Honda at ABR Festival 2024
The world’s largest adventure motorcycle show continues to shine
2024 was a record-breaking year for the Adventure Bike Rider Festival, held at Ragley Hall, in Warwickshire. Just under 15,000 motorcycle enthusiasts attended the event held over the weekend of 28-30th June. Once again the ABR event, now the UK’s largest motorcycle festival, was blessed with perfect conditions, as visitors enjoyed 40km of purpose built trails, across three different tracks. Honda were once again in attendance, conducting more than 1,000 test rides both on and off road over the weekend event.
From as early as 7am enthusiasts made their way to the Honda stand, to see and test ride some of the most exciting new models for 2024. Adventure fans waited patiently to test ride the new CRF1100L Africa Twin – Adventure Sports, with or without DCT and ES, now with more torque and a 19-inch front wheel, but also the Transalp XL750, which was re-introduced last year, proved as popular as ever.
Despite being an adventure bike festival, Honda had multiple road rides each day, with every slot fully booked throughout the weekend. Honda fans had a plethora of bikes to choose from, including the new 2024 A2 licence-compliant CB500 Hornet, the British Superbike-winning Honda CBR1000RR-R SP Fireblade, also new for 2024, and the all-new CBR600RR making a dramatic race-winning return this year.
As ever, the legendary Honda GL1800 Goldwing was in demand, and the Honda CBR650R fitted with E-Clutch allowed many riders to try out the new system for the first time.
The Honda Off-Road Centre team (https://www.davethorpehonda.com) were also on hand with close to 30 bikes, ranging from the CRF125F and CRF300 Rally, all the way up to the new Africa Twin. Experienced Honda instructors led adventurists on a 12km off-road loop, with attendees trying many different bikes throughout the weekend.
Away from the riding opportunities and activities, was the packed speaker schedule featuring more than sixty talks across four stages, which hopefully left guests feeling inspired.
Each day in the GoPro display arena, Honda’s very own Jack Challoner performed breathtaking skill, on a slightly modified Africa Twin, to the delights of the admiring crowd.
The ABR Festival offers a unique blend of entertainment and a vibrant festival atmosphere, akin to a 'Glastonbury' for motorcycling enthusiasts. The event features an incredible schedule of live music that spans the entire festival, with rock tribute bands rocking out on the Bikerheadz Stage and energetic Ibiza DJ sets keeping the festivities alive late into the night on the Bridgestone Stage. This festival brings together a community passionate about life on two wheels, creating an immersive experience for attendees to enjoy everything related to motorcycling.
Head of Honda Motorcycles, Neil Fletcher, was in attendance, not just as part of the dedicated Honda team, but also enjoying the show, camping with festival goers and enjoying the test rides. Neil said:
" The ABR Festival is a real celebration – combining passion for bikes with beautiful countryside, great music and food. It’s everything that’s good about the summer and the positive mood and lovely conversations we’ve enjoyed reflect that. Thanks to Alun and the team and of course Duke of Richmond for having us. If you haven’t been, give it a try next year!"
Alun Davies, Founder of the Adventure Bike Rider Festival, said:
“It’s the people who make events come to life and with that in mind I’m indebted to all the public and industry who came and made the ABR Festival such a fantastic, vibrant and friendly celebration of motorcycles and riders. I’m missing the vibe of the festival already and can’t wait to welcome you back to the ABR Festival 2025.”
Built with Shorthand