It’s just a trillion times smarter than trying to manually drive your phone while driving.
Honda
Not every upgrade for a car or motorcycle needs to be a big, fanfare-laden event. Sometimes low quality of life arrives. For owners of the Honda Africa Twin, this week’s announcement definitely makes life easier without being an earthly earthly sun.
Honda announced this week that it will add Android Auto compatibility to the Africa Twin. This upgrade covers the 2020 model year-and-newer CRF1100L Africa Twin variants, including the standard Africa Twin and the Adventure Sports ES. Best of all: riders do not even have to go to the dealer to make it happen; Instead, owners simply go to Honda’s website, where they can learn how to place the update on a USB stick and use it to upgrade the bike itself. Honda said a passenger volume control feature will also be added as part of the software update.
Already available on the Gold Wing, Android Auto brings the second half of the smartphone mirror comparison to Honda’s bad-cool adventure bike. Connect a supported Android phone, and the infotainment screen will change to an Android-based experience that closely reflects the way your phone works, and puts things like app functionality first. If you’ve ever used Apple CarPlay, it’s basically that, but you know, with Google taste.
Even without Android Auto, there’s a lot to like about the latest generation Honda’s Africa Twin. A new 1,084-cc parallel twin engine increases displacement and delivers an estimated 101 horsepower and 77-pound torque. It is available with a six-speed dual-clutch or a six-speed manual gearbox. After some time with one, editor Kyle Hyatt called it a ‘fantastic, practical, comfortable and affordable adventure bike’, with prices starting at $ 14,399 before dealer costs for the base model with a manual.