Honda has taken the wraps off the new NT1100, a sport-tourer derived from the CRF1100L Africa Twin adventure motorcycle.
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1,084cc parallel twin makes 100hp and 104Nm
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Shares its frame with the Africa Twin
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Heated grips, cruise control, panniers offered as standard
Honda NT1100: design and equipment
The NT1100 bridges the gap between Honda’s 750 line of touring machines and the flagship, or should we say mothership that is the Goldwing. The design is typically Honda, with sleek lines, a sharp face, and a functional tail section. Honda is also offering two detachable panniers (65 litres of combined volume) as standard with the bike, and these sit neatly with the rest of the design.
The LED headlights with integrated DRLs are sleek and nicely incorporated into the front fairing. Above this lies a five-way height and angle adjustable windscreen that, along with the deflectors, should offer adequate wind protection.
The bike is available in three colourways – Matte Iridium Gray, Metallic Pearl Glare White and Graphite Black.
In terms of equipment, the bike gets a 6.5-inch TFT touchscreen display with three layouts and a secondary LCD display below it. The cluster has Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. In addition to this, the bike gets all-LED lights, Emergency Stop Signal, USB socket, ACC socket, heated grips and cruise control as standard.
Honda NT1100: engine and electronics
The NT1100’s parallel-twin engine is similar to the Africa Twin’s motor, down to the compression ratio at 10.1:1. To reiterate, the 1,084cc, liquid-cooled engine makes 100hp at 7,250rpm and 104Nm at 6,250rpm. The differences lie in the NT1100’s tuning, says Honda, as the motorcycle is intended for ‘relaxed highway cruising’. The bike can be opted with a 6-speed manual transmission or a dual clutch transmission (DCT). The DCT can be programmed via four settings to adjust how the bike changes gears in full auto mode. Or you can take full control of the shifts using the buttons on the handlebar.
The electronic rider aids include three-step traction and wheelie control and five ride modes – Urban, Rain, Tour, User 1 and User 2. The last two modes allow customised settings.
Honda NT1100: chassis
Underneath the sleek bodywork is the same steel semi-double cradle frame that you see in the Africa Twin. The bolt-on aluminium rear subframe, however, is new. Other differences to the Africa Twin include lower seat height, at 820mm, and sharper steering geometry.
The NT1100 has a preload adjustable, Showa SFF-BP USD fork with 150mm travel. At the back, there’s a Pro-link monoshock with similar 150mm axle travel and comes with a remote preload adjuster. The bike rides on 17-inch wheels.
Braking duties are taken care of by twin 310mm discs with four-piston Nissin calipers at the front and a 256mm disc at the rear with a single-piston caliper.
The bike tips the scales at 238kg for the MT variant, while the DCT version weighs an additional 10kg.
Honda NT1100: price and availability
The Honda NT1100 is now on sale in the UK. The MT version is priced at £11,999 or Rs 12.39 lakh while the DCT bike costs £12,999 or Rs 13.42 lakh as per today’s conversion rates. As of now, there is no indication of Honda bringing this bike to India.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
