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Africa Twin Single Injection?
Blog Date - 12 May 2015
Ooooh oooh! Honda's making noises about it's new Africa Twin. Now it goes without saying that I myself will NOT be buying a 1000cc super-massive off roader simply because I'm too tight, it'll be too heavy, it'll use too much petrol and where's the challenge in going anywhere on a big bike? Any fool can go far on a powerful machine, it takes a special kind of fool to do it on a small bike.
BUT...that's not the point here. The point is I've seen a cutaway image of the shiny new engine that can, if you wish, come complete with Honda's impressive DCT automatic transmission. Dual clutch, yeah ok. Parallel twin, got it. Oh, hang on there seems to be only one inlet? That...that reminds me of the NC 750 parallel twin range.
Am I right in only seeing one injector?
Oh me likey! This means 2 things to me. Firstly simplicity. With but one injector and one throttle body there's less to go wrong and less to shell out if it does go wrong. Secondly this was used on the NC range as it was designed to sip petrol in the name of economy rather than throw fuel as rapidly as possible into the bores in the name of performance.
So, bearing in mind I could be completely wrong, this could perhaps mean that Honda's new super-trailie could in fact be tuned to provide grunt and economy instead of outright power. This might be a good thing for Honda. The market is already dominated with big trailies that are in fact race engined machines with long suspension and an upright seating position. Honda's already got the big daft V4 1200cc Crosstourer to compete with Ducati's Hypermotard or BMW's GS. Allegedly the new Africa Twin will actually go off road so 150bhp is probably over-egging the pudding.
I wait with baited breath. Could this be a new class? Big engine - real of road ability - acceptable fuel consumption? Who knows, it might even be able to do more than 150 miles between fill ups! Pffft, who am I trying to kid. It's a cost cutting exercise. Lets just hope they also cut the ownership costs by making it economical, reliable and with a long service interval. Still, looking forward to seeing one, maybe even test riding it. I'll probably not be tall enough to get it off the stand...
Reader's Comments
Garth said :-
Hey Ren, note also the screw and locknut valve adjusters, similar in nature to the NC 700s and 750s. No shims and something you could adjust yourself if you were out in the wilds. I'll be interested to see what access to the rocker cover will be like though.
Unlike you I am hoping this will be a great machine and if it is I might be dipping into the family savings. Mucho excited!
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Hi Garth. Yip, looks like it is a screw-locknut affair on the tappets. That again implies that out-and-out performance is not the top priority. Them valve springs look quite narrow too, maybe not high revving?
I guess we're just going to have to wait and see what the final product is like.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Garth said :-
Hmmmm...er...Ren. I think you may be wrong about the single point. If you look at the image it is a cutaway... Maybe the other injector has been cutaway!
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
...poop...maybe you're right Garth. I feel stupid now...dammit!
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
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