MAKE WAY FOR AFRICA TWIN
Honda’s highly capable CRF1000L goes on sale in the country
IT HAS BEEN A LONG WAIT SINCE AUTO Expo 2016, when Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) announced the arrival of the Africa Twin. And now this highly capable dual-purpose adventure bike is here, bearing a price tag of Rs 12.90 lakh (ex-Delhi).
The Africa Twin, also known as CRF1000L, is the successor to the famous Africa Twin model that was first produced in the late 1980s. Back then it was called the XRV650 and was followed by a more powerful variant, called the XRV750, which featured a 742-cc V-twin motor. However, the latest Africa Twin features a 999-cc liquid-cooled, parallel-twin motor that produces 88 PS and 91.1 Nm. In India, the Africa Twin will be available with the sixspeed, dual-clutch automatic transmission, also known as DCT, and not the standard sixspeed gearbox.
Unlike the modern day, go-anywhere adventure machines that are big, bulky, and quite intimidating, the Africa Twin is sleek, less intimidating and more rider-friendly. The construction is more like a big off-road bike rather than a full-blown adventure motorcycle. And it is this very design that gives it extra agility and manoeuvrability.
The Africa Twin features a steel, semi-double cradle frame and a high-tensile strength steel rear sub-frame. The adjustable 45-mm front upside-down forks (USD) are from Showa and feature 228 mm of travel. At the rear, Honda have fitted an adjustable prolink monoshock with 221 mm of travel. The front 21-inch wirespoke wheel is shod with 90/90 tube-type tyre and at the rear a wider but smaller 150/70 tyre covers the 18-inch wire wheel.
The Africa Twin weighs in at 242 kg (ready to ride), which is considerably lighter than what some of its competition weigh. It also comes with a full electronics package that includes Honda Selectable Torque Control System, traction control, ABS, LED headlight, and a multi-functional instrument console.
The aforementioned features make the Africa Twin a highly tempting adventure bike option; however, HMSI have announced that the current bookings are open only for the first 50 customers, adding that if the demand goes up, they might bring in more units.