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Since it’s showcased at the last year Delhi Auto Expo, an ideal adventure tourer from Japanese giant- the Honda Africa twin never missed from being in hot-lines. The firm’s first announcement of launching this hardcore off-roader soon in the second half of 2016, kept the upcoming 1000cc adventure motorcycle in the news.
Further, the launch postpone declaration by Mr. YS Guleria, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, HMSI, till the mid of 2017 was the major reason to maintain the Honda Africa Twin in headlines almost by the end of last year. The major cause of consecutive delays in the launch of the motorcycle was the kits and parts-study time to develop them for the assembling in India. And, further, an earthquake incident in Japan completely disturbed not only the Africa Twin but also other projects simultaneously which were also on the assembly line at Hamamatsu manufacturing unit.
Last month, the Africa Twin has officially been confirmed to launch in India in mid-2017. Here, it will hit the sea-shores through the completely knocked down route and will further be assembled locally like its middleweight sports bike, Honda CBR650F. Reportedly, only the top end variant of the motorcycle furnished with an automatic gearbox transmission will be provided for the Indian market.
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Developed on a steel semi-double cradle type frame bolted with high-tensile strength steel rear sub-frame, the Africa Twin propels with the aids of a 998cc, four-stroke, liquid-cooled Parallel Twin engine placed under the fuel tank. The engine is capable of generating 94 bhp of maximum power at 7,500 revs per minute and transmitting 98Nm of peak torque at 6,000 rpm. The engine is in association with a six-speed DCT(dual clutch automatic) gearbox, which will be offered with an ON and OFF modes.
Dimension-wise, the bike measures 2,335mm in length, 875 mm in width and 1,475 mm in height and has an excellent wheelbase of 1,575 mm to maintain balance easily onto the rough and uneven terrain. A 23 liters fuel capacity tank is also there to end up the frequent need of fuel filling. The durable suspension setup comprises Upside-Down front forks which allow nine-inch distance travel while the rear placed adjustable mono shock allows 8.7-inch travel. For safety, braking duties will be taken care by 310 mm dual disc brakes at the front wheel and 256 mm single disc brake assembly at the rear wheel.
Post launch, the Honda Africa Twin will compete with the Kawasaki Versys 1000 and Suzuki V-Strom 1000, in this litre-class adventure touring segment.
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