2016 HONDA CRF1000L AFRICA TWIN
RACER TEST
P100
a man who has done everything
there is to do on a motorcycle
in the desert, the arrival of the
2016 edition created a unique
opportunity.
"I want to help start the legend
of the Africa Twin in the U.S.,"
says the four-time Vegas-To-Re-
no winner. "I love the bike, and I
love the adventure sport seg-
ment, so putting a race project
together seemed like the logical
choice for myself and Honda."
A logical choice for a man who
could ride a couch across the
Nevada desert at race-winning
speed it may have been, but as
I climbed aboard to take over
from Imai-san for the second leg
of day one, I began to question
the validity of my own decision
making.
I'd never even started an Africa
Twin before the race marshal
sent me on my way into the
wilderness. And I'd never raced
a desert event before. Although I
have a vast amount of experience
on big-bore adventure bikes, the
first 20 miles of deep sand and
silt made me think I was in over
my head. Y'see, the Africa Twin,
an excellent machine it may be,
is not the first bike that comes
to mind for a 644-mile desert
race. The problem comes from
one area: weight. Compared to
a race-prepped 450, the Africa
Twin, at a claimed 511 ready-to-
ride pounds, weighs almost twice
as much, yet has to plow through
the same deep sand and ruts a
450 will simply skim over.
LEARNING TO DEAL
But the weight does have its
benefits. High-speed stability
is rock solid on the Africa Twin,
and in the Vegas To Reno, that
can yield a few advantages. This
year the course ran from east
to west and took in a number of
wide open, sixth-gear fire roads
and, if you were brave enough
to hold it flat, you could make
up some time on the 450s that
don't have the extra girth on their
side. Of course, this means your
braking distances had to be in-
creased—if you'd hit the anchors
at the same point, at the same
speed, as a 450, the resulting
crash would look like one of
the USAF fighter jets that often
circled above during the race
had fallen out of the sky.
I found this out after I pegged
(Top) Gotta make the lazy-ass
journo earn his keep somehow!
(Bottom) This one looks almost
race ready!
