IN
THE
WIND
P28
THE AFRICA
TWIN LIVES!
H
onda has released the first
teaser images and initial
specs for the bike that caused
the biggest stir of all at the
2014 EICMA Show in Milan last
November.
The True Adventure proto-
type sent tongues wagging in
Italy, and looked remarkably
production ready for a proto-
type, even to the point of it be-
ing shown on its stand covered
in mud like it had just come in
from a round-the-world odyssey.
That prototype has given birth
to the CRF1000L Africa Twin,
which has been confirmed
for the 2016 model year, with
American Honda indicating units
will hit dealer floors early next
year.
The CRF1000L revives the
iconic 'Africa Twin' label, the
namesake of the legendary
HRC Paris-Dakar XRV650
and XRV750 racebikes that
dominated the event for four
consecutive years from 1986
to 1989. At the time, Honda's
main four-stroke dirt machines
available to customers were
the XR range—and the V of the
factory racebikes indicated the
V-twin configuration—rather than
the single-cylinder format of the
XRs.
Fast forward to 2015 and the
CRF1000L Africa Twin doesn't
come with a V-twin, rather a
parallel-twin that's both lighter,
smaller, cheaper to make and
easier to work on in remote
locations than a V-twin. The
CRF1000L namesake also indi-
cates the Africa Twin's position
as head of the CRF family.
Honda has been very cagey
on the details of the powerplant,
but one thing we do know is
the Africa Twin will be the first
adventure machine to come
with the Automatic Dual Clutch
Transmission available as an
optional extra. Honda pioneered
the system with the VFR1200
back in 2010 and developed
