Rumors of Smaller 850cc Honda Africa Twin Spring Out of Japan

Is a Honda CRF850L Africa Twin On The Way?

Published on 06.05.2019

For the last four model years, Honda’s CRF1000L Africa Twin has held an interesting position in the burgeoning adventure bike marketplace. Just enough bike to play in the high-buck, large displacement game yet, approachable enough to be an option for those looking for more of a middleweight mount – something along the lines of BMW’s F850GS, Triumph’s Tiger 800. Although, it’s not light and nimble enough to compete with the new breed of middle-weight players like KTM’s 790 Adventure R and the so-close-yet-so-far-from-the-U.S.-market Yamaha Ténéré 700.

Speculation regarding upcoming Africa Twin offerings has so far been trained on a probable bump in displacement, rendering a presumably modest increase in performance (and cost), most likely an effort to compensate for stringent emissions requirements on the horizon for the EU. Yes, pretty boring stuff, especially when we care even more that an upgraded Africa Twin comes with seemingly obvious e-goodies like cruise control and real-world adventure options like tubeless spoked rims than a few extra digits on the dyno.

But then over the weekend tongues around the globe set to wagging over a story that broke on the Japanese Motorcycle Magazine Autoby featuring renderings of an all-new 850cc Africa Twin. The smaller machine is proclaimed to be in the pipeline for release as a 2021 model and expected to stick to a parallel twin engine. Yes, yes, yes! Wouldn’t we all like to see an all-new edition — and especially a true ADV middleweight option — from Honda?

Because by now we all know displacement does not make the adventure. While some riders want more power, zero riders crave a heavier bike. What’s always more important than output is how we feel on the bike, especially as we explore new skills and venture further from the main roads. However, with bikes like KTM’s new 790 Adventure R entering the middleweight arena boasting comparable engine output and better off-road performance than the current Africa Twin, and for just about the same dough, Honda has its work cut out.

Autoby has a reputation for getting these Honda predictions right, so in the spirit of more choices are better, let’s all light a mental candle that this 850cc Africa Twin rendering materializes into a real bike in the next year or two. Better yet, that it’s in the same mold as the new-gen middleweights and comes to the market with the reliability we know Honda is capable of, and the affordable pricing that made the company one of the world’s most highly-regarded brands.

Author: Jamie Elvidge

Jamie has been a motorcycle journalist for more than 30 years, testing the entire range of bikes for the major print magazines and specializing in adventure-travel related stories. To date she’s written and supplied photography for articles describing what it’s like to ride in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries, receiving two Lowell Thomas Society of American Travel Writer’s Awards along the way. Her most-challenging adventure yet has been riding in the 2018 GS Trophy in Mongolia as Team AusAmerica’s embedded journalist.

 21 Comments Tags: Africa Twin, CRF850L, Honda

Author: Jamie Elvidge

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21 thoughts on “Rumors of Smaller 850cc Honda Africa Twin Spring Out of Japan”

BCTenerizer on June 5, 2019 at 1:22 pm said:

Don’t get me wrong here Jamie – love your writeup flow but three words grabbed my atttention at the beginning and end. First one being “ Burgeoning”, which I had to use Google Dictionaries just to see at what extend you were going with that statement and the last words being “affordable pricing”.
That said, it all depends on where Honda knows where your hanging your helmet and how much money you stuff into your next bike purchase mattress – one where the misses can’t find it lol !
Last fall I was in Melbourne, during the National Football Final, I happen to stroll into one of the main stream bike shops and do some tire kicking. Both models of the AT kicked the ars feathers off a $20K bill less tax, freight, etc. At the time the Aussie $$$ was a few cents less than par with the Canadian Loonie. That said, the same two units in Canada, or BC to be more precise, where going out the door at 4K less. Granted the Melbourne area economy with a population of 5Mil plus is not too shabby.
Overall, Honda may build a model to what riders want but at the end of the day it’s all about show me the money and what where who the market will bear.
Similar with Yamaha and their teasing method on marketing the 700 Tenere !

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- Jamie Elvidge on June 6, 2019 at 9:30 am said:
  
  Tap me anytime for your word of the day! And fingers crossed Japanese manufacturers like Honda can deliver future ADV bikes with pricing low enough to offset some of the challenge riders face re: currency and geography. I live between Canada and California so can totally relate to your observations regarding disparity.
  
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  - BCTenerizer on June 7, 2019 at 12:30 am said:
    
    Re: Disparity – “There is a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in” Leonard Cohen
    Yep will do ! Enjoy the benefit of fresh Cali Avocado while I mourn over a soft squashy $1.99 ea. one up here lol
    
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greenboy on June 5, 2019 at 4:21 pm said:

I’m more interested in weight than I am displacement. 250 dualsports have lousy seats for long pavement travel and are too tall for some people, and are a bit too slow for superslab especially with all the gear one would carry for extended travel. If the KTM 390 Adventure shows up with a spoked-wheel option in the US it might just be enough – if they keep the weight down to what a DR650 weighs or lower. Something 650 or less with decent seat heights and designs, under 400 pounds, six speeds, and good fuel economy – that’s what I want. There’s already too many bloatocycles and their only slightly lighter cousins in the mareketplace!

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- greenboy on June 5, 2019 at 4:53 pm said:
  
  Looks like one of my inevitable typos made it into that post above ; }
  
  Anyway, I have to laugh about the “entry level” and “beginner bike” descriptions that marketing departments, journos and macho forumites alike will cue up in the wake of any new adventure machine that isn’t at least as powerful and fuel-devouring as the recent over-gadgetized, expensive entries to the field. It seems like my WR250R has turned my head around on what is can be practical and pleasurable.
  
