Honda Cbr 954 Review

[Chadwick Bosse]

So many of you have asked me to create a review video of Savannah. Now that I have reached the 10.000km milestone, it is time to evaluate how she has been doing. But instead of a video, I decided to write a blog, and here it is!

With only 145 kilograms, it is such a light bike that it is easy to handle and to pick-up in case of a fall. A bike like this one would give me the confidence to choose for more difficult mountain routes and technical terrain. And I have to say, after 10.000 kilometers, Savannah was definitely the right choice!

When I bought Savannah, she was already 8 years old and had 23.500 kilometers on the odometer. Within a few months, I added another 10,000 kilometers to that, riding with her on tarmac, dirt roads, muddy roads, and lots and lots of sandy roads. The majority of the mileage was on unpaved terrain, of which some could perhaps even be qualified as hard enduro. I am thinking of Sani pass in South Africa for instance, or a remote part of the Fish River canyon in Namibia.

Being quite lucky with the weather, I had virtually no riding in the rain, but I did experience gale force winds coming from virtually any direction. The small weight of the bike was a slight disadvantage in the latter conditions. When the wind was strong,Savannah and I were unintentionally dancing all over the road.

Because I wanted to leave Johannesburg as quickly as possible, so I could start exploring and filming again, I hardly did any aftermarket upgrades to Savannah. Under normal circumstances, I love to add aftermarket parts to my motorcycles to make them better and more personalised. But, in South Africa aftermarket accessories are not readily available like in Europe for example. And importing them takes months, I now know.

But for the purpose it was built for, taking it off tarmac, this bike is simply fantastic. The long suspension travel allowed me to ride rough terrain without shaking up my kidneys too much, the large ground clearance ensured I never grounded the bike on a rock and the low-speed throttle response in combination with a smooth low-end torque gave me the confidence to tackle terrifying terrain. More than once, I realised that with this motorcycle I could ride terrains I know I could have never conquered with the Enfield. Even though this bike is a fair bit taller than the Himalayan, I can still easily put my feet down with my 1.68 meters length and relatively short legs.

I decided to get the Mitas E07+ tyres and so far, these tyres have been quite amazing. They perform well on tar and are very offroad capable too. Exactly what you should expect from good dual purpose tires. So far they are still in excellent shape after 5.000 kilometers and I have good hope to be able to get 10.000km out of them. The only downside is that because they are made for tubeless wheels and of a hard compound, the side walls are quite stiff, especially when the tyre is new. This makes it difficult to change them, or change a tube when you get a flat tyre.

Another important factor for choosing a bike is maintenance. Especially when you want to use the bike on a daily basis and for longer distances. How easy is it to do the basic maintenance yourself and what are the maintenance intervals?

Another part that failed, at a mileage of almost 35.000 kilometers, was one of the fork seals. Given the fact that I rode hundreds of kilometers bashing the bike on corrugated roads, this was another thing bound to happen. Fork seals are a common part that need replacing on off road motorcycles.

Many people ask me which bike, of the ones that I have ridden, I prefer. Let me start by saying that each bike has its own qualities and my preference for a bike also depends on the type of adventure I undertake.

That being said, I definitely missed the power of the Honda CB500x on my journey through Southern Africa. The CB500x has more than double the power of that of the CRF. The Himalayan has about the same power as the CRF250L, but is much heavier and feels more sluggish than little Savannah.

Great review. I cheated and went ahead and watched Kalahari Rally episodes. To which I was so surprised to see your competitive nature surface, truly epic episodes. I love how you helped other competitors and even showed up first on day 2 I think. Sourcing fuel is engrained by your travels and served you well. Anyway, Savannah served you well and I think it was a great buy under the circumstances. Ride on Itchy Boots! RIDE ON!

Motorcycles, like cars and football teams a bit subjective. I have had a few over the years and many various types. It really depends On what you really wish to do with it and where you wish to go. I previously owned a Harley 883 Superlow an amazing bike had many a good ride. But a lot has changed in the last 2-3 years. I am RTN back to a simpler style som looking at small ADV BMW R 310 GS or Honda CRF 300 Rally. I live in Australia, so the roads outside the CBD are a bit terrible.

At least here in the states, there is a lot of distance between points, and with decent highways, there is the desire to go faster. Thus, bigger bikes enable the faster more comfortable road jaunts. With that said, off road, less weight is always a plus, when it comes to handling, crashing and picking up a bike. I'm looking forward to how you come to your decision on your bike for the soon to resume :-) North America US portion. KLR 650? SV650, Honda 300 Rally? Back to the CB500x? or something exotic like a Duc Desert Sled? heck maybe you could talk to the Italians about letting you intro the DesertX??

Thanks for this review, has it changed much since you completed the Kalahari race? I'm trying to decide if I should get a bigger cc bike to keep up with my husband's f700gs while riding the curvy and mountainous roads of North Georgia. My XT250 is perfect for the off-road portions of our ride and allows me to be confident while testing my skills. Thank you for showing how a smaller bike can still be used for touring. What are your thoughts on the tenere 700? I will be waiting patiently for your next pick and have a bet with my husband as to which bike it might be. Happy hunting!

Ciao Norally
Sono letteralmente innamorato di te...
Ho intenzione di fare qualche viaggio anche se non come i tuoi e mi piace molto Savannah.
In Italia non se ne trovano molte usate e costano molto, forse acquister la nuova versione 300.
Grazie per le emozioni dei tuoi video su YouTube.
Se passi dall'Italia sar felice di ospitarti.
Maurizio

Memories are how, after graduation, I evaded the draft to Vietnam by signing up with an engineering company to survey Himalayan roads on the back of a Royal Enfield.
Great memories and thank you.

Hi Noraly. Big Fan, here in the States. I watched a stupid video from some guy who explained how much you make on Youtube. Mostly a garbage video but he did mention that you had a team of riders following you doing the video editing for you. I know it's crap but thought I'd mention it. I did watch a dutch team video interviewing you back in Holland where you explained and showed us just how you do the editing. I believe them.
Best wishes and ride on... - Jymbo - Cleveland, Ohio USA

Hi, Noraly. I've loved every bike I've owned. Also the ones I've borrowed. But they are getting progressively smaller. My Ducati Scrambler is just about perfect for me (except for parts and service). Cheers and thanks for sharing your travels!

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