The ‘tourer light’ gets tweaked for ‘25
Dynamic and easy on the eye!
Honda have had, in the past, a very usable and practical motorcycle NT700 called the Deauville. While it’s discontinued now it was a shaft driven 698cc small tourer. It wanted for nothing. Except, that is, for a decent name. Deauville. Rapidly nicknamed the ‘Dullvill’ the bike never really sold in the numbers that it should have.
Then in 2022 Honda launched a new 1,100cc ‘sports’ tourer using a derivative of an Africa Twin and a modification of the legends chassis. It didn’t, hasn’t and won’t be called a Deauville and this makes it much easier to approach and indeed, allow it to be as good a bike as it’s younger sibling once was.
For the coming year, 2025, the Big H have given it a going over and added, tweaked and changed a few bits.
Rekindle your romance with a decent bike ride
They’ve taken the feedback from the tourers amongst us and reworked some of the NT1100. The riders seat has been changed for added comfort. They’ve also improved the bodywork. Some of the redesigns involve making a bike with a sharper fairing, integrated indicators and redesigned panniers. Some more of these changes have immediate positive benefits for the rider. These include a new windscreen complimented by a set of wind deflectors.
On the handling front the bike benefits from electronically adjustable suspension by Showa. This “EERA” set up is the latest in a long line of similar systems. They’re all well proven and offer the NT1100 rider the ability to tune the suspension to match their own riding style and comfort demands. That last one is very helpful when it comes to our pillions!
Cleaner lines set the new 2025 NT1100 apart
The parallel twin engine is still the same one as the Africa Twin. This latest one has been re tuned to present a lot more of the bikes power in the midrange. This, once again, makes for a bike that’s easier and less urgent to tour on. The DCT, a type of automatic electronic gearbox, option has been tweaked to offer a smoother and more realistic and smoother cycle through the box.
Before it was even released the NT1100 had a rich heritage to draw on. The old 700 and the 650 before it set quite the standard while the latest Africa Twin supplied an excellent powerplant in the form of the parallel twin engine. So far it’s lived up to that expectation.
The standard NT1100 is available from €16,699 while the DCT one starts at €17,799. A staggering amount of accessories are available.