2020 Honda Africa Twin CRF1100 Confirmed With 1084cc Engine

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

First look at redesigned Africa Twin

Back in July, Honda released a video teasing a new “ True Adventure” model, expected to be an upsized Africa Twin CRF1100L. Thanks to new vehicle certification documents published in Australia, Motorcycle.com can confirm the 2020 Honda Africa Twin will have a 1084cc engine, a choice of manual or dual clutch transmissions, and be offered in both a regular and Adventure version. According to the documents, the 1084cc engine produces 101 hp at 7500 rpm, whereas the previous 998cc engine is certified at 94 hp.

The certification documents also give us a glimpse of what the 2020 Africa Twin and Africa Twin Adventure will look like. The documents include two shots of both models, though unfortunately, only in grayscale and in a small resolution. Still, they’re enough to reveal a redesigned front face, and a new frame and subframe.

The CRF1100L keeps a similar style to the CRF1000L, its face looks more streamlined. The dual headlight design remains, but it’s now more integrated into the fairing instead of the previous model’s goggle look. The current Africa Twin has air intakes on either side of the headlights, but the intakes on the new model are much smaller and lower, tucked into the inner side of the fairing. The windshield on the 2020 Africa Twin looks smaller than on the previous model, though the Adventure version does offer a larger screen.

The frame appears new, as does the subframe which now appears to be bolted on, making it easier to remove if it gets damaged.

From the outside, the 1084cc engine looks similar to the current one, but the exhaust system looks much chunkier, likely to help the Africa Twin meet Euro 5 restrictions. Other visual changes include new hand guards and a different tire tread.

The Africa Twin Adventure carries over the same changes for 2020. Like the current Adventure Sports, the 2020 Africa Twin Adventure has a larger fuel tank compared to the regular model, and adds a beefier looking bash plate. The tail rack/passenger grab handle also looks much larger than the one used on the current Adventure Sports. The photo doesn’t show any crash bars, which are standard on the 2019 Adventure Sports, but it does appear to have auxiliary lighting below the main headlight.

Honda released its teaser video in late July, but we likely won’t see anything beside more teasers until the Tokyo Motor Show in late October at the earliest, or more likely, at EICMA in November.

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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  • Tad Bootle Tad Bootle on Sep 14, 2019

    Even a damn stoneaged harley has cruise control.

  • Eric Eric on Sep 18, 2019

    Cruise control should be on every 1L "adventure" bike, whether a more pavement oriented bike or more dirt oriented bike. Seems with that displacement class or bigger, the inference is long distance travel.

    BMW seems the only 800cc class (850cc actually) that has given us cruise, but it's about as heavy a big in this latest version as the 1L machines are.

    Power? KTM is getting around 100 horsepower from 800cc twin in the Duke, a little less on the ADV. Honda should be putting out more with 1084cc. One of the reasons I got rid of a new 2018 V-Strom 1000XT is due to 1037cc being rather average in power, and secondly a lot of lousing wind control around my head regardless of windscreen options. It didn't have cruise either. I missed pure street bikes too much. All partial-dirt ADV machines are a compromise and not as good as their counterparts at either dirt nor pavement. But they do a better job at comfort and performance for long distance than any cruiser, in my opinion.

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