Honda Africa Twin launch pushed to second quarter of 2017

Honda surprised everyone with the announcement that the Africa Twin was going to be launched in India as a CKD model. While the litre-class adventure touring bike was supposed to go on sale in 2016, Honda seems to have postponed the launch to second quarter of this year.

Honda has attributed the delay to the damages caused by the earthquake to the company’s factory in Hamamatsu, Japan.The Africa Twin will be locally assembled at Honda’s factory in Manesar, Haryana. It will be Honda’s second locally-assembled big bike in India after the CBR650F. With CKD models falling under a lower tax bracket, the Honda Africa Twin will have an edge in terms of pricing. Nevertheless, we can expect it to feature a price tag in excess of Rs 10 lakh. 

The Africa Twin gets trademark Honda styling and dual LED headlamps, which pay homage to the original Africa Twin from the 1980s. At the heart of the Africa Twin is a 998cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine, which develops 84bhp and 98Nm of torque. Customers can specify the Africa Twin with either a six-speed manual or a dual clutch automatic transmission. It will share market space with the likes of the Triumph Tiger, Suzuki V-Strom 1000, Kawasaki Versys 1000 and the upcoming Ducati Multistrada 950.