Used test: 2016 HONDA CRF1000L AFRICA TWIN Ready for anything
The original Africa Twin production machine was built to celebrate Honda’s success in the arduous Dakar Rally. Derived from the factory-backed NXR750 race machines which won the event four times, the high-spec 57bhp, 647cc, 52°V-twin powered HRC-built XRV650 Africa Twin road bike was introduced in 1988. Two years later, the better known mass-produced 750 went on sale. Making 60bhp, the 742cc, 52°V-twin engined adventure bike proved to be a great all-rounder. But as we were still sportsbike mad back then, few were ever sold here in the UK. In 1993 it was given a makeover, benefiting from a new frame, bodywork, bigger fuel tank and engine modifications. The Africa Twin wasn’t altered substantially again before it was discontinued in 2003. Running alongside it for a while, the XL1000V Varadero, launched in 1999, never proved quite as popular. Even an update in 2003 couldn’t save the Varadero, and sales remained poor until it went out of production in 2010.
At that time, the success of adventure bikes had become very well established, with a particular German-built machine topping UK sales charts. It took until 2011 for Honda to make a serious attempt to get back into the class and produce the VFR800X Crossrunner. The following year saw the arrival of the VFR1200X Crosstourer. Both bikes were steady sellers and it wasn’t until 2016 before the modern-day version of the Africa Twin,
