***UPDATE*** NEW 2016 AFRICA TWIN REVEALED!

[MrKiwi]

It is in my modest opinion nonsense to dislike a concept before anyone of us has seen- or tried the real thing. Wanna have shaft ride? Get a Crosstourer, Super Tenere or GS 1200 and pay apr € 5.000,- more compared with a Varadero-priced bike like Suzuki's DL1000V or Kawa's Versys 1000. In that aspect, the big KTM and especially the Multistrade are HEAVELY overprized. But I have seen nor read a single testrapport on which any of the previous bikes had a bad rating due to the fact that they have chain and sprockets in stead of shaft drive... 

If Honda manages to keep the price between € 12.000,- / 13.500,- just looking at the supposed specs, it will be a winner. For sure it makes the overweight and gasgussling VFR1200X Crosstourer to a Dinosaur in one singe stroke.

Hey, that's no way to talk about my new buy  lol.  But you're right Two Plugs.  I wanted a road touring oriented bike with a shaft drive. The CT was a perfect fit.  But I'm under no illusions, the CT is no good off tarmac and hard packed gravel routes. 

The new AT is designed to be a dirt oriented adventure bike.  There's no way you'd put a shaft drive on a bike designed for heavy off road use.  I like the direction Honda has taken with this new bike. 

[SB]

Has anyone noticed it doesn't have a clutch lever !

[MrKiwi]

Has anyone noticed it doesn't have a clutch lever !

The prototype is DCT but I'm sure a manual gearbox will be available.  I like the looks of this bike...

[Two Plugs]

Hey, that's no way to talk about my new buy  lol.  But you're right Two Plugs.  I wanted a road touring oriented bike with a shaft drive. The CT was a perfect fit.  But I'm under no illusions, the CT is no good off tarmac and hard packed gravel routes. 

The new AT is designed to be a dirt oriented adventure bike.  There's no way you'd put a shaft drive on a bike designed for heavy off road use.  I like the direction Honda has taken with this new bike. 

I would like to share the quote below from ADVrider forum with you guys. It underlines perfectly Mr. Kiwi's post above and the goal which was set by Honda R&D developing this machine:

From some of the photos it looks like the front sprocket is located centered to the swing arm shaft, in a similar manner as some 450/650 BMuu models are constructed. If so, Honda has taken care of the no. 1 issue that owners of the existing Africa Twin have: risk of a worn output shaft due to wrong chain tension.

I would not be surprised if Honda has paid a little extra attention to the regulator/rectifier and the fuel pump as well...

In fact, I believe that Honda has looked a lot on what the owners of the existing Arica Twin wants. Apart from more hp/torque, the design looks very much like what many rebuild projects are trying to achieve; boano-looking fairing, the curve of the exhaust system/silencer and so on. And the main frame looks very XR650R. This could be the ideal mix of those two (dead reliable) bikes!

I have never bought a brand new bike before, but as a present owner of both an xr650r and a xrv750 (africa twin), I will definitly start saving up money.

"You meet the nicest people on a Honda"

[varaquiero]

[JosepM]

What's "boano-looking"? 

Josep

[zebulon]

What's "boano-looking"? 

Josep

Perhaps http://www.boano.com/index_africa_twin.asp?lingua=eng. 

[Two Plugs]

Lets wait and see how the real thing is going to be, Gerard. Than - and only than - we can make a proper conclusion how proper 'adventureas' this new bike will be. For the moment, it can have my credits. Even more than my current Varadero.   

Yep, let's see.

Also I was, probably incorrectly, expecting a final PROD model that would be in shops in weeks rather than months... This much anticipation is a drag quite frankly.

Since Honda is planning a full press trip on the bike(s) soon (within the next 3/4 months or so) I guess pre production models will/must be available. 

[JosepM]

Since Honda is planning a full press trip on the bike(s) soon (within the next 3/4 months or so) I guess pre production models will/must be available. 

Great! 

Maybe same location as the CT's? 

[zebulon]

Great! 

Maybe same location as the CT's? 

Or perhaps Nant?   

[Two Plugs]

Both wrong. Further South. Think Treu Adventure....

[MrKiwi]

from my searches this is what I know about the bike:
- 20 L tank
- 21 inch front, 18 inch rear wheels
- 1000cc parallel twin - a new engine from Honda
- about 200kgs with fuel (a very good outcome for a bike this size)
- DCT and manual clutch versions will be available

Bike will be in shows in 2015, probably second or third quarter.

[JosepM]

Both wrong. Further South. Think Treu Adventure....

Yes, of course, Africa, where else could it be?

Are you invited this time too? 

[Bønne]

Well, after having looked at those pictures and videos since yesterday, I can only find one word to describe this new Honda: WAR!!!

And the fact that Honda introduce it between the NXR and the CRF, and name it "True Adventure", insinuating that all other Adventure-bikes are wannabees, indicate to me that this time Honda are serious; they really want to build the ultimate adventure-bike to drive the shit out of both the BMuu´s, the KTM´s, the Yamaha´s... you name it!

Doing this commits, and puts up some large expectations to the costumers, which I really hope Honda manage to meet when the bike comes for sale in it´s final form.

Comparing it to the CrossTourer makes no sence to me, it´s two totally different bikes (but maybe it will later come in a more "touringfriendly" version, as rumors have said it should be made in four different versions, perhaps the four question marks in Josep´s Montesa-link?).
Should it be compared to another Honda, it should be the old Africa Twin.

But, they don´t actually call it "Africa Twin" yet, but looking at it in close up, there are a lot of solutions that are very close to the old AT, e.g. the frame, it´s contruction behind the engine with the hole through it, very similar to the RD07 frame. And the big square-tube in from of the engine, split into two at the bottom, with a cooler at each side, indicates great faithfulness to the old Africa Twin.

So, if the final solution will really be as superior as the old AT was when it hit the road in 1988, and as the introduction indicates, I can only say:  HONDA!!!

[zebulon]

from my searches this is what I know about the bike:
- 20 L tank
- 21 inch front, 18 inch rear wheels
- 1000cc parallel twin - a new engine from Honda
- about 200kgs with fuel (a very good outcome for a bike this size)
- DCT and manual clutch versions will be available

Bike will be in shows in 2015, probably second or third quarter.

- ok with you
- I don't see 21" wheels on the pictures
- as said ... 

Think it will be 1000cc with manual and DCT gearbox; sales from September 2015 ...