Further Confirmation of Honda’s NT1100

Last year we reported on Japanese rumors of an upcoming Honda sport-tourer based around the engine and transmission of the firm’s Africa Twin model. Now that bike has been effectively confirmed by Honda’s decision to apply for trademark rights to the name “NT1100” in Europe. In last December’s story we used the name rumored in Japan—CB1100X—but it’s almost certain that the new trademark filing refers to the same machine. It also adds a little more flesh on Honda’s positioning of the new bike, since the “NT” name last appeared on the Deauville (discontinued in 2013), initially as the NT650 and later as the enlarged NT700.

The Africa Twin’s compact, lightweight engine, which features the firm’s Unicam cylinder-head design to keep it small, is ideally suited to an NT-badged sport-tourer. It’s not a powerhouse of an engine, peaking at 101 hp in the Africa Twin and 86 hp in the new-for-2021 CMX1100 Rebel, but it offers a wide spread of torque and more than enough performance for day-to-day riding.

The first hints at the new NT1100 came in the form of patents that showed the Africa Twin engine mounted in a brace of street-oriented frames. One was a trellis, the other a tubular backbone design, but both were clearly different from either the Africa Twin or the Rebel 1100′s chassis. Although it’s not certain, it seems likely that the backbone-style chassis may be the one to be used on the NT1100, as Japanese sources say the machine will take its styling cues from the CB4X concept bike that was shown in 2019. That machine was based around the frame and engine of the CB650R, but the computer illustrations created by Japanese magazine AutoBy and reproduced here show how the look works when wrapped around the Africa Twin’s engine.

The NT1100 trademark application that was filed in with European Union authorities on February 2 says the mark is intended to be used on “motorcycles and parts and fittings for motorcycles” and since Honda has no other suitable 1,100-class engine in its armory, it can only refer to the 1,084cc Africa Twin motor. Honda’s touring and sport-touring offerings are thin at the moment, with the Gold Wing effectively being the only modern touring model left standing. Not long ago Honda buyers could choose from the Wing, the ST1300 Pan European, the VFR1200F, and the VFR800F, not to mention the more adventure-styled, but still road-biased VFR800X Crossrunner and VFR1200X Crosstourer. In the European market, all of those bikes are now either discontinued completely or on their way out, unable to meet the latest Euro 5 emissions rules.

If the Japanese rumors about the new bike are correct, the NT1100 will have a slightly elevated stance, giving some of the appeal of an adventure bike but without any pretensions of off-road ability. Models like BMW’s S 1000 XR and F 900 XR have gone in the same direction, along with the likes of MV Agusta’s Turismo Veloce and, perhaps most importantly, Yamaha’s Tracer 9. The Yamaha, with its 889cc, 117 hp three-cylinder engine, is likely to be the most direct rival to the NT1100, with the Honda lagging slightly behind on power but making up for it with more cubes and the extra torque that comes with them.

The Japanese rumor mill has long said the new bike is due as part of Honda’s 2022 model range, and the timing of the trademark filing in Europe fits with that prediction. It takes around six months to get trademarks approved, provided there are no objections, so the firm should have the rights in time for a model launch somewhere around the fourth quarter of 2021, when the 2022 range is expected to be unveiled.