The Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin may get an engine displacement bump to 1100cc for 2020.
The increase prepares the bike for Euro 5 standards.
Also, middleweight adventurers produce the same power as the current Africa Twin.
Motor Cycle News Australia’s networks of spies found that the Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin may be upsized to 1100cc for 2020.
Their Japanese sources claim that the next generation of the Africa Twin will see a capacity upgrade from 998cc to 1080cc. There’s a gain of 5.4 hp along with the upsizing. It may not seem a lot but remember that 2020 is when Euro 5 regulations come into effect. The new emission standards will choke many bikes in terms of power.
The rumours also claimed that there’s minor upgrade to its styling. The Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT – please fix the low speed drivability, Honda). Its fuel capacity may increase to 20 liters, while the Adventure Sport edition may retain the 24.2 litre tank. We may also see a new TFT screen.
Yes, Honda wants to take the middle ground between the 1200/1300cc and 800cc adventure bikes, but the middleweights are now producing the same horsepower from smaller engines. That’s before mentioning that the middleweights are lighter and have lower seat heights, too.
Honda truly needs to upgrade the Africa Twin to stay in the fight. Its current 94 hp is on the low side when compared to open-class adventurers, and on par with the middleweight segment. For example, the Triumph Tiger 800 produces the same amount of horsepower, besides the new BMW F 850 GS and KTM 790 Adventure.
Let’s wait for the 2019 Tokyo Motorshow in October.
The Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin pays homage to the Africa Twin of the 90s.
This is Honda’s entrant in the heavyweight dual-sport market.
It’s big and tall, and biased towards off-road riding.
The “Africa Twin” moniker is one of the most celebrated names in motorcycling, so naturally, we were excited when Boon Siew Honda called us to pick up the new Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin.
Origins and Background
During the heydays of the Paris-Dakar Rally, the HRC-built NXR-750 tore up the Saharan dunes to four victories. It was no small feat. Being in the late-80s means there was no gimmickry of the modern bikes.
The first Honda Africa Twin was the XRV650, produced from 1988 to 1989, but the truly iconic XRV750 Africa Twin made its debut in 1989 for 1990 model year.
XRV650 Africa Twin
It is powered by a 752cc, four-sparkplug V-Twin (hence its name) and had all the trappings of an adventure bike including twin large headlamps, long-travel suspension, engine bash plate, wire spoked wheels, semi-off-road tyres. In short, it looked like it just got off the rally and straight into the dealerships.
XRV750 Africa Twin
Although the Africa Twin had stiff competition from the BMW R 100 GS, Yamaha Super Tenere, Cagiva Elefant, et al, the big Honda was a success. In fact, production carried on until 2003.
Introduction to the CRF1000L Africa Twin
Many fans and even motojournalists cheered when Honda announced their plans for a new Africa Twin. Heck, the romantics among us got teary-eyed when they recalled their exploits on the AT in the 90’s.
Designated as the CRF1000L Africa Twin, it’s a dual-sport more oriented towards off-road riding.
The new bike has a slim and tall front profile. Besides that, the front looks like an extended forehead above the tightly arranged headlamps. It’s the “Dakar styling” where a pace note scroller/GPS sits behind screen.
Moving back, the rear part of the bike from the head onwards invokes the profile of the XRV750. This is especially true when you view the back of the fuel tank and seat. Anyhow, we felt that Honda did a great job of amalgamating design elements of the old bike to the new.
Riding the CRF1000L Africa Twin
First impression? Oh my! This thing’s tall! We’ve tested plenty of tall dual-sport bikes, mind you. Of course, the Africa Twin isn’t as tall as motocrossers or enduros but it’s definitely the tallest among dual-sport bikes. Someone had adjusted the rear shock’s preload all the out to lower the rear end, but I still had to hang one leg in the air when I stopped.
I knew I should’ve worn my platform shoes. Just kidding.
However, traffic lights became my No. 1 enemy (for the moment). That’s because I had to first determine if the road was slanting to the left or right, before shifting my buttock and leg out while coming to a stop. The slim profile helped a lot, but the badly adjusted chassis meant that the handlebar was sitting too high up, making the bike feel like it’s carrying bricks on its fuel tank.
We decided to ride it to Kuantan together with the Honda X-Adv.
