Bike Trader

WE first saw the concept bike for the Crosstourer last year at the EICMA show in Milan and today Honda has confirmed the bike is going into mass production.

The adventure-tourer will be unveiled at the EICMA show in Milan next month and will then go on sale in early 2012.

It uses the V4 engine used in the VFR1200F and will be offered with the option of having the Dual Clutch Transmission technology which lets us change gear without having to use the clutch. Instead we use paddles located on the handlebars.

The bike looks similar to the Crossrunner because it's part of Honda's 'crossover' design theory - in that riders want machines that can do the best of both worlds. Yosuke Hasegawa is the leader of the development team behind the bike and says that he is convinced they have brought us new value with this Crossover concept – in this case an adventure bike that has elements of a touring machine.

No news on how much it will cost but expect a price which will make it competitive against BMW's R1200 GS Adventure which currently costs around £11,600. Honda's own VFR1200FD - which has the same Dual Clutch technology - currently costs £13,426.

Meanwhile there are rumours that a number of the other bike manufacturers will also be unveiling larger capacity adventure bikes at the Milan Show;  possibly a 1000cc version of the Versys from Kawasaki,  a 1200cc Adventure bike from Triumph and you never know but Yamaha may also unveil a mass-production version of its Worldcrosser concept bike...

Search for a used Adventure bike.

By Dan Tye Bike Trader Editor

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