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From Motorcycle News

 

Honda NT1100 to fill the VFR gap

Africa Twin power for all-new sports-touring family

By Ben Purvis

NEWS CONTRIBUTOR

Honda’s CRF1100L Africa Twin has already spawned an unusual spin-off in the shape of the CMX1100 Rebel cruiser, but for 2022 it’s getting a more logical sibling in the new NT1100 sports-tourer.

A parallel twin, Africa Twinpowered street bike has been rumoured for months, and the NT1100 name was trademarked earlier this year, but now we’ve got evidence in the form of the European type-approval of two versions – the NT1100A and NT1100D – including details such as power, weight and physical dimensions.

Despite a very different appearance and spec, the NT1100 steps into the shoes of the VFR800 as Honda’s main middleweight sports-tourer, although in line with the trend towards adventure-style models, its dimensions are close to those of the VFR800X Crossrunner. Honda opted not to update the two VFRs to Euro5, and as a result the Crossrunner is already dead and the VFR800 will follow.

 

Both the NT1100A and NT1100D use the 1084cc parallel twin in 101bhp Africa Twin spec rather than the detuned version seen in the Rebel 1100. That power is on a par with the VFR but comes nearly 3000rpm lower, at 7500rpm, and is backed up by 77lb.ft of torque – 20lb.ft more than the VFR can muster.

The NT1100A will be the base model, with a manual transmission and dimensions similar to the Crossrunner.

Its 1535mm wheelbase and 2240mm overall length are fractionally longer than the Crossrunner, but the 865mm width and 1360mm height to the top of the screen are virtually identical. At 238kg wet, it’s 4kg lighter than the Crossrunner or VFR800. The NT1100D shares the same measurements apart from the height, at 1575mm suggesting a much taller screen, and weight; it’s 10kg heavier at 248kg because it uses Honda’s DCT semi-automatic gearbox.


 

87EACAE5-B552-4E51-9062-C5878501CD3E.jpeg

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Sigh . . . sign of the times.   Is this segment now "Adventure Touring"?  Apparently they all have to look like that.  Well, maybe they'll sell,  I guess we'll see.  There won't be one in my garage sorry to say.   I feel like it's 2010 again, saying to Honda "hey, what we really want is . . . " but clearly that's falling on deaf ears.   The market has moved on and I have not.  Best to them - fortunately there are enough spares both new and from bikes to pick off of to keep what I have going a good long time.  YMMV

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I have a hard time envisioning that there will be an NT1100 forum where owners will be excitedly swapping parts and doing mods.  This bike will probably end up as a sub category to the A.T. forums - neither fish nor fowl - sort of a stepchild no one knows what to do with. One thing for sure - no one is gong to pull up on one and have onlookers ask "is that a Ducati?"  

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KTM's sell like hot cakes here in the Netherlands....  

My mileage WILL vary :wheel::laugh:

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1 hour ago, Calculon said:

I don’t hate it and would like to give it a test ride but it doesn’t excite me too much.

Agree.  That seat is making my butt hurt already!  Was hoping they'd bring the Crossrunner here, but alas no.  I'd rather have a V4.

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On 9/1/2021 at 6:43 AM, Cogswell said:

Sigh . . . sign of the times.   Is this segment now "Adventure Touring"?  Apparently they all have to look like that.  Well, maybe they'll sell,  I guess we'll see.  There won't be one in my garage sorry to say.   I feel like it's 2010 again, saying to Honda "hey, what we really want is . . . " but clearly that's falling on deaf ears.   The market has moved on and I have not.  Best to them - fortunately there are enough spares both new and from bikes to pick off of to keep what I have going a good long time.  YMMV

I will agree. I like the looks of the older bikes better than the new ones. Everything seems to look like a Transformer. That said, Honda needs to attract younger newer motorcycle riders and they're not going to do that by continually producing motorcycles of yesteryear. I have an '89 XL600V Transalp and I'm curious to see if Honda does actually bring a new version of the Transalp to market soon. I'm not naive, I know it won't look like my '89 and will look far closer to a smaller African Twin but I'm still curious. The market has to steer in the direction of newer younger riders not old getting ready to stop riders.

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16305949444742438282954148517784.thumb.jpg.6a431705f5646868cf907ae148ee76c0.jpgGot this promo garb....

