Honda definitely did not disappoint at the Osaka Motorcycle Show. This incredible evolution of their Africa Twin adventure bike is something I need in my life, like, yesterday.
The changes are actually fairly minor, but each moves the bike closer to just being an oversized dirtbike—something I felt it was already pretty close to after riding it around South Africa.
The stock exhaust was ditched for a smaller, lighter Dakar-style Termignoni system that will give the bike a little more grunt and make it sound more like a dirtbike. It also gets a new, larger belly pan, and a beautiful motocross shaped seat. The luggage rack on the back is a now a smaller, but more substantial looking tubular steel unit and, of course, it wouldn’t be complete without real knobby tires.
Alright Honda, it’s time to bring me the black version and to start releasing sound clips of that exhaust. Because I need it.