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ADV BikesNew Dirt Focused Honda Adventure Bike for 2015?

New Dirt Focused Honda Adventure Bike for 2015?

Honda's Africa Twin successor is coming and it may be on its way to the US!

Published on 05.01.2014

Popular German motorcycle magazine Motorrad (circulation of 135,000) is reporting in their April cover story that Honda plans to build a new Africa Twin that could revolutionize the Adventure Touring market. This new model isn’t another bloated 1200cc GS wannabe or adventure styled street bike, but a proper Adventure Bike with a real dirt focus.

Vito Cicchetti, General Manager of Honda Italy confirmed last year a new Africa Twin has been in the works and is coming soon. Now Motorrad is providing some details about potential specifications and where the new Africa Twin might fit in the market.

Motorrad reports that Honda would like to fill a hole in the market between the large 1200cc touring focused Adventure Bikes and dirt focused 650cc Dual Sport bikes. Currently, this segment has a real lack of variety made even worse with the discontinuation of the KTM 990 Adventure and Honda Transalp 700 in recent years. Honda’s Crossrunner 800, NC700X and CB500X are little more than budget street bikes dressed up in adventure clothing, with no intentions for off-road use. Clearly, Honda is in need of a proper Adventure Bike and entering the less-competitive middle-weight market would be a smart place to start.


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Motorrad’s reported specs for this new Africa Twin (model code CRF1000) describe an Adventure Bike inspired by Honda’s 450cc Dakar Rally Production Racer. Styling and technology from the Rally bike would form the basis for the new Africa Twin. After Honda’s return to the Dakar Rally in 2013 from a 23 year absence (winning 5 titles during the 1980’s), it would make sense that they would want to capitalize on their new racing heritage.

1998 Honda Africa Twin

The original Africa Twin was built in homage to the giant desert racers of the Paris-Dakar Rally.

It’s a story with a familiar ring. The original XRV750 Africa Twin from the late eighties was based on the NXR-750 Paris-Dakar Rally bike. It was a big Adventure Bike (a bit on the heavy side) that you could actually take off-road. It offered smooth V-Twin power and the dependability of a Honda for long-distance travel. The legendary Africa Twin was discontinued in 2003, but remains a popular choice for Adventure Riders. Unfortunately, they never imported the Africa Twin to the US or Canada.

Potential specs reported by Motorrad describe a new Africa Twin with a 1000cc Parallel-Twin instead of a V-Twin (apparently for cost saving purposes). The engine output would be around 100 hp with a dry weight of 397 lb (180 kg) and price tag of roughly $13,800 US. The bike would ride on a 21″ front wheel and 18″ rear, with 9.1 inches (230 mm) of suspension travel.

The design is described as more off-road focused than the KTM 1190 R, BMW F800GS or XTZ660 Tenere, but not quite as dirt oriented as the KTM 690 Enduro R. It’s expected to use a special off-road ABS like the one found on the Dakar Rally production racer as well.

Competitors at a Glance

Adventure Bike Models Dry Weight
(lbs.)
Fuel Capacity
(US Gal)
Fr./Rr. Susp. Travel
(inches)
 HP  Price
(US $)
2003 Honda Africa Twin XRV750 456 6.1 8.7/8.4 61 N/A
2013 KTM 990 Adventure R 438 5.3 9.7/9.7 113 $14,999
2014 BMW F800GS 421 4.2 9.1/8.5 85 $12,100
2015 Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L  397 5.3 9.1/8.7 100 $13,800
2014 BMW Sertão G650GS 391 4.7 8.3/8.3 50 $8,650

 
It appears that Honda’s formula for success is to build a reliable, fairly light-weight, low-maintenance, attractive Adventure Bike with serious off-road intentions and good comfort on the highway. It’s the holy grail of Adventure Bikes that has never quite been attained by any manufacturer. While some bikes have come close, there always seems to be something missing, something not quite there, some flaw that keeps the bike from achieving the complete package. With this new Africa Twin, it seems possible that Honda could draw significant market share from its competitors and become a runaway sales success.

These claims of liter-bike power with the weight of a 650cc Adventure Bike all sound a bit too good to be true though. But who better to revolutionize a market than Honda? They’ve done it before with the 1992 CBR900RR. After years of careful planning, they produced a sport bike with the weight of a 600cc and liter-class power. Could they do the same thing again with Adventure Bikes?

There is no way to know for sure if this is the bike Honda will produce. But we do know that a new Africa Twin will be released soon and that Honda has registered the “Africa Twin” trademark with the US Trademark Office, evidence that it could be coming to US shores this time around. Motorrad expects to see the new Africa Twin debut at either the INTERMOT or EICMA show later this year, and a launch as a 2015 model.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that this new Honda turns out to be anything close to these incredible specs. Most Adventure Riders would be happy with a 700-800cc engine and a sub-400 pound dry weight. If they are able to achieve their weight target with a 1000cc, even better.

UPDATE 5/12/2015: Honda officially announces the release of the CRF1000L Africa Twin for 2015 launch. For photos and details click here.

