Honda Africa Twin Seat Cover Guide: CRF1000 and CRF1100

The Honda Africa Twin is one of the UK's most popular adventure bikes — capable of covering extraordinary distances in variable conditions while remaining genuinely usable off-road. Its seat, however, is a known weakness for long-distance riders. The OEM seat is tall, narrow for an adventure bike, and firm enough that multi-day tours produce significant discomfort. A quality seat cover — or seat rework — is arguably the Africa Twin's most impactful comfort upgrade.

Africa Twin Seat Design: Why Specific Fitment Matters

The Africa Twin's seat has a distinctive tall, narrow profile designed to allow the rider to easily touch down with one foot while still providing enough width for all-day comfort. This combination creates a seat pan shape that differs significantly from adventure bikes with wider, lower seats. Generic universal seat covers bunch at the edges and create pressure ridges — specific Africa Twin pattern fitment is essential.

CRF1000L vs CRF1100L: Seat Differences

The CRF1000L (2016–2019) and CRF1100L (2020+) have different seat profiles. Honda redesigned the seat pan for the CRF1100L with a revised foam profile and slightly different tail section geometry. Covers made for the CRF1000L will not fit the CRF1100L correctly — and vice versa. Always confirm your model year when ordering.

Within each generation, Honda also offered a low seat option (approximately 20mm lower than standard) with a different foam profile. Low seat variants require their own specific covers — the lower profile changes the seat pan contour in ways that affect cover fitting.

Adventure Sports vs Standard Seat

The Africa Twin Adventure Sports (both CRF1000L AS and CRF1100L AS) uses a different seat to the standard model. The AS seat is wider, with more pronounced lateral bolstering to support the rider during long-distance riding. This is a meaningfully better seat for touring than the standard, but it still benefits from a cover for grip and weather resistance. AS seat covers are pattern-matched separately from standard seat covers — don't order interchangeably.

What Long-Distance Adventure Riders Need

Adventure touring in the UK means dealing with weather. A seat cover for the Africa Twin needs to perform across several specific conditions that don't all apply to sportsbike seat covers:

• Waterproofing: Wet seats in wet-weather gear is miserable and can cause chafing over long distances. Materials that actively repel water are preferable to those that merely resist it temporarily.
• Off-road grip: Riders who use the Africa Twin off-road stand on the pegs in technical sections and need to control the bike with their knees when seated. A slippery seat cover is a functional problem here, not just a comfort one.
• UV and abrasion resistance: The Africa Twin's seat is exposed to the elements year-round for many owners. Cover materials need to withstand prolonged UV exposure without cracking or fading.
• Luggage compatibility: Tank bags and luggage systems that contact the seat can abrade some cover materials over time — harder-wearing surfaces perform better in this regard.

Tappezzeria Africa Twin Options

Tappezzeria produce pattern-matched covers for both CRF1000L and CRF1100L in their Imola (textured synthetic, excellent weather resistance) and Alcantara (maximum grip, track-oriented) options. For the Africa Twin specifically, Tappezzeria's Imola fabric is the recommended choice — it maintains grip when wet, handles UV exposure well, and provides the durability adventure touring demands. Colour options allow matching to the Africa Twin's official colour schemes.

Top Sellerie Options

Top Sellerie offer bespoke seat reworks for the Africa Twin that replace both cover and foam. Their touring comfort specification uses a wider foam profile with memory foam infill that significantly reduces saddle pressure over long distances. For owners doing multi-day tours, the investment in a full seat rework from Top Sellerie is justified by the comfort difference over a Tappezzeria cover alone.

Browse our full seat covers range and read our adventure bike seat comfort guide for more options and comparisons.