Photo: Honda
Here is the Africa Twin Adventure Sports Concept, a motorcycle that was recently revealed by the house Tokyo, and which is a more off-road-prone version of the base model Honda brought at EICMA last year. Even though we thought that the all-new CRF1000L was THE adv bike from Honda, here's this new one for a change.
Things are becoming a bit weird in the adventure motorcycle market, as it looks like an increasing number of manufacturers are delivering bikes that are supposed to get the job done, only to come back later with an R, or Adventure, or whatever model that is said to be the real deal.
Most likely, the best example is the differentiation between the R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure models BMW is selling. The standard bikes lost their wire spoked wheels in favor of cast ones that are great for street, but which will not be of much use when the going gets tough.
More examples come from Suzuki with their 650 XT V-and the 1000 Adventure V-Strom, Aprilia Caponord 1200 Rally and, more recently, the Multistrada 1200 Enduro Ducati revealed.
So, hearing about Honda pulling the wraps off the Africa Twin Adventure Sports Concept brought great expectations... that were not exactly met, if you ask us.
The new adv machine looks great, it's true, and the high-performance Termignoni exhaust makes the entire rear section appear way more radical. Most likely, this Dakar-style upswept can also add a bit to the bike's grunt, and a lot to the sound.
But for the rest, we can see a massive bash plate that seems like aluminum, a new, flatter, MX-style seat, a different luggage rack with a tubular metal structure incorporating the grab rails, and a color scheme that looks similar to the tricolor Africa Twin of old. Oh, and there's the knobbies...
If such add-ons are enough to allow someone to say that this is an adventure variation, we reply that maybe Honda should have thought about this in the first place when they revealed the production Africa Twin, right?
Most likely, the best example is the differentiation between the R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure models BMW is selling. The standard bikes lost their wire spoked wheels in favor of cast ones that are great for street, but which will not be of much use when the going gets tough.
More examples come from Suzuki with their 650 XT V-and the 1000 Adventure V-Strom, Aprilia Caponord 1200 Rally and, more recently, the Multistrada 1200 Enduro Ducati revealed.
Add-ons make an adventure bike now?
Africa Twin's base model is a looker, and we haven't met people who said it was ugly or poorly made. Sure, there are the guys who still wait for Honda's middleweight adventure machine, but still, there aren't too many Africana bashers out there.So, hearing about Honda pulling the wraps off the Africa Twin Adventure Sports Concept brought great expectations... that were not exactly met, if you ask us.
The new adv machine looks great, it's true, and the high-performance Termignoni exhaust makes the entire rear section appear way more radical. Most likely, this Dakar-style upswept can also add a bit to the bike's grunt, and a lot to the sound.
But for the rest, we can see a massive bash plate that seems like aluminum, a new, flatter, MX-style seat, a different luggage rack with a tubular metal structure incorporating the grab rails, and a color scheme that looks similar to the tricolor Africa Twin of old. Oh, and there's the knobbies...
If such add-ons are enough to allow someone to say that this is an adventure variation, we reply that maybe Honda should have thought about this in the first place when they revealed the production Africa Twin, right?
Google News