The Honda CRF1000L, more popularly known as the Africa Twin, is one adventure motorcycle that can be ridden pretty much over every terrain out there. Officially revealed in July 2015, the Africa Twin has officially arrived in India at the ongoing Auto Expo.
What is it?
The Africa Twin will be Honda’s second ‘Made in India’ big bike for the Indian market which means one can expect it to be priced competitively. It is powered by a 1,000cc parallel-twin engine which is rather compact thanks to the four-valve Unicam head design borrowed from the CRF250R and CRF450R. The engine develops 94bhp and 98Nm of torque and is mated to either a six-speed manual gearbox, or a six-speed dual clutch transmission. Although these figures may seem pale when compared to the Africa Twin’s rivals, the performance should be more than adequate even for serious off-roading.
Is it special?
Despite fierce competition from pretty established rivals, the Africa Twin looks and feels special and features plenty of rider aids. There’s Honda’s selectable torque control system that can be adjusted in three modes, to alter the power delivery according to the rider’s preference, ABS and most important of all – a dual-clutch automatic transmission.
When is it coming?
Although Honda hasn’t made the launch date official, we expect the Africa Twin to arrive in India by second half of this year. When launched, it will compete with the BMW R1200GS as its arch rival.
