Honda XRV650 Africa Twin Marathon
Honda Africa Twin | |
Manufacturer | |
---|---|
Also called | XRV650 Africa Twin Marathon, XRV 650 Africa Twin Marathon, XRV750 Africa Twin (reduced effect), XRV 750 Africa Twin (reduced effect), XRV Africa Twin, Africa Twin DCT, Africa Twin Enduro Sports Concept, CRF1000L Africa Twin DCT, CRF1000L Africa Twin, XRV650 Africa Twin, XRV750 Africa Twin, XRV 750 Africa Twin, XRV 650 Africa Twin |
Class | Trail |
Weight | |
Recommended Oil | Honda GN4 10W-40 |
Manuals | Service Manual |
Photos[edit | edit source]
Overview[edit | edit source]
Honda XRV 650 Africa Twin Marathon
In the late 80's
it was possible to run the Dakar in the 'Marathon' category with bikes derived
from the series and adapted to the race. For this reason, and also to meet in
some way to the next withdrawal of the official Honda Rally (after 4 victories
at Dakar), during the '89 edition Honda France, through the Director Jean Louis
Guillot, launched in autumn '88 the Operation "50 Africa Twin to Dakar. " It was
made an initial selection among 150 candidates, 50 were selected and were given
special prepared Africa Twin 650's to race in the 'Marathon' category.
Meanwhile, the bike was prepared: a nearly definitive Honda RD03 650 had a good
final figure to Pharaons Rallye 1988 in the hands of Joel Daures (Honda NXR
driver at Dakar '88). So 49 bikes left for the 11th Dakar, the Alsatian Heintz
saw it cancelled its participation in a few days before departure, when Honda
Motorcycle France and equipment had already been purchased, because the Libyan
authorities did not accept his entry into the country as belonging the French
army. Among the starters a young French girl, Maryline Lacombe, also an Italian
(Roberto Boano), and some pilots of other nationalities (Spain, England,
Senegal).
Serial numbers of these 50 bikes were starting at
5 as the RD03 standard (hence the need to be knowledgeable of the true means of
recognizing the real Marathon). At the Dakar usually a number of parts of the
bike were punched and numbered with the same number of the race pilot, so to
avoid the use of non-authorized parts, this should help.
The operation was a success, 18 AT finished the
race and Patrice Toussaint (16th) and Patrick Sireyjol (just behind him) got the
first two places in the Marathon class, with Boano 4th.
The following year, for the 12th edition of the
Dakar, 50 other motorcycle were set up, slightly different from the previous
series, with a frame number that begins in with 6 (from 600001
to 600050). About twenty AT were delivered in France, at least 3 in Spain, while
around fifteen of these motorcycles reached Italy, in mid-November '89, and then
too late to join the rally.
At least one was booked for the race at the last minute by Ermanno Bonacini but ran
a few steps as he run into a serious fall, which forced him to an immediate
admission to hospital and leave the bike in Libya.
Antonio "Toni" Boluda, was very good in this Dakar: 18th overall and winner of
the Marathon category. Andrea Mazzali ran the Pharaons of '90 with one of these
bikes, which he got directly by Carlo Fiorani, then head of HRC (to which he
returned for a while after the Ferrari experience).
In 1990 were built very few makes (only 8) of
'Marathon' 750 but during the '91 Dakar they were "switched" to the Silhouette
class, because they had a single disc front brake instead of 2! But once again
there were excellent performances of Boluda and Boano, respectively 10th and
11th overall and just behind Medardo among the Silhouettes! In the 13th Dakar,
however, there were still a few RD03 Marathons, including the one given by
Fiorani to Bonacini, taken from the ugly incident of the previous year thanks to
the care of Dr. Costa, those of Paladini and Nassi, and another dozen, of which
unfortunately only the Sireyjol one reached the Lac Rose.
Other AT Marathon were in the race in Paris-Le
Cap of '92, a couple of 650 with Italian Morelli and French Rivet. It is also
sure that some of these bikes did run other rallyes (Atlas and Tunisia in
particular), we seek confirmation!
Every now and then "Marathon" kits appear for
sale, but is not yet clear whether these arise from disassembled motorbikes or
were spare parts for the bikes produced by Honda HRC.
Very few of these bikes are still around, many
were unfortunately left in the sands of Africa!
Source