The Japanese publication Young Machine is at it again.  This time, they predict that Honda will use its current CRF250 Rally dirt bike as a baseline for a 250cc Africa Twin.  The publication says that the quarter-liter CRF will receive a makeover to become a 250cc Africa Twin.

Young Machine Prediction

The Japanese site says that the new Euro 5 regulations could drive a generational change in the bike.  They hope that Honda will transform the dirt bike’s rally looking bodywork into a more utilitarian “adventure-ish” style that resembles the current Africa Twin.

Of course, this could just be a rumor, but Young Machine has a pretty good track record.  As far as the Africa Twin goes, it was right about the current Africa Twin’s displacement hike from 1,000 to 1,100ccs.

It’s not hard to see how the CRF250L morphed into the CRF 250 Rally.  Now, Honda may be looking to turn the CRF 250 Rally into a CRF250 Africa Twin.

It would be nice if the publication was on track with this one.  With “adventure” bike sales booming over other segments, Honda could glom onto the fad without all that much work.

Little R&D required?

First, they will have to make the bike’s engine Euro 5 compliant.  That task has likely already been completed.  But without spending a whole stack of research and development dollars, they could throw on a larger tank and some Africa Twin-like bodywork and “quickly” make themselves a lightweight adventure touring bike with some decent off-road chops.

It’s much easier to make a dirt bike into an adventure machine than the other way around.  Certainly, some things will have to be beefed up a bit to accommodate the extra weight associated with adventure riding.  But that shouldn’t be as difficult as building a new machine from the ground up.

We’ll keep an eye on this one and hope that Young Machine’s prediction is once again on target.

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