31.12.2015 Views

1601 DT final

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

they must have known it was going to be a<br />

winner, but there is no way they could have<br />

known just what an impact it would have. The<br />

directors of Honda in Japan should have a<br />

picture of the men who conceived that bike<br />

and at the door when they come to work<br />

every day, and they should doff their corporate<br />

hats and thank them every morning. And<br />

thank them again when they go home.<br />

Then there was the original Africa Twin.<br />

First produced in 1988 as a 650 V twin<br />

“Adventure Bike” the Africa Twin used the<br />

basic looks and configuration to tackle a<br />

market that was beginning to emerge, mainly<br />

in Europe, for a nimble touring bike that<br />

could tackle unpaved back roads as well as<br />

the paved highways and byways. We can<br />

only guess, but the Honda engineers and<br />

marketing men probably thought that the<br />

very successful XR/XL range was a good<br />

starting point for a bike capable of some<br />

long distance touring, and based the bike<br />

roughly on that range. The original Africa<br />

Twin had spoke wheels, 21” in front, 18’<br />

in the back, long travel suspension and a<br />

fairing copied from the Honda Dakar racers<br />

of the time. The Dakar race was a big thing<br />

already, and Honda used the image of a<br />

cross continental racer to market their new<br />

baby. It was an immediate success, and by<br />

1989 had grown to a 750, still with the V twin<br />

motor. For the next 14 years the Honda Africa<br />

Twin was a strong seller around the world,<br />

and successfully pounded its’ way along<br />

dirt, sand and paved roads across every<br />

continent. It was also just as successful being<br />

used as a commuter in cities everywhere.<br />

Then Honda seemed to get sidetracked.<br />

They stopped production in 2003, and<br />

concentrated on their new adventure bike<br />

offering, the 1000cc Varadero, no doubt<br />

seeing it as the successor to the now ageing<br />

Africa Twin and in line with the more modern<br />

offerings like the V Strom from Suzuki and<br />

the BMW line up. The Varadero however, was<br />

quite a lot different to the Africa Twin, and was<br />

discontinued in 2013.<br />

In the meantime the reputation of the<br />

Africa Twin soared, and even 15 years after<br />

the last one rolled off the production line used<br />

examples change hands for much more than<br />

they sold for when new!<br />

The motorcycling World has also moved<br />

on, and over the past ten years the biggest<br />

sector in motorcycle sales has become the<br />

Adventure Bike market. For many reasons,<br />

not the least being that the baby-boomer<br />

generation that drove the sales of race<br />

replica superbikes like the Fireblade to the<br />

top of the charts were now getting bored<br />

with Superbike culture, not to mention<br />

that their older bones no longer fit into<br />

racer-style riding positions. They happily<br />

embraced the Adventure bike culture and<br />

all the opportunities for a more relaxed<br />

and widespread riding experience it offers.<br />

Honda-men around the world obviously spent<br />

many long hours trying to figure out how one<br />

of the most innovative motorcycle companies<br />

in the world could become a bigger part of<br />

this fast growing market. Somewhere a light<br />

flashed and the answer was obvious.<br />

ALL-TERRAIN<br />

PERFORMANCE<br />

With 98Nm of torque, the Africa Twin is built<br />

to take you all the way from tarmac touring to<br />

off-road rally.<br />

The roaring dual exhaust pipes run from<br />

underneath the bike to the rear.<br />

The new Africa Twin packs an all-new 4-stroke<br />

1000cc parallel twin engine. It has the muscle to<br />

take on extreme off-road environments, offers<br />

smooth comfort for long distance touring, and<br />

sprightly agility for the everyday commute.<br />

Up and down the gears<br />

The standard manual version of the Africa Twin<br />

has a lightweight six-speed manual gearbox that<br />

uses the same shift-cam design found on the<br />

trusty CRF250R/450R – and is equipped with an<br />

assist slipper clutch. Coupled with a large 18.8<br />

litre fuel tank and top fuel efficiency, it has a<br />

range of up to 400km. Enough to get where you<br />

wanted (or weren’t expecting) to go.<br />

44 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE JANUARY 2016<br />

<strong>1601</strong> <strong>DT</strong> Africa Twin.indd 44 2015/12/16 9:41 AM<br />

275x<br />

Zamb

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!