If you believe the latest internet gossip, a new updated Honda Africa Twin is on the way. The news comes from UK site BikeSocial, which says that the potent adventure bike will get a displacement bump for the 2020 model year, among other upgrades.
More specifically, the 2020 Honda Africa Twin is said to target a new displacement of 1,080cc, which should be good for a 5hp increase in peak power, bringing the machine to just shy of 100hp.
Perhaps more importantly though, the new displacement size will help the Africa Twin deal with the power-sapping Euro5 regulations, which will make tailpipe emissions for motorcycles much more stringent going forward.
Since we haven’t seen the hands tipped by other OEMs for the Euro5 changeover, it its hard to gauge how the revised Africa Twin will stack up performance-wise if/when it debuts, but we would expect other machines to take a sizable power hit if they don’t feature newer power plants or larger engine capacities.
Helping keep the Africa Twin fresh are said to be other upgrades, like a new TFT dash, reworked fairings, keyless ignition, and a new dual-clutch transmission (DCT). BikeSocial also says to expect roughly another liter for fuel to come to the Africa Twin model, for a total of 20 liters.
Many of these upgrades we have seen elsewhere in the Honda lineup. The dash could be sourced from the CBR1000RR superbike, the DCT is surely going to be the third-generation model that comes on the Honda Gold Wing (the Africa Twin currently uses the second-generation DCT), and the keyless ignition likely also comes from the venerable Wing.
All of this should help differentiate the 2020 Honda Africa Twin from the rising tide of middleweight adventure-tourers, specifically the KTM 790 Adventure and Yamaha Ténéré 700.
The KTM is leading the charge in the middleweight ADV space by offering a robust set of features for a modest price tag, while also packing a strong engine and featherweight chassis.
The Yamaha, once it finally arrives, should be the budget option of the group, hopefully priced with a four-digit price tag.
Both of these models are an assault on the Africa Twin’s strong pricing position, which make the Honda one of the more affordable options in the adventure-touring lineup, as well as one of the most off-road capable.
With KTM and Yamaha gunning for those superlatives, Honda no doubt sees a need to up its ante. It should be interesting to see what comes of this. Keep your eyes peeled come November-time.
Source: BikeSocial
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