The engine’s torque was impressive, keeping the engine rolling at low revs at highway speeds. The 998cc parallel-Twin uses a 270oto mimic the firing order of a 90oV-Twin, so a smooth character was expected. It produces 94 bhp and 98 Nm of torque.
The AT picks up speed quick to the sound of a rumbling engine. Small pops accompanied the DCT upshifts.
But we wished the front end has a little more high-speed stability and the handlebar moved around at higher speeds. We could expect this of dual-sport bikes with high handlebars but the AT’s moved the most. Then again, this bike is biased towards off-roading.
As such, it didn’t like being slammed into corners. You need to brake and release early, coast a bit to let the chassis settle down before turning in. Similarly, you need to be super smooth with the gas during the lean to straight up transition. Being throttle happy will send the handlebar waggling back and forth.
These handling traits disappear when the road turns to no road. There’s a large button marked with a “G” (for gravel) right next to the instrument panel. Pressing that switches into gravel ride mode and the corresponding levels of electronic intervention.
The softly sprung suspension absorbed the bumps easily and the bike seemed to float. Again, the bike’s slim waist was advantageous as it lets you move around while standing up.
However, it still felt top heavy for me. It possibly has to do with my height. At 167cm, I’m probably too small for the bike. A person from 180cm and up ought to reap the benefits of its ergonomics.
DCT (Dual-Clutch Transmission)
Oh yes, the test unit was fitted with Honda’s proprietary DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission). It’s actually a semi-automatic/semi-manual gearbox. The rider could select D (Drive), S (Sport) or M (Manual). N (Neutral) position needs to be selected manually.
Shifting is via toggles on top and below the left switch cluster.
In D, the bike drives like a giant scooter. The transmission takes care of the upshifts and downshifts automatically. The rider can intervene at any time, but it upshifts early for smooth power and fuel savings
In S, shifting is still automatic but it will hold on to a gear until peak torque before shifting up. The gearbox will downshift when a certain limit is reached, and it will blip the throttle automatically. The rider can also intervene at any time.
In M, the rider is in charge of gear selection. The engine will also auto-blip the throttle when downshifting.
Riding the Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin with DCT
Just like the VFR1200, the Africa Twin with DCT doesn’t feature a clutch lever and gear lever. This is when you have re-learn how to ride a motorcycle.
Using the fully automatic “D” feature was convenient but bear in mind that it shifts when you least expected it to. Like upshifting in the middle of a corner or downshift when you’re rolling to a stop. We found out the hard way.
DCT Lesson No. 1
I was riding with my wife as the pillion. The transmission was in D-mode, 2ndgear as I filtered past two rows of cars. It suddenly kicked down to 1stgear without warning. But since there was no clutch lever, it felt like the engine had cut out, followed by that sickening feeling of a bike toppling over.
There was a BMW 3-Series on our left, but thankfully my reflex kicked in and I pushed out my left elbow which landed on the car’s driver side window. It held the bike up from falling onto his car!
So, lesson learned. I tried S-mode for a while then decided to just use M-mode anytime I ride.
DCT lesson No. 2
Nearing my house, I shifted into 1st(you can’t shift into N when the bike’s moving) and stopped to let a car pass. I reapplied a little bit of throttle to drive the bike up to my gate.
BUT! The engine “caught” like what happens when you release the clutch lever with no engine RPM. It put out a “CLACK!” Again, no clutch lever. My reflex tried to reopen the throttle but it didn’t catch. The bike went over on the right side like a poor tree while blasts of profanities violated my neighbours’ ears. And I swear I didn’t touch the brakes!
It meant that you can’t pussyfoot with the throttle.
Conclusion
We know, it sounds like we didn’t enjoy ourselves with the Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin. But we assure you that it was okay 75% of the time. It was too bad that the DCT and height needed too much concentration.
It’s a nice bike to ride if you’re an Africa Twin and Honda fan, not bad if otherwise.