 

 

Yeah  them Italians are sluts... they'll do anything for money :tongue:

16305949918105038640958092267242.thumb.jpg.934679d1bf7d3e5dccd4cea9beac28fb.jpg

 

 

Yeah....  ride responsibly...

16305951154003609307677046578988.thumb.jpg.4f8c69fac1935a3c872a8786dc1c922f.jpg

 

 

 

I'm dead chuffed with my new adventure bike 😉

16305952196475996656504749719721.thumb.jpg.442650f4f7cc3be5d6d9eee80da700a9.jpg

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Sign of the times. For 20 years salaries have been static & real jobs have declined replaced with zero hours contracts & no security. The value of all western currencies has halved in those same 20 years. Thus what cost 5K in whatever your currency is, now costs 10K 😳 But your pay packet still says you only have 5K disposable income ☹️ And so they try to make machines that will sell using the cash people have to play with. Two cylinders cost half as much to make and maintain. 8 valves V 16 valves, half as many cam lobes to grind etc etc. Most of the other parts have gotten cheaper over time, so they can still bring a bike is around the 10K price point.

 

They could make what people claim they want, but how many would drop 25K on a sport tourer 🤔 Let me guess, nah not worth it. 

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2 hours ago, Mohawk said:

Sign of the times. For 20 years salaries have been static & real jobs have declined replaced with zero hours contracts & no security. The value of all western currencies has halved in those same 20 years. Thus what cost 5K in whatever your currency is, now costs 10K 😳 But your pay packet still says you only have 5K disposable income ☹️ And so they try to make machines that will sell using the cash people have to play with. Two cylinders cost half as much to make and maintain. 8 valves V 16 valves, half as many cam lobes to grind etc etc. Most of the other parts have gotten cheaper over time, so they can still bring a bike is around the 10K price point.

 

They could make what people claim they want, but how many would drop 25K on a sport tourer 🤔 Let me guess, nah not worth it. 

 

That is so true - and the devaluation of most Western currencies is shifting in to high gear.  Here, with labor in short supply, prices for personal services are skyrocketing - hair cut, clothing alteration, plumber, furnace service, landscape service - pretty much name it - in some cases are doubling.   The US is printing literally trillions in US$ that they do not have which ultimately devalues what people have and earn.  I had never thought of bike design in those terms, but it has intellectual appeal that it's what's happening.  Sure is a different world than when I (and probably most of us) began riding. 

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On 9/3/2021 at 10:19 AM, Mohawk said:

Sign of the times. For 20 years salaries have been static & real jobs have declined replaced with zero hours contracts & no security. The value of all western currencies has halved in those same 20 years. Thus what cost 5K in whatever your currency is, now costs 10K 😳 But your pay packet still says you only have 5K disposable income ☹️ And so they try to make machines that will sell using the cash people have to play with. Two cylinders cost half as much to make and maintain. 8 valves V 16 valves, half as many cam lobes to grind etc etc. Most of the other parts have gotten cheaper over time, so they can still bring a bike is around the 10K price point.

 

They could make what people claim they want, but how many would drop 25K on a sport tourer 🤔 Let me guess, nah not worth it. 

Yeah, I make 2x as much in salary now as 20-yrs ago, that's +%3.6/year. But costs-of-living expenses: housing, utilities, insurance and food has gone up 3x. I certainly have much less disposable income now than before. No buying new bikes on horizon.

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On 9/3/2021 at 8:14 PM, anth85 said:

 I'd rather find a 2018-2020 age range vfr. That'll probably be my last petrol bike before going electric.

 

That's my current thinking too. I'll wait to see and ride the NT1100  (and the about to be launched Triumph Tiger Sport 660 too) before pulling the trigger.

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To me, it seems, we just continually get bigger and heavier bikes that dont really add up to bigger fun. I am more encouraged by the news of bikes like the Aprillia 660's, the new Triumph 660, and even the Benelli 520.... That Aprillia in an S-T mode could be a cool bike!

