Honda Forza 300 (2018)

“That’s the right one for you.” That’s how enthusiastically my colleague at SCOOTER & Sport came back from the launch of Honda’s tourer. Reinhold Wagner has known me for decades, so I ordered the Forza sight unseen. A year later I sold my Silver Wing 600—too big, too heavy, I don’t need it. Saved 55 kg in one go, which makes life a lot easier for me as an inner-city rider in Nuremberg.

Ew, how can you? motorcycle riders ask me, horrified. Well—try a touring scooter sometime. Without prejudice. It’s pretty awesome. As a tour organizer I need a long-distance vehicle with lots of weather protection and even more storage. It has to be absolutely trouble-free, easy on me, and it gets saddled with 12,000 to 14,000 km per year.

Then you should get an RT, friends advised. Well, I always grin back: it costs three times as much, weighs 100 kg more, and I don’t need the power. As the tour guide up front you don’t need many horses—the last rider in the group does.

My Forza also has an electrically, continuously adjustable windscreen—and tons of space. Two full-face helmets fit under the seat, two more in the stock front compartments, plus a deep glove box. And without big side cases I’m still as narrow as ever, so I can slip through any traffic jam without getting stuck.

Even better is the CVT. Riding without shifting is a joy, especially on trips. On mountain passes you focus on line and turn-in, then just roll on the throttle—so relaxed. Yes, I can shift (irony). But why would I have to?

And the performance? 25 hp won’t knock anyone over. True top speed is about 129 km/h—but only when the drive belt and rear tire are new. Best cruising is around an indicated 110 to 120. Oh, and the speedometer and odometer can read up to 10% high. Still, you can comfortably average a real 100 km/h on highways.

If I had to pick one vehicle from my garage to, say, blast to my second home of Wales or into the Western Alps—1,000 km per day and more—voilà, I’d take the Honda Forza. Someday there’ll be a 350; it’s almost 10 km/h faster and accelerates two-up about as quickly as my 300 does solo.

As a long-distance tool, I love the wallet-friendly 12,000-km service intervals. Once a year to my dealer (Honda Hübler/Oberasbach)—that works. Over the long mileage, though, a few things cropped up that don’t always match Honda’s spotless “unbreakable” reputation.

The front brake disc needing replacement at 40,000 km for about a hundred bucks can be blamed on my extensive brake-pad comparison tests. The steering-head bearing needing replacement—less so. That’s a huge job on a fully faired vehicle. The fork seals eventually started leaking too.

The muffler began rattling more and more. New from Honda it would be over €600; luckily I found a cheaper replacement in the classifieds. When removing the oxygen sensor, its connector snapped—corrosion, sigh.

For me, a vehicle must be reliable above all. But the Forza let me down twice—both times in the Austrian Alps with overheating. The first time it got a new thermostat. The second time, again—at a Honda dealer in Carinthia. €150 poorer, I was stranded again less than ten kilometers later, same symptom. It’s not just the radiator that boils then.

My home dealer took the case seriously and found that the head gasket had a small depression at one spot—very close to a coolant passage. Could be that combustion pressure on mountain passes found the weak point, pushed into the overflow tank, and triggered red alert. Either way, it was a many-hour repair involving removing the engine. 8,000 km later: no further heat issues, knock on wood.

Why haven’t I bought a replacement yet? Because I’m curious how long the thing will last. The cylinder head is identical to the CRF 300 L/Rally. And if the Forza gives up, there’s replacement sitting in the garage. In summer 2025, my old Transalp had to fill in on tours—which it handled brilliantly.

Oh—and tires. I’ve tried just about all of them. For pure performance, nothing beats the Dunlop ScootSmart. Important: made in France! The ones from Indonesia or Slovenia look the same, but ride very differently—much more tame. My current favorite is the Bridgestone SC1. That said, for mileage I’d love to have the Heidenau K64 rear back. It was stiff and awkward, but otherwise did everything. Shame it’s no longer available.

Günter Wimme

First and foremost: vroom, vroom. He loves motorcycles and scooters—and has spent his entire professional life around them: as a test editor at MO, editor-in-chief of SCOOTER & Sport, and a racetrack instructor.

When it comes to travel, he raves about his Honda Forza 300 (nearly 90,000 km on the clock). For enduro wandering, he prefers lightweight machines like the Beta Alp 200 or Honda CRF 300 L. For those wild five minutes, he turns to his Aprilia Tuono 1100 V4.

Dream bikes: Honda RC30, Scout Flying Squirrel.

Motto: It’s the rider, not the bike.