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The return of Honda's Africa Twin

After a 12-year absence, Honda is resurrecting its iconic Paris-Dakar conquering adventure bike.

With the overwhelming popularity and near ubiquity of BMW's GS range of all-terrain motorbikes, it can be easy to forget that Honda was once the go-to manufacturer for motorcycles capable of climbing every mountain and fording every stream.

In an attempt to address this bike-based amnesia, Honda has confirmed that an all-new model bearing the legendary name will be coming later this year and has already started posting teaser images and videos to build up excitement.

The original bike was launched in 1989 and initially called the XRV750. Based on the dual sport bike that won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1986, 87, 88, and 89, it boasted a 742cc, liquid-cooled V-Twin engine that was slightly detuned, 21-inch wheels, an oversized fuel tank and long travel suspension. The chain-driven bike went through two refreshes over its 14-year production run and good examples still change hands for a premium.

Still, in terms of technology at least, times change and the new bike, the CRF1000F Africa Twin, will be getting an all-new 1000cc parallel twin engine so there will be plenty of torque on offer -- a necessity for serious endurance riders. However, being a completely new powerplant, there's no word yet on vital statistics such as acceleration or horsepower.

And although it's still being coy about exactly what it will do, Honda has confirmed that it will come with a dual clutch transmission for lightning-fast gear changes, but one that has been specially adapted for off-road use. The suggestion is that it might offer a different set of ratios like on a proper SUV.

Therefore, also expect the bike to make use of weight-saving materials or construction techniques as dual clutch transmissions and a potential second set of cogs are going to add weight to a bike that's already going to be carrying a rather heavy load when all panniers are full.