A touring bike should have a V-twin, right? That has been the conventional wisdom passed down through the ages. You need the torque of a large-displacement twin to haul all that extra weight around. Thing is, V-twins are expensive, and they offer engineering challenges, not to mention weight penalties. Others have experimented with different layouts — 'boxer' twins, inline fours and threes, and even V4s have been put into service with varying degrees of success.

A simple, elegant, and cost-effective answer is the parallel twin engine. It has its own set of negatives, yes, but with time and technology, its negative points are gradually being relegated to history. This layout is so versatile that we're now finding it on adventure bikes, sports bikes, and cruisers alike — and of course, on touring bikes. And if you want a motorcycle that can deal with the rough and tumble of an extended ride, there is one brand that immediately comes to mind.

The most reliable brand by default is, of course, the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Honda. If you look at Honda's selection of products, you will notice that it does not have much variety in the US market. This is not because of a lack of options; the number of different types of motorcycles it has engineered in its existence is truly staggering. It is just that it prefers to offer efficiency over everything else if it is given a choice, and that is exactly what it has done with its product portfolio in this country.

As a result, when you get to certain segments, there are only one or two representative products. For example, the Gold Wing is the only true large-capacity bagger or full-dress tourer in the lineup. In the same way, if you go looking for a sport tourer in Honda's USA lineup, you will come up with just one real option. And it is not a bad option at all.

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Honda are motorcycles you buy when you want to keep it for an incredibly long time. The company makes products with this in mind because that is what it wants for its customers. And so it does not chase headline power figures or features that look like they are from a science-fiction movie; it just makes solidly engineered products with enough performance, but prioritizes low ownership costs and great reliability. The NT1100 is no different, and it will last a very long time with basic and timely care. Yes, even the dual-clutch automatic gearbox. It is the parallel-twin touring bike that riders trust for the long haul.

The NT1100 base price is $11,999. It undercuts pretty much everything else that it competes with in the segment. This is incredible because not only is it a little larger than the regular midsize motorcycles that it competes with on price, but it also has a larger-displacement engine, a six-speed automatic dual-clutch gearbox, and, in the recent update, it got a six-axis IMU as well. There is only one variant on sale in the US market, and it has everything that the NT1100 offers on it. So, you do not really need to dig into the options list unless you want luggage.

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In very simple terms, the NT1100's engine is shared with the Honda Africa Twin, and it has the same state of tune. Now let's dig into the details. This engine is a parallel-twin cylinder engine with a 270-degree firing order and Honda's patented Unicam SOHC head with four valves per cylinder. It displaces 1,084cc, has a compression ratio of 10.5:1, and generates 100 horsepower at 7,500 RPM and 83 pound-feet at 5,500 RPM. This is mated with a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and a final chain drive.

The US market gets only the automatic gearbox on the NT1100, and this is a very intelligent gearbox. The default mode is D, in which it prioritizes smoothness and fuel efficiency, but it will vary the shift point depending on how aggressively you ride. There is also an ‘S’ mode with three levels. Each level has an increasingly more aggressive shift pattern, which means as you go through them, they will shift up later and downshift earlier to help with engine braking. This remains the only dual-clutch automatic gearbox in its segment, and in fact the only automatic gearbox of any kind around its price point.

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The NT1100 also derives its chassis from the Honda Africa Twin, which makes for a very interesting spec sheet. This is possibly the only modern tarmac-specific motorcycle today that has a semi-double cradle frame. The bolt-on subframe and two-sided swingarm are made out of aluminum to save weight. The suspension consists of 43mm Showa SFF-BP inverted front forks with adjustable preload and a Pro-Link Showa monoshock with a gas-charged damper and hydraulically adjustable preload. The suspension travel available is 5.9 inches at both ends.

The brakes are twin 310mm discs with radial four-piston fixed calipers at the front and a 256mm disc with a single-piston caliper at the rear. They are fitted to 17-inch alloy wheels that have tubeless radial tires on them.

The NT1100 might be priced like a mid-sized sport tourer, but it certainly has the dimensions of a full-size one. It is 88.1 inches long, 34.0 inches wide, and has a wheelbase of 60.4 inches. This is enough to accommodate both rider and pillion in comfort. The seat height is 32.3 inches, and the ground clearance is a massive 6.9 inches, thanks, no doubt in part, to the short engine with its Unicam SOHC head. The curb weight is 547 pounds ready to ride with a full tank of fuel — this is where the NT1100 suffers, thanks to that cradle frame, because all of the competition comes in at roughly 60 to 70 pounds lighter.

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The NT1100's bargain pricing means that Honda has had to leave out something, somewhere. And you could argue that the feature set is where it shows, but that would not really be true. Honda has given it a very intelligent set of features, and you do not feel like you will want for anything. It starts with the big 6.5-inch TFT display, which is also a touchscreen. It is equipped with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as well. Of course, since this has been taken from the Africa Twin, Honda has also given it the small LCD below it that shows essential riding information as well.

Other standard features include a height-adjustable windscreen that can be set manually to five different positions, a USB charging socket, heated grips, hard luggage, self-canceling indicators, and a center stand. The options list does not really have too much on it other than more comfortable pillion footpegs and luggage options.

In 2025, Honda updated the NT1100 with a six-axis IMU, so it is now the equal of any of the competition. It has HSTC traction control, wheelie control, rear-wheel-lift mitigation, and cornering ABS. Cruise control is another standard feature. The IMU update has made it a much better value than before, and it is very difficult to look in any other direction when you are looking for a no-nonsense, value-driven, reliable touring bike

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The Yamaha Tracer 9 is arguably the most exciting competitor in the middleweight sport-tourer segment, but it can get too exciting for the touring segment. The rider's position can be a little too aggressive to be comfortable for an all-day ride. And this is priced well, but lacks some of the features that make the Tracer 9 such a premium product in other markets. Still, if you want a truly sporty tourer, there is no other answer.

Triumph's Tiger range has expanded, and there are more than a couple of displacements to choose from. The Triumph Tiger Sport 800 fills the demand for a midsize sport-tourer. It does so with a mixture of quality components, like Showa suspension with remote rear preload adjustment, a standard two-way quickshifter, and an old-school, even-firing, inline three-cylinder engine. However, it has a combination of digital and analog instrumentation, so there are places where there is room for improvement.

BMW GS series deservedly gets a lot of love. But its sibling bikes are not as popular. A prime example is the BMW F 900 XR, which is a very competent crossover. It uses BMW's proven midsize parallel-twin. It has a very aggressive base price as well, which makes it quite good value. But as with most BMW products, you have to add packages to it to bring it to the level of the competition, and that can drive the price up in a hurry.

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Source: https://www.topspeed.com/parallel-twin-touring-bike-trust-long-haul/