Honda’s CRF1000, when it was originally launched six years ago, was a bit of a rebel. Powered by what was then unique (as in no one else dared produce a big-bore engine in the supposedly lesser parallel-twin format) it was a poke in the eye to the then Boxer and V-twin orthodoxy that dominated big-bore adventure touring. Completely ordinary in concept — that’s me trying to say “bland” politely — it was also modest on the spec sheet: the 2016 Africa Twin boasted but 94 hp, not exactly class-leading even six years ago.
Fast forward seven short years and Honda’s once pilloried parallel-twin is now mainstream, BMW’s mid-sized GS is starting to sell in numbers, KTM’s high-powered twins are gaining much respect and Suzuki has just launch its first all-new engine in some two decades — you guessed it: a 776-cc parallel-twin. What was once disparaged has, in a world now dominated by cost-cutting and ever more stringent emissions standards, become the go-to internal combustion configuration of the future.
A Modest Boost in Power
What has not changed is that the Africa Twin remains, on paper at least, modestly powered. Despite a boost in displacement — thanks to a longer stroke — to 1,084-cc, a 2022 CRF1100 boasts but 101 hp, the seven horsepower gain
