Is this the new mid-weight Honda Africa Twin?

First pictures from Japan claim to show a new Honda CRF850L mid-weight adventure motorcycle

Is this the new mid-weight Honda Africa Twin?

STORIES are flooding the net at the moment about new Africa Twin models, both large and small, but this week we have seen the first claimed pictures of what a new mid-sized Africa Twin could look like.

DriveMag Riders have shared the rendering which is entitled ‘Honda CRF850L Africa Twin’, claiming that the bike is likely to be released by the Japanese factory at some point in 2020 or 2021. As the rendering is not claiming to be an official Honda design, the details within need to be taken with a big pinch of Wasabi salt but, occasionally leaks and renders of this nature are not without some possibly factual information being fed to the publication from elsewhere…

If the bike does come in at 850cc capacity, it’d be launched into the highly lucrative and uber-competitive mid-weight adventure market, alongside bikes like the F850GS, KTM 790 Adventure and Yamaha’s newly released Tenere 700 we rode last week.

As the Africa Twin has been lauded highly, by those that have ridden it, as a true 1000cc adventure/off-road motorcycle, the prospect of a lighter, more responsive and easier to ride machine from Honda should have those of the off-road persuasion frothing with anticipation of an official announcement soon.