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  - AARON on June 6, 2019 at 4:27 pm said:
    
    I really enjoy building your cabinets. Thank you.
    
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Taylor C4 on June 5, 2019 at 7:03 pm said:

Honda should give serious thought to a modern redux of the XR60R; maybe a 600-650 twin with XR style combustion chambers & bumpy cams, FI, & a 6 speed. Stuff it into a chassis similar to the XR-R; shorten it enough to get the seat height under 34-35 inches but still high enough to chew up high speed off road chunk. Call it the Baja Twin, & make it for that crowd with 60-65hp, 4-5 gallons of fuel & a dry weight of 350-365#. Honda, if anyone can pull that off. KTM leaned heavily upon Quinn Cody & Chris Birch for input on the 790, so why not call on Johnny Campbell & company to develop a new XR-R? Are you listening, Big Red?

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- Erik on October 5, 2019 at 8:30 am said:
  
  Absolutely! I’m not sure if it’s feasible anymore to do a large single (because of emissions) but if they could, that would be lighter than a twin. Yamaha’s new Tenere 700 looks to be weighing in at around 450 lbs, and that is just too heavy IMO. I would be happy with a new XR650R single cylinder, fuel injected, six speed tranny, modern suspension and street legal with electric start. Aside from that, they could make it very similar to the previous bike and bring the weight in under 350 lbs.
  
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  - Murilo M on June 26, 2021 at 4:07 am said:
    
    Exato.
    
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- Dan on April 30, 2021 at 1:49 pm said:
  
  Omg can you please go work for Honda, you have just described my ideal motorcycle
  
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Paulo on June 5, 2019 at 11:01 pm said:

For choice alone, yes make it. However, to me the “Africa Twin” is a stand alone bike. Making another one seems silly……three different variants…..noooooo! Sure,I can see the standard 1000L model and a blingie ATAS with all the bells and whistles but this new 850 or whatever it will be……don’t call it an AT……the Dominator or some other new name but AT…….nope…..no way…..unlessss…….it’s going to replace the 1000L model and be a new badass ADV machine to bridge the gap?! That might be better.

As for bridging the gap with the 790 or T7…….those bikes aren’t burning any new gaps, they’re still way too heavy to make someone who really does this stuff say…..yeah, I’m going to take this thing on that single track 450cc dirt bike trail (when they have no real Chris Birch skills). You might do it once and hopefully not scare yourself so bad you stop riding off road all together. These big bikes, KLR all the way up to the KTM 1290R/BMW1250GSA are all the same. The average guy can’t do or tell much of the difference aside from creature comforts and jabber on what the spec sheet reads.

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- Marco Comana on June 6, 2019 at 8:36 am said:
  
  Honda will miss the Mark if they launch this mid size at the 850cc capacity. It shouldn’t be bigger than the old 750. I own a CRF1000LD with DCT, but I would also love a mid size AT750 for everyday
  
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  - Michael T Barnes on June 19, 2019 at 12:17 pm said:
    
    What i want is an entire AT line. Upgrade the big boy to 1100 to compete with BMW and KTM, a 700-750 version (based on the existing NC700 engine), and a 500 with the CB500X engine. I’d sell my V Strom and buy a CRF750L the day it came out 🙂
    
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    - Erik on October 5, 2019 at 8:38 am said:
      
      Yep. In the past, and with their street bikes, Honda has always been very good about offering bikes evenly spaced across the range. But for some reason, when it comes to adventure bikes and dual sports, they now ignore everything between a 250cc beginner bike and a 1,000cc adventure pig. A 500 and 750 would fill out the range nicely and would be the best option for real adventure riders. I would also love to see a mid-displacement single-cylinder dual sport (not the CRF450L dirt bike) that would be a successor to the XR650L or XR650R.
      
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- z zim on August 4, 2019 at 11:31 am said:
  
  but the t7 and 790 rip in the dirt, cross country, multi day adventure bike segment. Like the 2 of these bikes are giving us finally bikes that fit that description. The AT was, is and never has been that bike. The choice of the t7 and 790 are for us adventure riders that ride 1 up, light gear and go multi day fast in the back country. Far better choice for us than all the others. I had wished honda built for the mid size dirt experience and not entered the big, heavy adventure bikes. all ready too many of those. something different is needed. These 2 new bikes fit the bill. Yahoo.
  
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Paul Girard on June 6, 2019 at 5:13 pm said:

Why, Honda, are you not leveraging the 500cc motor you already have.

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z zim on July 31, 2019 at 8:33 am said:

Yes, I agree, a true mid size adventure bike would be nice. If your adventure and/or need to call your bike an adventure bike is so strong that is fine. Most of these big bikes and riders rarely head off road and even then its not tuff off road. I only ever see clean big bikes, tells it all.
My honda AT is nothing close to a mid size bike, As it goes for adventure, a good street adventure yes, it comes only with street tires on it. Good luck thinking they are going to build a smaller version anytime soon.

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roni484 on January 4, 2020 at 5:22 pm said:

I’m wondering when the Africa Twin 850 will be in the market for us to buy, anyone ?

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z zim on March 13, 2020 at 6:45 pm said:

You want to talk ugly, that image is one ugly lucking bike, but yes, just an image at this point. Honda should build a mid size, even if they call their AT a mid size right now at 1000cc and 500lbs. They are missing the adventure market that ktm and yamaha now own. Honda and kawi need to get in. Just please not that ugly thing above. cheers.

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