First of all, welcome to the party. Over the course of 12 busy months it can be hard to savour the hits and highlights as they happen, so for us the Motorcycle of the Year award is a welcome chance to revisit and celebrate our favourite bikes.
This year we selected eight wonders: the Kawasaki ZX-10R, the Honda Africa Twin, the Triumph Thruxton R, the Aprilia 1100 Tuono Factory, the MV Agusta Brutale 800, the Ducati XDiavel S, the Yamaha MT-10 and the KTM Super Duke GT. They come from across the spectrum of bike genres: adventurers, tourers, café racers, nakedbikes and out-and-out track weapons.
What they have in common is that they all stood out from the two-wheeled crowd in 2016. Each scored an invite to AMCN’s annual MOTY ride, which this year took in the Great Ocean Road and some of the best scratching roads in the Otway Ranges. Saddle up…
Honda Africa Twin
Adventure bikes are big, in both ways. And the most sizeable impact on the adventure scene in 2016 was that of Honda’s reborn Africa Twin. After the long absence of this legendary line of desert sleds, the return was so hotly anticipated that it almost wouldn’t have mattered how good the bike was. Just carrying the name was enough to fill its pre-release order books before the mud had dried on the ‘True Adventure’ concept bike displayed at EICMA 2014.
The question was, just how ‘adventurous’ would the often conservative-minded Honda hierarchy allow the Africa Twin to be? The answer is ‘not very’ in terms of innovation. But ‘very’ in terms of transcontinental all-roads touring capabilities.
You could argue the DCT automatic gearbox model is innovative within the adventure sector, and the system does work extremely well in most conditions, but no rider with the most adventurous of off-road riding in their sights would opt for that model over the manual version – unless perhaps physical disability dictated it. The DCT adds a substantial amount of weight and complexity, neither of which are an adventurer’s best friend.
But Honda had another card to play, and one which its current competition has little answer for – price. In the current market, $15,499 (+ ORC) is one hell of a deal for a litre of go-anywhere freedom machine. Surely it will not be long before this sparsely populated middle-ground of the adventure market is further exploited, but right now Honda has it cornered. It’s even seducing riders away from the 1200cc $25-35K premium end of the market. The Africa Twin is an extremely smart piece of model positioning, with the integrity of a throughly good product to back it up. Those attributes are what makes the Africa Twin an obvious MOTY contender.
The riders with less adventure bike experience seemed surprised at how well the Africa Twin handles on road. Good balance is essential for off-road excellence, and this always transfers its benefits to the tarmac. Off-road tyres and tall, soft suspension do set a limit on road performance, but the Africa Twin is no fish out of water on the blacktop.
The recent appearance of a far racier concept version of the Africa Twin – perhaps more like the bike many were hoping for – suggests Honda was always aware there would be an appetite for greater off-road performance from its 1000cc parallel-twin Paris-Dakar inspired prodigy. But only time and abuse will tell if and how well that torturous teaser will rip through the rough stuff. We live in hope.
For now, we have the CRF1000, and that’s no bad thing. In fact, it’s by far the best bike available for riders wanting big-bore power in a simple, dependable, stylish and affordable adventure bike. Even after you add all the accoutrements of adventure touring, there’s still enough left in your wallet for fuel and a map.
Second Ops
Damien Pelletier
Everything works well and is intuitively laid out in typical Honda fashion. From the clutch feel to the suspension set-up, the big trailie functions flawlessly, so when you first jump on the Africa Twin you feel as if you’ve already been riding it for a thousand clicks. The parallel twin is smooth and gets you moving quickly enough, but I feel like Honda could have squeezed a little more mumbo from 1000cc if they’d had a mind to. But maybe that’s missing the point entirely. The soft seat and relaxed riding position encourage a leisurely, mature attitude to riding, but it just lacked that ‘aha’ moment I was looking for.
Chris Dobie
The Africa Twin is a bargain in anyone’s language, and it sure is a great bit of kit, but I just couldn’t find anything particularly fantastic about it.
Being a Honda, it rides well, and owners will probably have no mechanical issues, but it’s not setting any new trends with style, performance or features. It’s just a great honest bike that performs its task in a no-fuss manner without setting the world on fire.
Steve Martin
I had been waiting a long time to see a proper big-bore adventure bike from big red. Seeing the Africa Twin in the flesh for the first time really showed the effort Honda invested in getting the bike looking right. And it does everything well. It’s a great cruiser, it can scratch through the hills, and of course you can take it off road, which is the great appeal of this type of bike. It is, however, lacking in performance. It doesn’t have the power at hand that you might expect from a 1000cc twin, which makes me scratch my head. Honda, we know you have the ability to make this bike a thriller, so please give the Africa Twin a killer edge to make it sing.
