Honda Africa Twin = Adventure sports with the DNA of the king of the desert = [The catalog is a rear-view mirror reflecting the times, Vol. 14

The Paris-Dakar Rally is an adventure rally on a grand scale, covering a total distance of more than 10,000 km from Paris to Dakar, Senegal in Africa, and was first held in 1979. Honda's first victory in the motorcycle class came in 1982, when Cyril Nboux of the French Honda team won the rally on the XR500R Kai, a machine built by Honda R&D and the RSC (Racing Service Center).

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[1986 HRC's first attempt at the Paris-Dakar Rally]

After N'Bourg won the rally in 1982, various companies introduced full-scale machines built for the Paris-Dakar Rally. It was no longer possible to win the grueling rally with a production-based machine. The HRC, Honda's works activity, was to take on the challenge of the unknown world of rallying. The NXR750, equipped with a V-twin engine, was developed to conquer the desert. In 1986, it was Cyril Nouveau who led the NXR750's debut to victory.

The following year, 1987, N'Bou won the Paris-Dakar Rally for the second year in a row, driving the NXR750. To celebrate N'Bou's accomplishment, a victory press conference was hastily held in Japan. At the press conference held at Honda's Welcome Plaza Aoyama, it was hard to believe that N'Bourg was such a fierce competitor who could handle the small and huge NXR750. At the press conference, he talked about how easy the NXR750 is to handle. The 1988 Paris-Dakar Rally was won by Eddie Orioli, driving an NXR750. HRC's NXR750 won the rally for the third year in a row, earning it the nickname "King of the Desert. .

1988: The Africa Twin is launched.

In May 1988, the adventure sports Africa Twin was launched, reflecting the technical know-how of the NXR750, which had won the Paris-Dakar Rally three times in a row. It was sold in Japan in a limited edition of 500 units. *Please note that the catalog is privately owned and may contain stains.

The catalog was produced for the European market in 1989. [/caption]

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[displacement increased to 750cc in 1990]

The 1989 Paris-Dakar Rally was won by Gilles Lalay riding an NXR750, giving the NXR750 its fourth consecutive victory and proving its reliability and durability. And in the Marathon class, where the competition is based on production cars, Africa Twin users won in 1989 and 1990, demonstrating the high potential of the Africa Twin in the Paris-Dakar Rally. In March 1990, the Africa Twin underwent a full model change, increasing its displacement from 647cc to 742cc. It was released in Japan in a limited edition of 500 units.

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This catalog was produced in 1990 for the European market. It uses dynamic driving scenes not seen in Japanese catalogs. In Japan at that time, there was a regulation that driving scenes that might be considered extreme were not to be used in advertisements or catalogs, and this difference can be seen. HRC stopped challenging the Paris-Dakar Rally after winning the rally four years in a row from 1986 to 1989. The Africa Twin continued to mature, with the last model released in Japan in 2000. inherited the racing technology of the king of the desert, the NXR750, and was used by adventurers around the world for over a decade. We had to wait many years before the new Africa Twin was introduced in 2016. Visit the gallery (33)