Honda Africa Twin Rally debuts in Italy

THIS IS THE Honda Africa Twin Rally, revealed at the Motodays show in Italy.

It’s essentially a production version of the Africa Twin Enduro Sports concept that Honda had on display at Eicma last year - a concept that followed Honda's previous Adventure Sports concept, revealed at the start of 2016

At the moment, it appears as if this bike is just for the Italian market but based on the popularity of the Africa Twin and manufacturers’ tendencies to offer more adventurous versions of their adventure bikes, we’d expect it to be offered outside of Italy, where it’ll take on bikes like the Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro, KTM Super Adventure R and BMW R1200GS Rallye.

Spec details are limited at the moment, but the Africa Twin Rally is said to be lighter than the standard Africa Twin and to cost €21,490 (approx £13,846) for the manual and €22,640 (approx £19,850) for the DCT version.

As you can see, compared to the standard Africa Twin, this bike is a more rugged, hardcore offering, reminiscent of a Dakar bike - it's not called the Rally for nothing. 

It’s got proper knobble tyres, a new front end design with high level mudguard, sump and exhaust guard, bear trap foot pegs, a Termignoni exhaust and stacked front LED lights. The bike’s electronic system is also said to be compatible with a smartphone app that will let owners to download and select different engine maps.

We’re awaiting a response from Honda UK about whether the Africa Twin Rally is likely to make its way to UK dealers.