Honda Africa Twin Std

What’s Good

The new Honda Africa twin is available in India with full automation form. The bike is in a global lineup as an adventure bike with an instinct of off-road characteristics based on the purebred dual purpose and rally-oriented basis. The bike looks extremely daunting in victory red shade. The stylo of the bike looks mesmerizing with a tall pose, a pair of LED headlights mounted by a typical windscreen, a high ground clearance, and large & spoked wheels measuring a 21-inch at the front and 18-inch at the rear. The bike looks cool and block the passersby with its slim and lithe appearance. The instrument panel adopted with the back-lit panel and best readability feature in this segment. You will get all-digital setup, different read-out at the fuel gauge, traction control, gear position indicator, fuel consumption, digital odometer, and ambient air temperature. Some of the attraction are:

• Victory red shade
• LED headlights with wide windscreen
• High ground clearance
• Large and spoked wheels
• All digital setup
• Gear position indicator
• Ambient air temperature

Power And Mileage

The bike has dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT). Internationally, it has a traditional six-speed manual transmission or six-speed DCT and India-spec has the automatic only. The bike has a completely new engine which is powered by 999.11cc parallel-twin motor. The engine utilizes a 270-degree crank which generates an intense howling and assists in producing a better experience for traction control at the rear end. The bike is able to churn out a maximum power of 87 BHP at a 7,500RPM and maximum torque of 91.1 Nm at 6,000 RPM. The delivery of power is consistent and performance is firm, which performs well with the humble number of engine and heavyweight. Some of the attractions are:

• Dual Clutch Automatic Transmission
• Six-speed transmission
• A 999.11 cc engine
• Maximum power of 87 BHP at 7,500RPM
• Maximum torque of 91.1 Nm at 6,000 RPM
• Heavyweight

Handling And Riding

Honda CRF1000L Africa twin utilizes a steel semi-double cradle, dedicated from the CRF 450 Rally. The wheel size also same which has large 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels. Tyres of the bike are from Dunlop and have a thin 90/90 section at the front and 150/70 section at the rear end. The tyres setup makes the bike one of the off-road machines in India. It has a softly sprung Showa suspension and has a 230 mm front and a 220 mm rear control. An automatic gearbox is there to help in the situation of deactivating traction control and ABS for better operability experience. The level up mounting of airbox and intake makes the bike to cross some deep water crossings on the road.

Maintenance

The Honda strongly recommend maintenance by trained and equipped technician or by Honda workshops. The maintenance is necessary to keep the bike perform well throughout. We need to follow some precautionary steps as mentioned in the manual like place the bike on side-stand, allow the engine to idle for 2-3 minutes when start and stop, hold bike upfront on level grounds, and much more. It is advisable to inspect, clean, lubricate, and adjust drive chain on completion of respective km covered.

Safety

Bike performances amazingly well in providing better safety features. The bike has ABS control which is able to control the operability of the bike. The traction control system helps the bike to prevent the loss of tractions and goes well with soft spring Showa suspension.

Verdict

Overall, the bike is super adventures and worth the price of Rs. 13.06 lakh (ex-showroom, India). It doesn’t have ride-by-wire throttle but the equipment setup is enough to perform an excellent off-road ability. So before making the purchase decision, just plan a test ride of Africa twin and get what is expected from the bike.