on new wheels (slightly 225grams - it's important, it's unpurrent weight), and different suspensions.

Where the forza 350 is satisfied with a 33 mm telescopic fork (100 mm of travel), the ADV 350 presents better with an inverted 37 mm inverted fork rigidified by two tees (one on the forza) and debating on 125mm.Cherry on the double shock absorber: the presence of separate cylinders on the ADV 350.

Finally, the dashboard is also different from that of forza: an LCD slab does the trick, both readable, complete and sufficient size, unlike the micro-element which, in the past, served on the range ofCB 500.We finish the overview with a fairly generous stooge, in the left recess of the front apron, with a USB-C socket.Connectivity fans will be happy to know that the Honda Vocal Control System (the Honda Smartphone Voice Control) is compatible with this ADV 350.It is therefore possible to be notified of your calls and SMS, to listen to your music, or to be guided by a GPS (Google only, the system is not yet compatible Apple).

The engine, therefore, is identical to that of forza: this 330 cc monocylinder, very modern (it has piston cooling technology by oil jet, something that we find, at Honda, only ondevices as efficient as the CBR 1000 RR-R or the CRF 450), has a balancing pendulum and develops 29 horses at 7500 rpm and 31.5 Nm at 5250 rpm.It is given for an average consumption of 3.4 l/100, or more than 340 kilometers of autonomy thanks to the 11.7 -liter tank.

Honda ADV 350: Handling

A 4x4 is high on legs.An "Adventure" scooter, too, but it is reasonable: if the saddle peaks at 780 mm on the Forza, it is found at 795 mm on the ADV 350.Is it too high?I did not do any idea: I have a common point (one) with Adriana Karembeu, a length of legs which arouses admiration (or indifference, do not exaggerate), but which, in all thecase, deprive me of an ease of analysis on the saddle heights.Anyway, some colleagues, small by size but large by talent have not complained, which is already a clue.In short, my advice is to go and try, because in addition, the saddle is hollowed out in its front, and it must help.

Then, we therefore find ourselves in front of a well-lacked driving position, with this new thick handlebar which undoubtedly refers to the "all-terrain" universe.The operation of the dashboard is easy to understand, in fact, there are three levels of information on the right lines, and we go from one to the other via a button to the left commodo.Note that with winter gloves, the buttons may be a bit small: I have often activated the warnings at the same time as the indicators, for example.The levers of levers is not adjustable, I did not find them too remote, it's up to you to see too.

Keyless transponder in the pocket (its range is two meters), just turn a dial on the apron, put it on on, and start this ADV 350, which comes to life in a reasonably smothered sound.It is both discreet and in addition very well high, since we do not have the usual grunts, slams and vibrations of the slightly raw of formwork that equips many scooters.

It remains to take off, which is going on wonderfully well thanks to a handful of gas very gently and in progressiveness, and a transmission at the same time soft, also, but which does not skate in the semolina like number of its competitors.In short, Tutto is going to be as they say here in Sicily ...

Honda ADV 350: City test

If we landed in Palermo, our scooter trip did not allow us to explore its agglomeration of almost a million inhabitants.Too bad, because on the urban jungle side, it must be something!On the other hand, we are lost on the west coast, in the cities of Marsala and Trapani, which nevertheless require a certain reactivity to the handlebars in view of the manner of driving premises.

No need to try to make the suspense last: the ADV 350 got out of it perfection.Sweet and dosable controls, good turning radius, natural balance, beautiful distribution of masses (yes, it is 186 kilos with full - 2 more than forza 350), but with a well -designed chassis which places the radiator and thebattery at the bottom at the front of the floor, the ADV 350 is led with the greatest ease.

We will add two other observations that make sense in town: a space under the fairly generous saddle (basically, a full helmet and a jet hold) and a connected top-box offered as an option. Par contre, venant de la part de Honda qui n’est pas seulement un motoriste d’un immense talent, mais aussi un acteur engagé de la « mobilité green », on n’aurait rien eu contre la présence d’un stop & start, qui aurait permis de gagner un peu en tranquillité et en efficience énergétique au feu rouge.

Honda ADV 350: road test

Behind us, the sea: it is blue, bordered by old citadels who tell the tormented story of Sicily.In front of us, the mountain.Etna is a bit far, but Sicily is a generous land that is not stingy.Again, stops with received ideas: with 29 horses for 186 kilos, one could say that we will have to monitor his retro so as not to be doubled by campsites.

