Honda updates the Africa Twin with more capacity, more power and a broader lineup
Honda’s parallel twin Africa Twin has already been bumped from 998cc to 1084cc in its transition from CRF1000L to CRF1100L in 2018 and for 2027 it gets another capacity hike to reach 1131cc as the CRF1150L.
But that’s just the start, as the lineup also grows at both ends – with a new Africa Twin Enduro Sports to appeal to serious offroad riders and a luxury Adventure Sports Honda Sensing Ride at the other end of the scale to expand its touring potential.
Before we get to that, let’s talk about the engine changes. The extra capacity comes from a bore increase from 92mm to 94mm, with an unchanged 81.5mm stroke, and ups the power by a full 12kW to a peak of 87.5kW, while torque increases 7Nm to 119Nm. Other changes include new, larger throttles and changes to the valvetrain and cylinder head including an increased compression ratio, while further down there are new pistons, rods and crankshaft.
The riding modes are expanded to add a new Offroad+ setting, and there’s a typically broad array of electronic settings including seven traction control modes.
The chassis is redesigned, too, losing 1.4kg in weight and with a lower centre of gravity than before, and the three more road-oriented Africa Twin models – the standard bike, the Adventure Sports and the Adventure Sports Honda Sensing Ride – all get Showa electronic semi-active suspension as standard. As in the past, the base model uses a 21 inch front and 18 inch rear wheel, while the Adventure Sports version gets a 19 inch front and the same 18 inch rear, and Honda’s semi auto dual clutch transmission is optional across the range.
The first new addition is the Africa Twin Enduro Sports, which ditches the semi-active suspension in favour of longer-travel, manually-adjustable Showa parts, with 240mm of front travel and 230mm at the rear. It gets a new look, too, with a narrower front fairing and a high-mounted mudguard that makes it a distinctly different proposition to previous Africa Twins, with a more serious offroad approach.
The other new model is the Honda Sensing Ride version of the Africa Twin Adventure Sports. This more road-biased, touring model is the only 2027 Africa Twin that comes only with the dual-clutch semi auto, because the transmission is a key element to its other new tech – a suite of radar-based rider aids. As on other radar-equipped bikes, the front facing sensor enables adaptive cruise control that keeps pace with the traffic ahead, and pairing it with the DCT box means the bike can shift gears automatically to suit those speed variations, right down to a standstill. Like other recent radar models, such as Triumph’s 2027 Tiger 1200, the radar can distinguish between cars and other bikes, allowing a group riding feature that lets you adopt a staggered pattern with other riders in the same lane.
A rear radar provides blind spot and rear collision warnings, and in an emergency the front sensor can trigger the brakes if there’s an impending crash that the rider hasn’t reacted to, although there’s a collision warning before that happens, including a haptic brake-pulsing system and alerts on the TFT dash – a big, 7-inch display that sits above a secondary 5.6-inch LCD which covers the basic bike info.
In total the result is a much broader Africa Twin array than before, with the Enduro Sports creeping into a hard offroad market that Honda hasn’t previously explored, while the Honda Sensing Ride version of the Adventure Sports usurps the Goldwing as the most high-tech, gadget-filled tourer in the brand’s lineup.
