honda africa twin tft display factory

In an effort to help existing and potential customers better understand the extensive capabilities of the 2020 CRF1100L Africa Twin’s advanced Multi-Information Display (MID), Honda has released a new interactive simulator on its consumer website.

All four CRF1100L Africa Twin versions—the manual and DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) iterations of the standard Africa Twin and Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES—are equipped with a 6.5 inch touch-panel TFT LCD Multi-Information Display (MID) and handlebar controls that offer features including Apple CarPlay integration; activation/cancelation of ABS and G-mode; and adjustment of settings for Honda Selective Torque Control (HSTC), wheelie control, riding modes, user mode and—on applicable versions—suspension and DCT; as well as other data like time, speed, etc.

“The electronic technology of the 2020 Africa Twin is amazingly capable, and Honda’s new Multi-Information Display simulator enables customers to more easily get the most out of their machines,” said Chris Cox, Manager of Experiential Marketing & P.R. at American Honda. “We encourage customers—whether they already own an Africa Twin or are in the market for a new adventure bike—to give the tool a try.”

The tool is best experienced on desktop and can be accessed by scrolling down within the website’s Africa Twin section, clicking “Check it out,” selecting the appropriate language and distance units, and clicking “Start.” Users are encouraged to first explore the “Information” and “Navigation” sections, accessed via buttons in the top-righthand corner of the screen, in order to familiarize themselves with the simulator.

Honda has posted an online simulator that lets you play with the Africa Twin’s TFT display.   The online simulator offers current or potential future riders the means to introduce themselves to the display’s functions without having to be on or own one of the machines.

Perhaps the online resource is a hidden nod to the complexity that these types of displays bring.  But kudos to Honda.  They are taking the initiative to allow riders to use and understand the system before making an Africa Twin purchase.

The website provides a simulation of the Africa Twin’s TFT display and left and right-hand control switches.  The simulator allows a rider to adjust the multiple settings available on the bike.

Once at the website, you will see a simulated TFT LCD instrument cluster with technical information on the display.  The visitor can customize the readouts with a click of a button on the left-hand control switch.  It’s found on the lower right portion of your monitor.

Unfortunately, there are no detailed instructions on how to use the simulator.  So you’ll have to fiddle a bit with the controls to understand what they do and how to change its settings.  Still, it’s a decent way to get a feel for the display and what it can do for you.

The new 2020 Honda Africa Twin, no matter what type of Africa Twin you get, has the 6.5-inch touch-panel TFT LCD Multi-information Display with handlebar controls and features like Apple CarPlay and settings for the ABS, Torque Control, wheelie control and more. To help folks understand what’s what before they get out there knot the real-world,

“The electronic technology of the 2020 Africa Twin is amazingly capable, and Honda’s new Multi-Information Display simulator enables customers to more easily get the most out of their machines,” said Chris Cox, Manager of Experiential Marketing & P.R. at American Honda. “We encourage customers—whether they already own an Africa Twin or are in the market for a new adventure bike—to give the tool a try.”

The new 2020 Honda Africa Twin, no matter what type of Africa Twin you get, has the 6.5-inch touch-panel TFT LCD Multi-information Display with handlebar controls and features like Apple CarPlay and settings for the ABS, Torque Control, wheelie control and more. To help folks understand what’s what before they get out there knot the real-world,

“The electronic technology of the 2020 Africa Twin is amazingly capable, and Honda’s new Multi-Information Display simulator enables customers to more easily get the most out of their machines,” said Chris Cox, Manager of Experiential Marketing & P.R. at American Honda. “We encourage customers—whether they already own an Africa Twin or are in the market for a new adventure bike—to give the tool a try.”

• 2021 Honda CRF 1100 Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT Review While researching the development and history of the Africa Twin I was impressed by what I learned. When Honda entered the 1986 Dakar Rally they went on to win four straight victories, an extremely rare feat for any manufacturer in their inaugural season. This race bike, the NXR750, would go on to become the inspiration for the production model we know and love today. Having been a longtime fan of Dakar and what it embodies, when I was given the opportunity to swing a leg over the current Africa Twin, it was exciting.

After the production version of the Africa Twin was launched in 1988, the line-up went through several upgrades over the years, but production eventually ceased in 2003. Then, after a 12-year hiatus, the Africa Twin was reborn in 2015. Known for being a more off-road oriented bike in the adventure segment, it did not disappoint.

