Honda has taken a blow on the table with the resurrection of his Africa Twin, which in late 2015 returned to dealers under the name 1000L CRF Honda Africa Twin. His rival brands have to put the batteries, and Yamaha could prepare a counterattack with a Ténéré that would drive the engine as the MT-09.
No one doubts that the trail segment is changing increasingly consolidated in the mid-displacement models. Motorcycles with a good package of power, but which have a dose of comfort also important. For combining these two conditions, some houses in the street are putting new models with displacements more content around 800cc to fulfill this task.
Examples of this situation we have seen in Triumph, with its new Tiger, or the full range of BMW, with many models 700 and 800cc. But without doubt one of the most recent samples was the new Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L model that Honda has risen to seize this niche market.
The Honda is a bet that surely will make move to its main competitors, including Yamaha. The house of the three tuning forks may be preparing a counter category, with the help of his best-known trail, the Tenere. Yamaha is pulling out models in which its proponents drink from the MT-07 and MT-09, and this could be a new example that would follow the new XSR700.
In the case of the Tenere, most likely we could be talking about 115CV 3 cylinders the MT-09, properly adapt to the mechanics of the Tenere, where power surely would be reduced by about 5-10 hp. However, this would be a great response from Yamaha to introduce a tough competitor to the new Africa Twin, which will arrive in 2015 to the concessionaires would have to face.
It will certainly be interesting to see if this rumor is confirmed over the weeks. Who knows, maybe in the next Hall of Milan we all get some surprises. Keep you informed.
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