Trail – Africa Twin 2018 test: looking for a new model, Adventure Sports if affinities – Africa Twin test page 1: change of track?

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Africa Twin 2018 test: looking for a new model, Adventure Sports if affinities

Trail - Africa Twin 2018 test: looking for a new model, Adventure Sports if affinities - Africa Twin test page 1: change of track?

Honda successfully revived the Africa Twin line in 2016 with a finely crafted CRF1000L. In 2018, the world number one updates its maxitrail and offers a more adventurous version (re) named "Adventure Sports". MNC tested both … Tests !

Africa Twin test page 1: track change ?

The Africa Twin was resurrected exactly two years ago at Honda, in the form of an all-new 1000cc trail. A new motorcycle halfway between the 800 and the 1200 cc, and deliberately far removed from the over-equipped and completely "electronic" trails of the competition, especially in Europe….

  • Video :

Seduced by this mid-size motorcycle and its simple and effective strategy – get to the point! – Site had quickly compared the new CRF1000L to the two "mid-size" and "maxi" references of the trail segment: the Tiger 800 (XCx more precisely) and the R1200GS (all options, naturlich).

  • Africa Twin, Tiger 800 XCX and R1200GS comparative test :

In short: the new Honda 2016 had then seriously jostled its English and German rivals thanks to its irreproachable cycle part, its versatility to all tests (city, road, highway, paths!) And its Twin at the same time flexible, sober and alive! And a year later, Le Journal moto du Net pitted the 2017 Africa Twin against its rivals Multistrada and V-Strom 1000.

  • Comparative test Multistrada 950, Africa Twin and V-Strom 1000 :

Trail - Africa Twin 2018 test: looking for a new model, Adventure Sports if affinities - Africa Twin test page 1: change of track?

Introducing the press launch of the new 2018 model and its Adventure Sports version (both unveiled at the last Eicma show in Milan), the Tokyo Reds are doing the math: "Honda sold 51,000 Africa Twin around the world, including 25,000 in Europe ".

  • Special report on the motorcycle market :

"In France to date, we have sold 4,344 copies", specifies the press manager of Honda France. For comparison, Triumph sold in 2016 and 2017 four times fewer small "tigresses" (925, all versions combined), while BMW distributed twice as many large "Gueesses" (4756 standard and 3362 Adventure)…

Trail - Africa Twin 2018 test: looking for a new model, Adventure Sports if affinities - Africa Twin test page 1: change of track?

For its third year on the market and to eat – snack or devour? – market share to its opponents, the Honda maxitrail is therefore undergoing a first update: "over the past two years, this machine has covered millions of kilometers and we have collected a large number of remarks and comments from the share of its users ", says Kenji Morita, Africa Twin 2018 project manager.

To illustrate the work of ants – red! – accomplished by Morita San and her team, the Honda Motor Europe press manager specifies for example that "the passenger footrest plates are fixed to the frame from below and no longer to the side, in order to improve the driver’s comfort while standing ".

In the same way, playing the game of seven errors, Site notices that the rear brake fluid reservoir migrates a little higher on the frame in order to be less exposed to shocks … No really, the Japanese have the problem. detail !

Trail - Africa Twin 2018 test: looking for a new model, Adventure Sports if affinities - Africa Twin test page 1: change of track?

Renowned for its thoroughness, Honda is also uncompromising on safety and incorporates a new emergency braking warning function in its Africa Twin: "when the speed is greater than 53 km / h, if one of the two brakes is activated and if the deceleration is greater than 6.0 m / s2, the rear indicators start flashing ".

This system similar to the "dynamic brake light" that BMW has been offering on its models since 2015 (!) Also makes the orange LEDs of the Africa Twin flicker in the event of intervention of the ABS. In this case, "the threshold for triggering the emergency braking warning is lowered to 2.5 m / s2", specify the meticulous engineers.

Trail - Africa Twin 2018 test: looking for a new model, Adventure Sports if affinities - Africa Twin test page 1: change of track?

Another new feature in 2018 on the Japanese maxitrail: "the indicators now have an automatic cancellation function" which prevents the stunned from having to travel several kilometers with their flashing light on, which can lead to dangerous misunderstandings !

Another electronic evolution further shields the Africa 2018 sales pitch, with very "trendy" terms such as modes, levels or settings (!): The arrival of the electronic throttle control system TBW (throttle by wire).

The abandonment of the good old cable which officiated on the first generation of CRF1000L (and on the XRV!) Was essential to intervene on the character of the engine, to refine the operation of the traction control and to propose new driving modes on the Honda trail. … but today widely used on the market.

Click in for the rest of the test of the Africa Twin 2018 !

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