DCT was first introduced in the 1200VFR in 2010 and the Goldwing received its DCT in 2017. It behaves like the automatic transmission in your car and, if you’ve ridden a scooter, you’ll be familiar with the twist-and-go functionality. Orders for Africa Twins outfitted with DCT have been steadily increasing over the years and now comprise 37% of all models sold. Honda has been investing a great deal of time and money into this technology. I had never tried DCT so was curious to learn what the riding experience would be like.

The motorcycle looks great. You can see some of the design’s heritage, but gone are the rounded styling cues in favor of a more modern angular approach. As the technician was going over the bike, I couldn’t help but be impressed at the package that Honda put together. You have lean-sensitive ABS, four factory and two user ride modes, throttle by wire, cruise control, heated grips, 12-volt and USB accessory outlets, adjustable windscreen, paddle shifters, and a 6.5-inch TFT display that even shows your power, engine braking and traction control settings along with Bluetooth, Apple Car Play, and Android Auto. Man, motorcycles have come a long way.

At first this felt weird. Even though the brakes are obviously the primary means to arrest acceleration, it felt odd not having the clutch to modulate power delivery during slow-speed maneuvering. To its credit, the throttle response is pretty smooth, and there is the feel of a friction zone. Honda saw fit to give the rider four drive mode variants (D or SI, SII, or SIII) that can modify any of the six user (four factory and two user) modes. This includes Touring, Urban, Gravel and Off-road. The standard D mode is mellow, almost dull. It quickly shifts through the gears to keeps the rpms down under 3,000. This sometimes leaves the rpms too low for my taste. I imagine it’s there for fuel economy and/or to have a mild setting for new riders on big bikes. For those craving more, thankfully the S modes wake up the bike, not only offering shift points higher in the rpm range but staying in gear longer before upshifting. I spent a good amount of time in SII as it just felt like the right balance for the mix of spirited street, freeway and canyon riding I enjoy.

For off-road, there is a dedicated mode which will take some of the snap out of the throttle input in order to be more forgiving over rough stuff, but you can dial it back up with the S modes. Between the factory ride modes and the fine tuning, every rider should be able to find a combination to their liking. There’s also a slew of rider aids (traction control, wheelie control, engine braking, power delivery, ABS) available with their respective range of settings and, while I tend to prefer the lowest settings, I’m a big fan of modern ABS in those “Oh shit!” braking scenarios. Each aid can be dialed in according to rider preference and, again, there should be a setting for everyone as Honda has given the rider a good range of flexibility.

Powering the Africa Twin is the recently enlarged 1084cc liquid-cooled, fuel-injected Unicam parallel twin, making 101 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 77 ft.-lb. of torque at 6,250 rpm.

Braking is handled by twin 310mm rotors and two four-piston hydraulic calipers up front and a single 256mm piston hydraulic caliper in the rear. Braking feels firm and responsive both in terms of lever feel and seat of the pants.

While the standard Africa Twin tips the scales at 501 lb., the touring-oriented Adventure Sports ES comes it at 530 lb. wet/ready to ride. The DCT variants add 23 lb. to either model, while fuel capacity is increased from 5 to 6.5 gallons to allow for extra range on those long rides.

As mentioned earlier, this bike has much of the same tech (and then some) as more expensive bikes in the 1000cc and up class. The big news for 2021 is the addition of Android Auto and Apple Car Play for navigation and music. Other features include heated grips with five settings, cruise control, turn signal cancellation, and access to the menu from the left grip cluster. The 6.5-inch TFT display is large and clear and you can customize what is shown for each riding mode.

All in all, the Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES DCT is a do-anything motorcycle that can take you far, in comfort, with confidence, and in charge whether there are roads or not. And isn’t that what this market segment is all about?

Anti-Glare: Provides the same scratch resistance and protection as our Ultra-Clear protectors, but also helps to remove the glare/reflections associated with LCD/TFT dashboards. Anti-glare protectors have a matte appearance once fitted.

We take great care to ensure that our screen protectors fit accurately and that we have listed the correct protector for your model. We never release a product for sale until we are certain that the fitment is as accurate as it can be. Generally manufacturers retain the same dashboard shape for their entire model range, even if the dashboard displays themselves change.

Fast-forward to Christmas time 2020, our friends from Honda Philippines confirmed that the latest CRF1100L was ready for test riding. I’ve never felt so excited and at the same time anxious to ride this BIG adventure bike.

The Africa Twin (AT) traces its roots to the Honda XRV650, which was inspired by Honda’s 1986 Dakar-winning NXR 750 of the time. The XRV650 also has the distinction of being the only AT bike that was built entirely at Honda’s HRC Factory. Then in the early 1990s came the AT XRV750. Like the XRV650 before it, the XRV750 also featured a V-twin engine configuration and produced about 63 Ps of power.

