Honda confirms CRF1000L Africa Twin for 2015

Honda has announced the return of one of motorcycling’s legendary names – the Africa Twin – with the return of the all-new CRF1000L Africa Twin later this year in Europe.

The original Africa Twin, or Honda XRV750, was launched in December 1989 and based on the NXR750, which won the Paris-Dakar rally four times in the late ‘80s. The XRV750 Africa Twin was in production till 2003 and was, in fact, the successor to the even earlier XRV650 Africa Twin.

Honda says the new 2016 Africa Twin will have all the attributes of the original XRV650 Africa Twin produced by Honda Racing Corporation in 1988 and 1989, as well as its successor the XRV750, which in a way is synonymous with adventure motorcycling as is known today.

The Africa Twin remains a much sought after adventure bike renowned the world over for its dual-sport capability.  It became the benchmark for adventure touring and featured a 742cc, six-valve, liquid cooled V-twin engine producing just over 60PS and 63Nm of torque.

The new CRF1000L Africa Twin is based on the True Adventure concept showcased by Honda at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan last year. And from the looks of it, this one won’t have a V-Twin but a 1000cc parallel-twin. Honda hasn’t divulged any further details about the powerplant or the CRF1000L Africa Twin’s features, but says the new bike will be equipped with an optional dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT), which has been specifically developed and optimised for off-road use.

Honda has sold over 35,000 DCT-equipped motorcycles in Europe since it was first introduced in 2010 and in 2015 more people (about 53 per cent of the total) have chosen the DCT over a standard manual transmission on models where it is featured as an option.

“The all-new CRF1000L Africa Twin is set to redefine expectations of just what a large-capacity adventure motorcycle can and should be capable of, both on and off-road,” Honda says in a press release.

The adventure motorcycle space is going to get quite interesting indeed. The new CRF1000L will go up against the likes of BMWR1200GS, the KTM 1190 Adventure, Yamaha Super Tenere, Ducati Multistrada and the Triumph Tiger Explorer.