The caveat is you need some time to learn it, especially if you opt for the DCT version. Besides that, the ergonomics really need some getting used to as it’s rather different from other dual-sport bikes we’ve ridden.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE
ENGINE TYPE
2-cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC, 8-valve, liquid-cooled, parallel-Twin with 270o crankshaft
DISPLACEMENT
998 cc
BORE x STROKE
92.0 mm x 75.1 mm
POWER
93.8 hp @ 7,500 RPM
TORQUE
98 Nm @ 6,000 RPM
COMPRESSION RATIO
N/A
TRANSMISSION
Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT)
FUEL SYSTEM
Electronic fuel injection with ride-by-wire throttle
CLUTCH
Multiple-plate wet clutch with slipper feature
CHASSIS
FRAME
N/A
FRONT SUSPENSION
Showa cartridge-type upside down ø 45 mm forks, adjustable for preload, compression damping and rebound damping
REAR SUSPENSION
Monoshock with Pro-Link Arm, remote gas reservoir, remote preload adjuster, adjustable for rebound damping
SUSPENSION TRAVEL FRONT/REAR
252 mm / 240 mm
FRONT BRAKE
2x radially-mounted 4-piston monobloc calipers, ø 310 mm floating discs
REAR BRAKE
1X single-piston floating caliper, ø 260 mm brake disc
Boon Siew Honda has launched the CB1000R and CB250R as part of their Neo Sports Café lineup.
The two new bikes augment the X-ADV and Africa Twin as part of Boon Siew Honda’s Big Bike offerings.
The CB1000R is priced from RM 74,999 and CB250R from RM 22,999 (basic selling price with 0% GST).
Malaysian Honda motorcycles distributor, Boon Siew Honda, has just launched the Neo Sports Café lineup – the CB1000R and CB250R.
The launch event also served as an occasion for BSH to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri with members of the media. It is a tradition that BSH has observed throughout the years and to spice things up even further, the media was treated to riding the CB1000R, CB250R, X-ADV and CRF1000L Africa Twin at the Sepang International Circuit.
In his speech, Mr. Keiichi Yasuda, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Boon Siew Honda revealed that the company had received overwhelming response for the Africa Twin and X-ADV – which became the catalyst to introduce the Neo Sports Café bikes.
Safety briefings from both BSH’s riding instructor and SIC’s clerk of course followed Mr. Yasuda’s speech and we were then ushered to the paddock downstairs for a short product introduction and briefing.
The briefing centred primarily around the Africa Twin and X-ADV as they were both with Honda’s proprietary Dual-Clutch Transmission (DCT). The DCT on both bikes could perform as fully automatic, more “aggressive” SPORT auto and manual by way of push buttons on the left handlebar.
X-ADV
I drew the X-ADV on our first trip out. I had ridden this bike around in Pattaya, Thailand and found it to be superb around the congested city. I left the transmission in “D” (for “DRIVE” as in fully automatic just like in a car) while I concentrated on navigating through heavy traffic and throngs of tourists.
Of course, it looks like scooter with some offroad capability thrown in, but truth is, the X-ADV is a motorcycle of a different concept. It’s a bike that’s meant to go anywhere and does it in seamless fashion. Honda’s copywriting blurb says that it’s “A motorcycle that thinks it’s an SUV.”
Since we were given only three laps per bike here at SIC, I decided to just keep in “D,” too. Well, it was also because I kept finding the horn button through my race gloves, instead.
Out of the pits and into Turn One, the X-ADV felt strange initially. It turned out that I was trying to trail brake into the corner.
Anyhow, it didn’t take long to learn the bike and I was already speeding into Turn Five with the throttle held open. But when I let of the gas to set up for Turn Six, the transmission downshifted almost imperceptibly, and I had the right amount of power at the exit.
It was just a seamless piece of cloth as I blasted down the front straight (it’s a 750cc bike, by the way). The brakes were superbly strong as I braked for Turn One. It was as easy as that. The X-ADV touched down its centrestand through Turn Two but there was lots of cornering clearance, overall.
And it’s NOT a scooter!
CRF1000L AFRICA TWIN
Just like the X-ADV, I’ve also ridden the ‘Twin before but that one had a “normal” gearbox. The first thing I noticed about this one was the low seat height which took me by surprise.
Then I did a noob thing: I tried to grab the “clutch lever” but it was waaay further than the reach of my fingers. The group was about to leave the pits, so I waved my arms around like one of Caesar’s friends (as in Caesar in Planet of the Apes). The Honda guys ran over and stifled their laughter as they told me, “That’s the parking brake for uphill.” Ooooh-kaaay.
Now, a noob thing #2. I started searching for the gear pedal. The same guy saw it and told me to shift using the up and down buttons on the left switch cluster. I tried dabbing at them with my stiff gloves and found the horn again. So, yes, I decided to leave it in D.
