TRAVERSE Issue 19 - August 2020 | Seite 57

ADVENTURE BIKE: 'It Does Stand Out' HONDA XRV750 AFRICA TWIN When Honda won the Paris-Dakar rally a number of times in the late 1980’s the Japanese manufacturer knew they were on a winner with the NXR-750 and the general public would want something similar; we’re all Dakar racers at heart. Through the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) came the 650cc, 50 horsepower XRV650, now we could all be Dakar champions, the Africa Twin was born, a new era of ‘adventure’ bike had been entered. The XRV650 was relatively lightweight and with a decent power output was considered a more than capable bike, perhaps not a true racer but certainly capable of adventure. Less than two years after making its successful debut, Honda decided that the 650 was out and along came the 750 version. Power increased by 12hp but so too the weight increased, initially some suggested that the bike was overweight or underpowered, oh, how things have TRAVERSE 57