Despite being a little too tall to be comfortable for shorter riders, the Africa Twin is an outstanding dual-sport. It has a great motor and is very usable on the street with its ample torque throughout the rev range. It also makes for a fun dirt bike that can take on some pretty demanding trail conditions.
It isn’t loaded up with a lot of gizmos (there is no IMU and it doesn’t have cruise control) but what it does have is very useful. Throttle-by-wire with riding modes lets you tune in the kind of power delivery that best suits the situation. Honda Selectable Torque Control has seven settings ranging from pavement to fast, loose fire roads and challenging singletrack.
The engine’s unique Unicam design gives it a compact cylinder head for optimal engine placement and superior performance. It also means it is quiet and smooth in traffic and at low speeds.
When Honda updated the Africa Twin for 2018, it added a new lightweight lithium-ion battery, throttle-by-wire with riding modes, four rider modes and an enhanced traction control system that is tuned to be more responsive in the midrange. It also added a bigger fuel tank that holds 6.4 gallons and a new aluminum handlebar that is lighter and wider for more comfort.