The Africa Twin may have more cc’s than the X-ADV but it got going a lot smoother. The suspension was also much softly damped and I could feel that as I started braking for Turn One. However, while I could feel the rear swingarm moving up and down to cope with the cornering forces, the good news was the bike didn’t wallow like an old KL taxi.
Riding the Africa Twin with DCT was so easy perhaps anyone could do it. Accelerate, brake, turn, repeat.
Through this first experience, I could safety assume that the bike was geared mainly for the dirt, hence the soft suspension. Its power character was also on the softer and smoother side. Not that you couldn’t push it on tarmac, but it kind of defeats the bike’s real mission in life. As for the DCT, it should take the workload off the rider while he concentrates on negotiating the trail.
Please click on the link below for the prices of the X-ADV and Africa Twin.
Now, we’re talking! VROOOM! VROOOOM! Yeah, heh heh. The exhaust note was raunchy enough it could be heard through my Arai and racing earplugs. It’s probably one of the few bikes which the owner doesn’t have to bin the stock exhaust.
The styling was definitely a funky mix of new and old elements, hence Neo Sports.
The engine is derived from an old CBR1000RR Fireblade and has a longer stroke. It produces 143 bhp at 7500 RPM and 104 Nm of torque at 8250 RPM.
In SPORT mode, the bike charged ahead but it did so very smoothly. Its engine braking was equally as smooth without robbing you of corner rolling speed. The suspension and seat were equally comfortable.
Despite being comfy, the CB1000R could be hustled through corners with ease, even at the narrow Turns Two and Four. It flicked over with hardly any steering input.
But it did fly down the straight. Braking hard for Turn One, I was surprised to find a lack of fork dive. I only found out later that the forks are Showa’s new Separate Function Fork – Big Piston (SFF-BP).
I was just starting to have fun when Ahmad Zakhwan, our lead marshal waved us into the pits. Sheesh.
CB250R
This is gonna be awkward, I thought. I should’ve started on this one instead of the progressively bigger bikes.
But it felt so good to ride a lightweight bike as soon as the clutch went out. The single-cylinder engine revved very quickly without much vibration. Just as the rest I’ve tested earlier, the suspension may be on the softer side but it didn’t mean the bike was going to squirm around.
And since it was so light, I just chucked it into all the corners in a gear too high. The engine was also super smooth for a single and didn’t feel like it was being revved to destruction despite hitting the rev limiter a few times. I had so much fun I actually missed the checkered flag and had to circulate for one extra lap.
But the best thing about it was just amazingly easy it was to ride. Coupled with the low seat height, beginners will find it easily accessible.
In closing, all four bikes were great and showcased Honda’s attention to detail and quality. All panels joined uniformly, the paint quality was consistently good for all four bikes.
But I couldn’t wait to fully review the CB1000R at a later date.
Honda telah memecahkan rekod dunia untuk altitud tertinggi didaki oleh motosikal silinder berkembar menggunakan Africa Twin terbarunya
Sepasukan berlima mendaki Nevado Ojos del Salado, gunung berapi aktif tertinggi di dunia yang terletak antara Argentina dan Chile
Fabio Mossini, Juara Dunia enduro dari pasukan perlumbaan Sud America Honda menunggang Africa Twin sehingga ke ketinggian yang memecah rekod, iaitu 5,965 meter di atas paras laut
Honda has broken the world record for highest altitude reached by a twin-cylinder motorcycle using their new Africa Twin
A team of five climbed the Nevada Ojos del Salado, the world’s highest active volcano situated between Argentina and Chile
Fabio Mossini, world enduro champion from Honda’s Sud America race team took the Africa Twin all the way to the record breaking height 5,965 metres above sea level
The Honda Africa Twin has been hailed as one of the greatest adventure bikes of our generation. And a full year after its hugely successful world debut, the Africa Twin has reached even greater heights by breaking the record for the highest altitude reached by a twin-cylinder motorcycle. This achievement was also made possible thanks to Metzeler’s new off-road MC 360™ tires on the Africa Twin and CRF450RX. CLICK HERE to know more about Metzeler’s side of this momentous feat. (more…)
New upgrades with a weight reduction of around 7kg
Horsepower increase to 98hp
Revised bodywork with new parts
Honda has released their latest version of the highly successful CRF1000 aka the Africa Twin Rally. This news came to being after a European publication at www.moto.it revealed the somewhat leaked but highly probable news. (more…)
