This year marks a full decade since Honda reintroduced the Africa Twin name, first in the form of the CRF1000L, then the CRF1100L since 2020. To mark the occasion, Honda has announced… cue drumroll… bold new graphics!
Gotta love Honda. Last year, it was equally unsentimental about the 50-year anniversary of the Gold Wing.
Anyhoo, amid a media release promoting “updated graphics and colors” for both the Africa Twin and Africa Twin Adventure Sports, I found this fascinating bit of information: Big Red has sold more than 121,000 Africa Twin units since reintroducing the name back in 2016.
A generation before then, of course, the Africa Twin had been applied first to the 647cc XRV650 in 1988 and 1989, then the 742cc XRV750 from 1989 to 2003. The bike had earned tremendous respect among dual-sport and world-travelling riders for its ruggedness and durability. Indeed, it’s not uncommon to see them being put to regular use even today.
Both of those bikes were driven by a 52-degree V-twin engine. Whereas the modern Africa Twin houses a parallel twin with a firing order designed to make it feel like a V-twin. The current bike is driven by a 1084cc parallel twin claiming peak outputs of 100.5 bhp and 82.6 lb-ft of torque.
Since we’re only a few weeks into 2026, I’ll assume Honda’s sales figures are for the nine years from 2016 to 2025. On average, then, that works out to a fraction more than 13,444 Africa Twins sold each year.
Actually, the number is higher than that. The media release I received gives numbers for the European market. So add several thousand more for all the Africa Twins sold elsewhere.
Either way, that’s not too shabby. Honda says, too, that in six of those nine years the Africa Twin’s been in the top three of the company’s best selling motorcycles of a capacity greater than 125cc.
I’m willing to bet the last three years have been the ones in which the model has fallen from its perch. The Africa Twin hasn’t seen a major update in half a decade, and won’t this year.
“Mechanically unchanged for 26YM, all the CRF1100L Africa Twin models retain their trademark athletic looks, with the aura and feel of a slim rally machine,” declares the media release.
That probably won’t help the model return to the top of Honda’s sales charts this year. Nor will the fact that the modern Africa Twin hasn’t always lived up to the bulletproof reputation earned by previous generations. Especially since the 2020 update, there have been grumblings about engine problems and quality issues.
Although, it’s worth noting that owners still rate them very, very highly.
Meanwhile, in the time since the last Africa Twin update, the market has become flooded with competitors. Indeed, that is something I’ve been thinking about in recent weeks while I’ve had the Voge DS800X Rally on loan (review coming soon).
If I had £7,000 to spend, would I buy a brand new DS800X Rally, which has similar spirit and peak figures to the Africa Twin, or would I buy a used Honda?
OK, between you and me, I’d almost certainly buy the Honda. But that’s me. The DS800X Rally is good enough that a lot of people would do differently. I’m willing to bet even more people would choose the Chinese offering in the face of the starting price for a new CRF1100L, which is roughly double the asking price of the Voge.
And this is just one competitor we’re talking about. There are at least half a dozen other brands that compete in the same tiny segment space.
But, hey, do those competitors have bold new paint and graphics?
The 2026 CRF1100L Africa Twin and Africa Twin Electronic Suspension are available in three paint options: Grand Prix Red, Matt Ballistic Black Metallic, and Pearl Glare White. Whereas the 2026 CRF1100L Africa Twin Adventure Sports will be available in two paint options: Matt Iridium Gray Metallic, and Pearl Glare White.
Lastly, here’s a question: has the announcement of new paint schemes ever encouraged anyone, anywhere, to run out and buy a new motorcycle?
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