Honda->ke291 is set to being back the Africa Twin adventure bike in the US, albeit in a different guise from what we’re used to. That shouldn’t be an issue in the long run because the new iteration of the Africa Twin should make its previous incarnations proud.

Specific details surrounding the bike have yet to be announced, but Honda did say that the 2016 CRF1000L Africa Twin will essentially be the finished product of the True Adventure prototype the company showcased at the 2014 EICMA Motorcycle Show->ke3571 last October 2014.

Nice as that is to hear, it still doesn’t answer a lot of questions surrounding the bike since Honda didn’t reveal too much of the prototype back when it was displayed at EICMA.

Here’s what we do know. The bike will officially be called the CRF1000L Africa Twin. The use of the “CRF” name is important because Honda wants the adventure bike to be closely associated to its resident Dakar race bike, the CRF450 Rally.

Recent patent filings of the bike also revealed a few clues on what we can expect from the bike. The most noticeable part of those filings is the unique design of the airbox, which Honda supposedly created to provide more room for a larger fuel tank. That ties into the 1,000cc parallel-Twin engine that the Africa Twin will reportedly have inside its belly.

Performance numbers have yet to be released, but there’s enough reason to believe that while the Africa Twin won’t be as powerful as the BMW R1200GS, Ducati Multistrada 1200, and some of its other European counterparts, it’s going to have a lighter weight than its rivals, thus compensating for the supposed lack in power.

That said, there’s still a lot of information about the CRF1000L Africa Twin that Honda’s keeping close to its chest. Hopefully, details become available sooner than later because we can only enjoy these promo videos and teaser photos for so long.

Continue reading to read more about Honda’s plans for the CRF1000L Africa Twin.

Why it matters

It’s hard to keep a straight face when you’re excited about something so it’s a good thing that people can’t see how giddy my face is over this news.

I wasn’t old enough to remember what the original Africa Twin was like. Remember, the original model came with the “XRV650” name and it debuted in 1989after Honda had just finished shining its fourth straight win at the Dakar Rally.

The first incarnation of the Africa Twin was lauded for encapsulating what an adventure motorcycle was supposed to be like. Its had go-anywhere capabilities, sprinkled with rugged durability, and agile handling. In short, the Africa Twin helped redefine the adventure motorcycle segment, turning into one of the most popular and important bike classifications of that era.

Now that the Africa Twin is set to make its dramatic return, Honda understandably went to great lengths to ensure that the reincarnated version of the bike will be able to live up to the standards of its predecessor. So for the first time in the adventure bike segment, the new Africa Twin will come with the option of getting Honda's Automatic Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) technology, which is not only unique to Honda in motorcycling, but more importantly, has the capability to provide the kind of off-road awareness that the first incarnation of the bike was famous for.

The only thing missing at this point are more details about the bike, but willing to give Honda the time opportunity to make the bike’s debut as memorable as possible. Lord knows, the Africa Twin has earned that much.