Author: Rob Dabney

Rob Dabney started a lifelong obsession with motorcycles at the age of 15 when he purchased his first bike – a 1982 Honda MB5. Through his 20’s and 30’s he competed in off-road desert races, including the Baja 250, 500 and 1000. Eventually, his proclivity for exploration led him to dual sport and adventure riding. Rob’s never-ending quest to discover what’s around the next bend has taken him on Adventures in Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and throughout the American West. As a moto journalist, he enjoys inspiring others to seek adventure across horizons both near and far.

Author: Rob Dabney
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More press about the New AT - Page 2
May 3, 2014 8:33 am

[…] on ABR for this link, that I've unashamedly knicked lol…. More info on the new Africa Twin…. New Dirt Focused Honda Adventure Bike for 2015? » ADV Pulse Honda Africa Twin XRV750 RD07A in R/W/B Toyota Hilux 3.0lt RAF – Land Rover Defender 110 FFR […]

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May 5, 2014 11:15 pm

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David Allison
David Allison
May 9, 2014 3:35 pm

I really hope they bring this Honda state side this time…

David
David
May 9, 2014 8:16 pm

Bring it on!
However I would have though, with the resources Honda have, it would be relatively simple and economical to convert their 500X into a serious Adventure Tourer.

Ron
Ron
May 14, 2014 11:00 pm

Bring it on!
Just give us a large tank too please.

trackback
Honda Plans A New Africa Twin Adventure Bike For 2015? | ride2adventure
May 25, 2014 6:17 pm

[…] Honda is planning a middleweight adventure bike in the style of the Africa Twin.  German magazine Mottorrad has the rumored bike on the cover of its April issue.  They only have an artist’s rendering, […]

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May 25, 2014 10:19 pm

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Dave
Dave
June 1, 2014 3:18 pm

I can buy a nice economy car for what these ripoff artists are charging for these bikes. Motorcycles used to be economically feasible, not anymore. Sorry boys…I’ll buy me a one or two year old Toyota or Honda car and tow my dirt bike behind me. They must think we just fell off the beet truck.
Rt

Motocrosser
Motocrosser
June 6, 2014 6:29 pm
Reply to  Dave

AGREED!

ploughlikeelk
ploughlikeelk
June 11, 2014 8:03 pm

Not quite along the current Honda ideology of making two-wheeled appliances. Hopefully they realized they have to build something exciting and desirable to have good sales, not just something infinitely practical, economical and easy to ride.
Always wanted Honda bike, but so far twice ended up buying new Yamaha’s because they were reasonably priced, nice looking and quite fun to ride. If Honda brings this thing to Canada then I would be definitely interested – desperately need good adventure bike but KTM 1190 Adventure is a bit too much and too pricey for me.

RobG
RobG
June 18, 2014 9:13 pm

Competition is always a good thing. Looks like it’ll weigh about the same as my V-Strom 650 but with better ground clearance and suspension travel. Downside could be a very tall seat for us shorter folks.

Price-wise, for $13,800 they can keep it. I’ll get a Tiger 800XC that makes 95 hp and about the same weight and suspension specs for under $12k.

stevecro
stevecro
June 24, 2015 3:56 am
Reply to  RobG

both bikes you mention are heavier, far less off-road worthy and will never have the easy torque of 1000cc.
Bring this bike on

Gerhard Nebel
Gerhard Nebel
June 25, 2014 2:42 pm

Toll Fahrrad Grins

Rob
Rob
August 1, 2014 2:53 pm

I’m SOLD!

Gary Barton
Gary Barton
August 13, 2014 8:02 pm

Do I really want all that weight and power on a dirt ride? and a Gas Hog as well? NOPE!!

Blair Ejercito
Blair Ejercito
October 5, 2014 4:04 am

85 to 95 hp . Under 400lbs. 8-10 inches of travel, spoke wheels, 5 to 6 gal, honda reliability, new tech, adjustable seat. Sold

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October 5, 2014 3:35 pm

[…] New Dirt Focused Honda Adventure Bike for 2015? » ADV Pulse Reply With Quote […]

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October 15, 2014 6:30 pm

[…] to compete with Suzuki’s budget oriented V-Strom 1000 and Honda’s much anticipated Africa Twin. With no middle-weight Adventure Bike in their lineup, KTM needs an alternative for those that can […]

John
John
October 24, 2014 12:55 am

All of this talk and not one word of it is actually from Honda..bit lame really

trackback
New Honda Africa Twin Finally Revealed at EICMA? » ADV Pulse
November 4, 2014 4:06 am

[…] but the appearance of the True Adventure prototype reflects previous leaked information about a new Honda Africa Twin model. The dual headlights stay true the Africa Twin heritage, while the vertical windscreen and […]

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Honda Africa Twin terbaru antara fakta dan rumor | naikKIAN news blog
January 1, 2015 8:06 am

[…] advpulse, […]

Mike
Mike
January 29, 2015 7:07 am

Its about time Honda developed a powerful bike to fill the void left by discontinuing production of the XR650R. They must have discontinued production because they made the XR too reliable and were making no profit on parts like they do with the high maintenance CRF’s. I have a 2003 XR650R, bought it brand new, ride it hard and change my oil regularly and it has cost me nothing only money for oil/filters, sprockets/chains and lots of tires.
Hands down the best bike I’ve ever owned, very reliable and lots of fun!
A new Africa Twin sounds like another winner Honda, bring it on and lets see!

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May 15, 2015 2:56 pm

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