crosstrainingen... We finally get to ride the Honda Africa Twin! A lot of viewers have asked about the big Honda but it's taken a long time to get get a ride. A brief history. The Africa Twin has been around for over 30 years. It began as the XRV 650 v-twin in 1988, a replica of the Dakar-winning NXR750. It was a 750 from 1990 to 2003 then it disappeared. It emerged again in 2016 as the 1000cc parallel twin CRF1000L. Then in 2020 the engine went to 1100cc along with more electronic gadgetry. Welcome to Cross Training Adventure, we are into all things dual sport and adventure on the east coast of Australia. There's an adventure sports model with bigger tank and fairing. And if you don't like changing gears there's also an automatic version with Honda's dual clutch transmission (DCT). The CRF1000L was Honda’s response to the Triumph Tiger, BMW GS1200, and Ducati Multistrada. It aimed to be lighter and more dirt-oriented. Weight? Check out our reviews of various adventure bikes and dual sport bikes. The first model didn't seem to be much lighter than the competition. But most reviewers agreed that as a package the Africa Twin was better off-road. If you like dual sport riding in Australia then you might like our adventure riding vids.
2016 CRF1000L dry weight 220kg (485lb)
2016 BMW GS1200 dry weight 229kg (504lb)
2016 Ducati Multistrada dry weight 209kg (460lb)
2016 Triumph Tiger dry weight 218kg (481lb)
I am no expert when it comes to big adventure motorbikes so I spoke to various owners and read a pile of reviews. There is a very strong consensus about the dirt-nature of the Africa Twin. And I think Toni Bou would agree. The man is a freak of nature and doing some ridiculous stunts on the big Honda. So many adventure models seem to just be road motorbikes with a few adventure trimmings. It's great to have some more off-road oriented motorbikes available. Where does it fit? Personally I'd say it's around here on the spectrum for 1000cc models. Normally a 21 inch front wheel and lots of suspension travel mean a very tall seat height but the Africa Twin is a very reasonable 850 mm (33.5 in) along with a low seat option of 825mm (32.5 in). Reliability? The usual Honda story. There are plenty of Africa Twins with high mileage now and still going strong. That brings us to the known issues. Regular viewers will know we like to be critical so we scoured the internet for regularly reported problems. The 2016 model was a completely new motorbike from the ground up so we did find some known issues. From 2018 to 2020 there was a recall due to possible corrosion from fuel tank welds clogging the fuel filter. Some heavier or more aggressive riders report 'stiction' in the front forks due to the upper bushing wearing the anodized surface. Keen on adventure riding in Australia? Check out our vids. Fork seals occasionally started leaking quite early. Honda wouldn't fix these under warranty as they claimed this would only happen if the rider was doing wheelies. Hmmm. Some riders reported corrosion of bolts, wheels and spokes on earlier models if exposed to salty environments. Honda began coating these components which solved the potential problem. In a small number of cases there are reports of handlebar switches sticking due to dust and water getting past seals. Honda only rates the rack load capacity as 10kg (22lb) so if you plan on carrying a lot of luggage you may need to strengthen the rear sub-frame. Honda used alloy brackets for the footpegs to reduce weight. In a crash these can break so you may want to buy stronger aftermarket parts if you plan on a few crashes. Some riders have reported breakages with aggressive off-road riding too. Some riders find the stock seat okay. Others complain about the lack of comfort. There are plenty of aftermarket seat options around. Earlier models occasionally had sidestand and centre-stand failures due to a weak circlip that wasn't properly heat-treated. What about later models? 2020 and 2021 Africa Twins had a recall due to potential problems with the engine control unit and dual-clutch transmission which affected 1600 models. Would the Africa Twin suit you? If you spend most of your time on highways and occasionally on a smooth dirt road, you will probably prefer the usual road-oriented offerings. But if you want a super reliable big adventure motorbike that is great off-road and still surprisingly good on the highway then the Africa Twin is definitely worth looking at.
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