Why The Honda NT1100 Is The Touring Motorcycle With Adventure Bike DNA

With the rise of adventure touring motorcycles, traveling on a motorcycle has never been more popular. Unfortunately, these bikes are very much victims of their own success with people taking them to their limits both on and off-road. The reality of a compromise motorcycle like an adventure bike, is that it is inherently compromised.

It came to light that smaller middleweight adventure bikes made more sense off-road, and more comfortable touring bikes made more sense for long-distance road travel. Japanese manufacturers were quick to adapt and each of the big four brands now offers an affordable tourer. Only one of these bikes is based on an adventure bike.

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The Honda NT1100 Has Adventure Bike DNA

MSRP: $11,899

Unlike most bikes which share a platform these days, the Africa Twin adventure bike which the NT1100 is based upon actually came first. Making its debut in Europe back in 2022, the NT1100 has proven to be a smash hit and the strong sales there have prompted its introduction in the US. It is priced aggressively, offering impressive value, but Honda still has some stiff competition to contend with.

Suzuki offers the GSX-S1000GT+ as a more sporty touring alternative. Although it is more expensive, it offers a host of features that do not come standard with the Honda, and around 50 more horsepower. Kawasaki, on the other hand, have the Ninja 1100 SX SE. You need to do without luggage – just like the Honda – but in its place you get an Öhlins rear shock. Yamaha has the Tracer 9, which is the most like-for-like alternative. For around $1k more, you get more peak power from the CP3 and luggage as standard fitment.

The only European offering in this space comes in the form of the Tiger Sport 800. Out of all the bikes at this price point, this is the only bike with a new engine. That makes it something of an unknown quantity. Although we expect nothing but the best from Triumph, it is perfectly reasonable to expect some teething issues from a brand-new bike.

Rivals

• Suzuki GSX-S1000GT+
• Kawasaki Ninja 1100 SX SE
• Yamaha Tracer 9
• Triumph Tiger Sport 800

The NT1100 Has A Familiar Parallel-Twin

Power: 101 Horsepower

Honda’s recent update saw a small bump in both power and torque, so just like the Africa Twin, it makes 100 horsepower. This figure may not seem all that much compared to the direct competition. The Suzuki makes a whopping 50 more horsepower, and the Kawasaki, 30 horsepower. It is the 83 pound-feet of torque which makes it more than capable of getting the bike up to speed on a fun twisty section of road.

Over the years, Honda’s Unicam design has proven to be incredibly reliable, and is actually one of the Africa Twin’s biggest selling points. Speaking of selling points, it gets the renowned DCT transmission as the only option. While the European version also has a manual transmission option, Honda saw fit to omit that in an effort to streamline production, or basically cut costs, anticipating a high demand for the controversial automatic. It really is a love it or hate it kind of feature, but in a touring bike, it makes a degree of sense.

Engine Specifications

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The NT1100 Is A Feature-Rich Motorcycle

Excellent Value For Money

At this price, the NT1100 is desperately hard to ignore, but the way it undercuts the opposition is a little on the sneaky side. The saddlebags you see in several of the photos are not actually included. If you were to add them as an option, the price would swell to around $12,600, which is more or less the same price as the Tracer 9, which coincidentally gets saddlebags as standard fitment. The Suzuki is still a couple of thousand dollars more expensive, but to some, the 50 extra horses might be worth that premium.

You still get a fantastic electronics package. Traction control and ABS will always be present on a Euro-spec bike these days. It also has a ride-by-wire throttle so it has ride modes and cruise control. The 6.5-inch TFT dash has smartphone connectivity as well as a little digital meter while it is displaying whatever app you have synced, a detail we truly wish other manufacturers would think of. Heated grips and an adjustable windshield round out a particularly long features list for the price.

Adventure bikes might be all the rage at the minute, but for those looking for a tool for travel, and don’t expressly need to go off-road too much this is an incredible package. The fact that it is based on one of the most popular adventure bikes means Honda is able to keep the price phenomenally low, and we are pretty sure it will sell just as well in the US as it has been selling throughout Europe.

The one thing that is important to keep in mind is that this might be a sport touring-class motorcycle, but the adventure bike frame isn’t all that sporty. So you will need to manage expectations in terms of sporting potential. It has a great engine that will get it up to and well past the speed limit if you are not careful, but it won’t take much to find its limits on a nice canyon road, let alone a track.

Features

• ABS
• Traction control (HSTC)
• Ride-by-wire throttle
• Ride modes
• Cruise control
• Heated grips
• TFT dash
• Adjustable windshield

Chassis, Suspension, And Weight Specifications