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Honda to bring forth new and smaller Africa Twin by October 2019?

Michelle Liew

December 6, 2017

Photo credits: Honda Powersports

The Honda Africa Twin is certainly one of the greatest adventure bikes that you can think of. It’s the type of motorcycle that screams no regrets when taken for travelling and make your journey into memorable escapades.

Behind the sugar-coating is the fact that the bike may be a little big and bulky according to certain preferences and it may be difficult for riders for A2 licenses. Not to mention, its price is much inclined to the expensive side.

Photo credits: ADV Pulse

However, all those problems may just be resolved with several other models available by Honda. The CRF250L (and Rally), CB500X, NC750X, and NC800X are more A2-friendly and fills in the gaps of what the Africa Twin could not.

“When we speak about pure adventure, we don’t have such a wide line up”, says Kenji Morita, Large Project Large for the Africa Twin as quoted from MCN.

“And yes, we are thinking of putting a half-way model in to attract younger people. We will develop this bike, but it’s not something we are working on right now.”

Photo credits: Honda Powersports

Does this call for a mini replica of the Africa Twin? If so, what could the brand possibly bring forth? One of the questions raised are as to the engine choice of the bike.

The firm has mentioned that they are not working on the smaller capacity bike as of now and with a smaller bike in the picture, there might be a boost in capacity and the delivery in terms of horsepower for the Africa Twin. Nonetheless, all those speculation has been shut down by Honda.

“In terms of pure horsepower, then yes some of our competitors have more, but for us this is not what we have in mind,” adds Morita. “Our intention is to have the right amount of horsepower that customers actually use when in real riding situations. If we just want to increase horsepower it’s easy but when you do that, you lose something – the bike gets heavier, it vibrates more, it’s hotter and you lose the balance we are looking for. We experimented with power delivery at different rpm ranges and the best happened to be 100hp.”

The new bike may be revealed in 2019, possibly at the Tokyo Motor Show in October. However as of now, it’s best to stay tuned with the updates from Honda.