Honda Africa Twin prices and variant details officially revealed

After an accidental leak which revealed most of the details about the bike, Honda has officially unveiled the CRF1000L adventure bike, more popularly known as the Africa Twin. Priced at EUR 12,100 (Rs 8.60 lakh), Honda has somehow managed to undercut its rivals, the BMW R1200GS and the KTM 1190 Adventure in the European market by a significant margin.

The Honda CRF1000L will be available in three versions - Standard, ABS and DCT-ABS. It gets a minimalist design, which seems inspired by the current CRF range of dirt bikes. The front gets a twin headlamp assembly and a tall windscreen. The CRF1000L comes with seat height adjustment for the rider, which allows the seat height to be adjusted between 850mm and 870mm.

The 1,000cc parallel-twin engine gets compact overall dimensions, thanks to the four-valve Unicam head design borrowed from the CRF250R and CRF450R bikes. The engine puts out a modest 94bhp and 98Nm of torque through either a six-speed manual gearbox, or a six-speed dual clutch transmission. Though these figures might seem pale in comparison to what the Africa Twin’s rivals make, the performance should be more than enough to keep you entertained during serious off-roading. The Africa Twin gives you the option of retaining the full functionality of the ABS for the front wheel, while deactivating it for the rear one. This should allow the rider to have fun while maintaining a safety margin. The Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC) system can be adjusted in three modes, to alter the power delivery according to the rider’s preference.

The Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin will go on sale late in this year, as a 2016 model. We can expect the bike to be formally launched in one of the motorcycle shows, this year. It will be available in four liveries - CRF rally, tricolour, silver, and black.