Middle-weight Honda Africa Twin being planned

Up until the launch of the Africa Twin earlier this year, Honda had been missing all the action from the adventure-tourer class. They now wish to expand their portfolio to get more traction

While Triumph, Ducati, and Suzuki had had their products in the adventure-touring space, Honda only entered the category six months back when they introduced the Africa Twin in India. The litre-class adventure tourer has received a warm response from the market, not just in India, but the world over. High on its success, Honda is now wanting to bring in a middle-weight Africa Twin. This came as an official statement from Kenji Morita, Large Project leader for the Africa Twin when he said, “When we speak about pure adventure, we don’t have such a wide line up. And yes, we are thinking of putting a half-way model in to attract younger people. We will develop this bike, but it’s not something we are working on right now.”

From the pool of offerings that Honda already has, they could consider using the heart of the NC750X. This would allow them to also make use of the same DCT from the litre-class Africa Twin. But if they do that, there is the problem of cramping two-products too close to each other. Morita also mentioned that they aren’t considering increasing the capacity of the current Africa Twin keeping in mind that it will become heavier and out of reach for a lot of enthusiasts. With all of that in mind, they could also develop an Africa Twin 650 much like the old XRV650.

Although Honda isn’t working on the middle-weight Africa Twin right now, they could be looking to introduce it at the next Tokyo Motor Show which is two years from now. With a 650-750cc capacity, the middle-weight Africa Twin will fall right in line to compete with the likes of the Triumph Tiger 800, the BMW F800 GS and the KTM 790 Adventure. Of course, keeping in mind the success of the Africa Twin, Honda is sure to bring in its smaller brother too, and it might just be among the most sensible products for the Indian market.