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The Europeans have at least partially backfilled that niche, but nothing from Honda.   Boy - if Yamaha made a sporty / touring bike with the R-1 crossplane motor that had eye appeal, sporty but all day ergos that wasn't too big, and factory luggage, I'd be in for that.  That motor's sound is very close to the V-4.   Wider for sure, but since Honda has abandoned that space . . .  That would (except for the V-4) be the bike I had hoped Honda was going to make after the 6th gen - start with 1 liter displacement and then the rest.  Oh well.  I guess the market wants industrial-looking machinery, so that what it's going to get. 

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If it looked a little different and I didn't already have a VFR...maybe.  Aside from cost, motors are just so much better now, they can do more with parallel twins than they used to.  So the R7 and Aprilia 660 are real world fast enough, etc.  I would have to ride one to know but I don't have any fond memories of any parallel twin I've ridden in the past.

 

But that rendering is fugly.  I am still very interested in an Africa Twin or KTM Adventure 890 R but not so much this thing.  I guess I understand adventure bikes with sport tires the same way I understand a Jeep Wrangler running Michelin Latitudes...it works for some people to have an off road vehicle that's tweaked for the street and really not good at either thing, just not for me.  

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1 hour ago, ShipFixer said:

If it looked a little different and I didn't already have a VFR...maybe.  Aside from cost, motors are just so much better now, they can do more with parallel twins than they used to.  So the R7 and Aprilia 660 are real world fast enough, etc.  I would have to ride one to know but I don't have any fond memories of any parallel twin I've ridden in the past.

 

I get what you're saying about parallel twins.  In the early 2000s it seemed like manufacturers put uninspired and unimpressive parallel twins in somewhat sporty or decent all-arounder bikes, like the Ninja 650.  I test rode (I think) a 2014 BMW F800GT and frankly it was kind of lame.  This was a bike that reminded me of my VFR, which is one reason I was interested in it, but the parallel twin in that bike felt slow to rev and "wheezy."

 

Fast forward several years and as I was new bike shopping last year I test rode a new BMW F750GS, which basically has an updated and retuned version of the that same parallel twin.  It was much better.  I was actually pretty impressed by that motorcycle and its engine.  I came close to buying one, too, but got something else instead.

 

The new Aprilia 660 and its parallel twins has been getting good reviews, and they're putting it in a few different variations of the same bike.

 

I can't see this engine configuration ruling the moto world, but they have definitely improved over the years.

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I guess it depends on the definition of "ruling;" from a population standpoint, looks like they are set to dominate sport bikes, pseudo-sport bikes, entry level cruisers, and a whole lot of the adventure bike market.  The 600 inline category is on the ropes already.  I think cruiser people will always desire V-twins and sport or sport touring types will always aspire to inline fours, V-4s, V-twins, etc.  But the numbers seem to have shifted already.  

 

The biggest dealership near me has one RR-R, a couple 600RR's, and then a floor full of parallel twin this or that.  Kind of sucks on one level, but on the other hand...makes a whole lot of sense.

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Well, here's a new vee engined, sssa equipped sport tourer whose styling puts to shame the Honda NT1100. Imsho, it is the nicest looking bike in the sport tourer category since the '02 VTec VFR.

Hell, the Paris Dakar is better looking than the NT1100. Having owned a series of VFRs and VTR100Fs I was unimpressed by the '09 VFR1200 and '14 VFR800. How the Guzzi will perform remains to be seen. For more info google Moto Guzzi V100.

 

 

Moto Guzzi V100 pair.JPG

Moto Guzzi V100.JPG

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On 9/10/2021 at 7:25 PM, ShipFixer said:

If it looked a little different and I didn't already have a VFR...maybe.  Aside from cost, motors are just so much better now, they can do more with parallel twins than they used to.  So the R7 and Aprilia 660 are real world fast enough, etc.  I would have to ride one to know but I don't have any fond memories of any parallel twin I've ridden in the past.

 

But that rendering is fugly.  I am still very interested in an Africa Twin or KTM Adventure 890 R but not so much this thing.  I guess I understand adventure bikes with sport tires the same way I understand a Jeep Wrangler running Michelin Latitudes...it works for some people to have an off road vehicle that's tweaked for the street and really not good at either thing, just not for me.  

 

I'm not usually a fan of half fairing bikes,  but in this case they used it to good effect to show off the engine.   I like it.  And the shock placement would make service a breeze - esp vs.  a VTEC ABS. 

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