Between 1993-1995, Honda released an improved version of the XRV750, this time, the frame, bodywork, and the fuel tank were reworked to improve the bike’s responsiveness. This version of the AT would remain in production until 2003.

In 2016, Honda reintroduced the Africa Twin badge, on the new CRF1000L, which was a newly-developed motorcycle from the ground up. Unlike its rivals in the large adventure motorcycle segment, the then-new CRF1000L Africa Twin was the only bike to offer a dual-clutch (DCT) transmission, giving its riders the option to ride on full-automatic mode, much like a scooter, or manual mode by shifting through buttons on its handlebar.

Since then, Honda has beefed up the Africa Twin with an engine upgrade, boring it up to the 1,100cc it has today. Design-wise, little has changed, with much of the 2016 model"s looks carrying over.

For the current model, Honda revised the front fascia of the CRF1100. The headlight now sits a little higher than the outgoing CRF1000L. To give the rider a lot of clearance (especially when stand-up while riding off-road), a short windscreen was put in place.

Perhaps, the biggest improvement for the Africa Twin is in the engine, which is now 86 cc larger than its predecessor at 1,084 cc. Power has also increased from 95 Ps to 102 Ps at 7,500 rpm, as well as the torque output from 98 Nm to 105 Nm at 6,250 rpm. Honda did a great job of reworking the valve lift, piston stroke, as well as the cylinder head and throttle body to give the new Africa Twin more oomph than its predecessor.

As for the CRF1100L’s frame, it now features a lighter aluminum sub-frame. The swingarm is inspired by the lighter CRF450R’s design. The overall weight savings versus the previous 1000 cc Africa Twin is around 5 kilograms.

The rider gets a fully-digital instrument panel with a 6.5 TFT touch screen, which can be connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth connection. It"s mounted high, just like the navigation systems of Dakar rally bikes. The only letdown is the old school monochrome LCD screen below it (that looks like a student"s calculator) that also displays some of the info already found on the TFT screen.

Modes like User 1 and 2 offer riders the chance to personalize the settings of the CRF1100L Africa Twin. In this riding mode, riders can set up the bike between power levels 1 to 4, engine braking levels 1 to 3, Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC), and ABS (on/off-road).

On-road, there is no doubt that the CRF1100L Africa Twin can keep up with larger and more powerful adventure bikes, like BMW’s R 1250 GS and KTM’s 1090 Adventure R, both of which produce over 120 Ps of power. Although on paper, the CRF1100L Africa Twin only produces a meager 102 Ps, this bike can jump into triple-digit speeds in just a few seconds, just like its competitors. And, even if the bike sport a 21-inch front wheel, I never felt any wobble during our run along NLEX and SCTEX. The cruise control was also a gift from heaven, which allowed me to relax my right hand a bit when the bike was running above 80 kilometers per hour.

At first, I was anxious to ride the CRF1100L Africa Twin off-road, but after riding it to Catanauan, Quezon, and back one Saturday, I realized that the bike was not that heavy at all. The way its suspension chewed the potholes along the Manila South Road gave me that extra boost of confidence that I needed to take this demo bike on its (probably) first foray off the tarmac.

Here, the CRF1100L Africa Twin’s suspension was superb, almost comparable to the lighter dirt bikes I am used to riding. The bike felt so light that the slightest shift of weight on the footpegs while stand-up riding easily pivoted the bike to where I wanted it to be. And best of all, unlike top-heavy bikes like Yamaha’s Super Ténéré 1200, or Benelli’s TRK 502x, the CRF1100L Africa Twin doesn’t pull itself down (like it wants to lie down) on some of the trail’s technical sections. The bike just keeps itself straight up.

We were hoping to test the DCT version of the Africa Twin to experience what feels like to ride an adventure bike with an automatic transmission. Nonetheless, this “manual version” of the Africa Twin did not disappoint at all. The Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin is easily one of the best adventure bikes Japan has to offer and is definitely more reliable than its European counterparts.

Engage with the journey with a full-colour 6.5-inch TFT touchscreen offering immersive selection of riding modes and easy control of navigation and Bluetooth smartphone/audio connectivity. Apple CarPlay® allows seamless mirroring and management of iPhone apps or calls via the touchscreen, which means you’ll have access to weather, playlists and telephone numbers while aboard. Bluetooth® enabled wireless headsets let you communicate more easily than ever. And the best of all, with more apps available every day, Apple CarPlay™ keeps your bike’s technology and convenience on the cutting edge.​