1601 DT final

Electronic wizardry:
The DCT version has no gear lever,
although one is available as an optional
extra… everyone smiled when they heard
that! It also doesn’t have a clutch lever.
It does have strong looking enduro
type plastic handlebar protectors, the
instrument panel is easy to read and
electronically shows everything you need
to know, including the riding mode settings
and other normal stuff like the time, your
speed, water temp, fuel and the rest. It
has another nice feature to help the rider
remember exactly what setting he has
chosen. On the left handlebar control there
are the dim and bright headlight switch,
indicator toggle, and a headlamp flasher,
as well as the hooter. Normal so far. Then
it also has a spring loaded toggle in front
operated by a flick of your pointing finger,
and one on the back to press with your
thumb. They both fall very naturally in
place, and the rider is able to change gears
manually. Simply flick a finger or thumb to
move up or down through the conventional
6 speed gearbox. The changes are
absolutely instant and as smooth as silk.
No rider can possibly hope to match them
manually with conventional controls. On
the right hand cluster you find the normal
starter button and kill switch and a rocker
switch marked S and M… you guessed it -
sport and manual.
In manual mode the bike works exactly
like the manual version, and holds the
selected gear to whatever rpm you want
(although a rev limiter kicks in just over the
red line) it will also change down to a lower
gear any time you select one, even if you
do so at too high a speed for the lower
gear. Select “S” and a little bar graph pops
up on the instrument panel. Lightly tap
the rocker lever and each time you do so
it adds or subtracts a bar. One bar is for
automatic in sport mode, for riding briskly
but conservatively, flick it to two bars and
it changes gears a bit higher up in the rev
range for more spirited riding. Select three
bars and have the full power available from
the excellent parallel twin motor. In this
mode the rider controls the bike entirely
through the throttle and the brakes, and
it automatically changes gears at exactly
the right time. Race your mate and ride
very aggressively and it even knows to
change down two gears as you get to a
sharp corner. If by some chance it has
selected too low a gear for that particular
corner it instantly and smoothly flicks
into the right gear. How does it do that?
Well you will have to ask Honda. If you
remember, because it is just so much fun.
Maybe you still don’t trust all this
electronic trickery? No problem, you can
EASY TO USE CONTROLS
The switchgear for both manual and DCT
machine has been designed to improve rider
control and ease of use. The dash functions are
controlled from a button on the left switchgear,
as is control of HSTC, with the indicator switch
set closer to the handlebar. The right hand
switchgear has an integrated start/engine stop
switch, plus a hazard light button.
To manage the CRF1000L Africa Twin in DCT form
the left switchgear incorporates an ‘up’ shift
trigger on its rear – in a place naturally found
by a forefinger – with the ‘down’ shift trigger on
the front ready for a thumb. The right switchgear
features an AT/MT (automatic/manual) select
button and N-D-S (neutral, drive, sport) switch.
The parking brake is operated by pulling a lever
on the left handlebar, with four levels of braking
force to suit conditions – up to an 18% gradient
with two people and full load – and slipping
on the small lock lever; it’s taken off by simply
squeezing the lever. A plastic guard shields the
parking brake caliper and rear disc.
manually override the automatic mode any
time you like and manually select the gear
you think you need. In general it’s more like a
comfort blanket when you do so, and as you
get more used to it the less you will over-ride
it. If you choose the optional extra foot gear
lever you can use this instead of the toggle
switch to change gear. Quite honestly it’s just
not worth the bother, because in less than
100 meters you will have forgotten about a
foot gear change anyway.
If you think that’s all space age
technology which sounds too good to be
true, there’s even more. The electronics
employ some smart technology which
analyses your riding style over a very short
distance, and it adjusts the way the bike
performs accordingly. For instance if you
deliberately select the most aggressive
sport three mode, but ride more gently
and conservatively than the sport mode is
capable of, it will automatically reprogram
itself to suit your riding style. Alternatively
DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE JANUARY 2016 4 9
1601 DT Africa Twin.indd 49 2015/12/16 9:41 AM