HONDA The Power of Dreams

"I joined this project with the idea that I would give the opinions of the development team the utmost respect, but that they should also keep in mind the issues of cost and production schedules, and do their best not to affect them. However, the more I got to know the details of this bike, the more excited I felt about the new Africa Twin. Around the time I first joined Honda, my senior colleagues were all involved in the original Africa Twin's development. So, I was eager to help this new Africa Twin attract the world's attention as a machine that can live up to the excellent reputation of the Africa Twin they first created."

The project that was sparked by the enthusiasm of this team of young engineers quickly approached completion through the determination of its director and the support of its coordinator. By this time, a new adventure tourer that could thrill even such a wisecracking person as Kudō had already been completed.

Yamakura — "Although we weren't doing as we pleased, when Kudō and Iizuka joined us, the new Africa Twin suddenly became a lot more realistic. The bike's character was determined with a simple process of tuning and seasoning, without significantly changing the basic production factors we were hoping to achieve, and soon the production schedule loomed into view. The new Africa Twin changed from a vision of something 'I want to build' to a model that 'we're building,' and then became an actual product in which 'all our desires are invested' that had evolved quite a lot from the image we first had when we started."

Kudō — "The resulting machine was finished to such a high degree that it can cruise comfortably on any highway, even riding double or carrying sidebags loaded with clothes and equipment. We were able to provide it with an easy-to-control chassis capable of traveling comfortably even on congested roads and easily negotiating U-turns in a small supermarket parking lot, while also giving it easy-to-handle engine characteristics. My feeling is that this is really the bike they wanted to make. Come to think of it, the earlier Africa Twin shares many similarities in that regard."

If touring bikes offering off-road performance fall into the Adventure Touring category, then the adventures that Iizuka imagines are even more concrete.

Iizuka — "I don't really care if it's never ridden on the dirt. I wanted to make it a bike that can thrill riders with a feeling of expectation. Of course it has the ability to travel over rugged dirt roads with ease, whenever and wherever those roads are encountered. This is important, I think, even if it's never actually ridden on an uneven road. I want to make riders feel like they could travel down rough dirt roads, and want them to experience that sort of riding with complete satisfaction."

Yamakura — "This really is an adventure, isn't it? Still, as Iizuka said, one's definition of adventure differs from person to person, so if our new Africa Twin can get people to think about having an adventure, going on a trip or riding off-road, then I think you could say we've succeeded in achieving the aims we had when we set out to create this machine."

Iida — "I want riders to visit places they've never travelled to before, even if only venturing onto a side road just off the streets they regularly ride."

Sabine once said he could show us the 'Door to Adventure. 'Now, the Africa Twin is poised to take riders beyond the 'Door' that was first opened.