Again, error: performance, if they are obviously not stratospheric, are sufficient to advance properly, double in safety and even, let's dare the word, have fun on a route cut to the measurement of this machine.We have already rented the liveliness of the engine and the quality of the transmission, and these qualities are verified on a difficult ground like Sicily.Acceleration is linear and sustained.

Sicily is the Targa Florio land, this legendary open road race held from 1906 to 1977.Our test route touches, sometimes, these places loaded with emotion, these mileage terminals patinated by the time when we sometimes detect the bumper of a maserati in perdition.To pay tribute to this essential period of history, Honda has privatized us a road game, just to see a little what the ADV 350 has in the belly: Result, 146 km/h on the dish, 155 counter in descent.Not bad for a 350 of less than 30 horses.

In reality, we will just know that the ADV 350 will be perfect for urban and overburin use, since it crosses comfortably at 110 km/h, accepts links to 130 without flinching, and offers a very correct exceeding capacity at 80where 90 km/h thanks to the responsiveness of its drive.

Although placed in a high position, the bubble remains a little just to offer decent protection: there is a little pressure on the top of the helmet, some turbulence in the shoulders and legs.That's too, the adventure is to be (a little) in communion with the elements, but what is certain is that the electrically adjustable windshield of the forza 350 protects better.

The kilometers parade, we continue to take full eyes in front of the varied landscapes offered by Sicily, and on slippery and smashed roads, the ADV 350 continues to unroll its score!Easy, neutral, obvious, secure, it is played out of all types of road with great ease and demonstrates that a well -designed 350 scooter is a really versatile machine.Special mention to the tires Metzeler Karoo Street which, quickly put confidence on a cold and sometimes weird bitumen.

Having spent the day in the wheel of one of the best "openers" of the little world of motorcycle press (the great Alex Hearn, who officiated on an Africa Twin), we realize that it does not have the fieldand that the ground clearance is even quite remarkable...As for consumption, it comes out at 4.5 l/100 on the on -board computer, but you should know that we are driving faster in a press test than in real life.

We keep the same compliments for the brakes, dosable, progressive and powerful sufficiently in view of the performance of the machine (they have the "warning" function on the big braking), and we go from the mention to the congratulations by approaching theChapter of suspensions.

Because, in reality, anyone who has already rolled on many of these scooters in the category "300 - 400" could only deplore the extreme mediocrity of the components, reinforced by the technology of the oscillating engine and the anchoring of shock absorbers directly underThe pilot buttocks.When the road degrades, it's oh rage, oh despair, we finish with the packed lumbar, the gums that bleed and a furious desire to change the frame.The ADV 350 completely changes the situation: it damages progressive, relaxes with reserve and preserves its driver from the vagaries of the road.Comfort is part of its vocabulary, which is new enough for a scooter.Nothing to report bad on the saddle, by the way.

Honda ADV 350: And all-terrain, in all of this ...

A serious publication like ours is not there to corroborate (or not) the marketing errors of some (even if we were able, on occasion, to fall into the panel).Honda has better in its range to cross the Kalahari and if you plan to do it in ADV 350, come and talk to the writing, your case interests us.The 145 mm ground clearance (only 10 more than the forza) will not allow you to make follies.

However, the tensile control is disconnectable, that's already it, and we have tried the standing position: good news, we don't have too much broken back, and targeting the back of the footrest plates, thatis holding.But hey, if you have a country house at the end of a trail, it will do, do not imagine you cross the Atlas or Europe by the tet on its handlebars.

Honda ADV 350: Conclusion

Three hundred euros difference (at € 6,299 against 5999): one might think that the requested supplement is a bit excessive for what would only be a makeup operation.This is false: in reality, the ADV 350 has a chassis which combines rigor and comfort and when we weigh it all, it is even its main argument, since for purely “commuting” use, the higher protection of theForza 350 may be enough.

There remains the evocative power of an ADV with the pace less conformist than the whole coming from scooters, the quality of construction, the level of very correct equipment, the 5 -year warranty, the power of the network.Honda plans to sell 1,400 units from this ADV 350, without giving up the Forza 350 force, the objectives of which are brought to 2000 units.

Ambitious ?Perhaps, but the fact remains that these medium-displaced scooters represent, in my eyes, a level of coherence and versatility which is difficult to beat.Admittedly, the maxi-scooters of 500 and more offer (a little) more against (a lot, really) much more money both in the purchasing budget and use.Long live the 350?There is that, yes ... there is also the brand new KYMCO DTX 360, with which a match is essential (the challenger is available at € 5699), but we already know that he does not have the samelevel of finish nor, a priori, of wind protection.We talk about it soon...

Philippe Guillaume - 27/01/2022