Autofabrica’s Stunning Retro Africa Twin Dakar Racer
The UK custom bike builder Autofabrica has created the sweetest-looking Africa Twin Dakar replica we’ve ever seen
If you want to drool over pictures of the best looking Dakar bikes, set your time machine to the 80s and 90s, when the desert was awash with Tuaregs, Teneres, and Elefants.
One model which had particular success in the desert was the NXR-750 racer, which went on to spawn the XRV-650 and 750 Africa Twin models. Bagging four consecutive Dakar wins (1986, 87,88, and 89) the NXR fired its road-going sibling to the top of every budding adventurist’s wishlist in the 80s and 90s, making the Africa Twin one of the best-known adventure bikes in history.
But as handsome as the current generation Africa Twin is, it doesn’t have that authentic Dakar charm that its predecessors possessed. Until it gets a makeover from the clever people at Autofabrica, that is, who have turned a modern-day CRF1100L into a dreamy-looking retro desert racer called ‘Type 22’.
The bike uses many of the underpinnings of the donor Honda, although there is much more going on here than a simple bolt-on fairing kit. For starters, it has been fitted with fully adjustable Ohlins suspension, dramatically increasing ground clearance and the stance of the bike. Further chassis upgrades come in the form of Brembo monoblock calipers which replace the stock Nissin items.
The engine seems to have been left stock internally, although Autofabrica created a custom-built titanium exhaust system, which is said to increase response and power delivery significantly.
The biggest change, though, is the styling, with the team at Autofabrica going to town on the Africa Twin’s bodywork, binning the lot and starting all over again. One big aesthetic change is the removal of the stock bike’s instrument binnacle, which leaves the Type 22 with a more authentically retro, naked cockpit. Retaining the bike’s full suite of electronics was key to the build, meaning the bike’s TFT dash has been repositioned to the top of the fuel tank. This feature means the bike still boasts the full electronics package of the modern Africa Twin, meaning rider modes, ABS, traction control and even Apple CarPlay are all still available.
You can check out the full picture gallery and find out more about the Autofabrica Type 22 on the official website.
You can check out our Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin review here.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
