Well this thread is a bit of a read.... but I worked through it....
I have had many Honda motorcycles, including two ST1100's.... I have even ridden one of UP's fine dinosaurs, but that was eleven years ago.... had two NC750X's as well!
Most recent tourer was a BMW1250RT LE, which I enjoyed, despite the weight.... that there bike could be construed as having the wrong clothes on as it could lift it's skirt and go from nought to a driving ban really very quickly....
However, having put 20,000 miles on it in just over a year and with the "me getting older" bit starting to cause some issues with the weight, more the getting less fit really..... it was time to change before the warranty ran out and the next big service was due....
So, NT1100.......
Yep I found one in a dealer on the south coast and they were prepared to give me a decent trade in, so I rode down and picked up a brand new grey NT1100 DCT with the "Voyager" pack fitted.
That's topbox, comfort seats, comfort pillion pegs, spotlights and tank bag.....
Now someone mentioned a bike being second hand and having 27 miles on it... What is actually happening, a lot, is that Honda will not take an order unless it is for a customer, so bikes are being ordered with a "customer" name on it, supplied PDI'd registered and pushed into the showroom as a "cancelled order".....
So, brand new bike, less than one mile on it, but registered and now considered "used"!
I bought a brand new used bike. Comes with all the new bike stuff except there is a name on the registration document already.
All that said, the bike is good, it feels a lot lighter than the 248kg it purports to be and compared to shoving the RT up the incline from my garage backwards and turning it in a limited space, the NT is far easier to handle in this scenario.
Riding it, well it's not an ST11 or 1300, but the AT based twin delivers slightly more than 100bhp and ample torque.
The DCT, well, new to me, but I have had no issues as I used drive "D" mode and press the down shifter on approach to bends or junctions to be in the right gear that I want.
Also use the up shift if it doesn't change up when I think it should, which isn't very often.
Economy, I have only done 550 miles so far but at an indicated 70mph on the motorway and a bit of mixed riding it has been returning over 60mpg (imperial).
The comfort seat, well maybe for short distances, but not IBA rides or long days without multiple breaks!
You need to bear in mind I had a Russel on the RT, so perhaps not too fair a comparison.
Luggage, well I took my RT shaped pannier inner bag, not a BMW branded one, out of my RT pannier and put it in the left hand Honda pannier without issue.
You do get inner bags for all the boxes with the bike, although the topbox bag is not full height so leaves space for other stuff.
On the last bit of my journey home with the bike, in the dark on a quiet stretch, I did open the tap.... not all the way initially and the exhaust note got a bit growly and the bike accelerate quite well, so I opened it to the stop and the world sped up and the exhaust note really got rorty!
As the speedo passed through a large number starting with a 1, I closed the tap and slowed down... still breaking it in you know.
Summing up, a decent touring style bike that will do whatever I want and I will not be worried about reliability or warranty issues, even after the two year warranty, then two year extension
I will buy if I keep the bike, runs out... well, it's a Honda.
It is reasonably well put together, doesn't have the fancy shmancy electronic suspenders, but then, the price isn't anywhere near the ones that do, even the ATAS that shares the frame and engine pallet, albeit in a slightly different state of tune.
So not a replacement ST, it has a chain, so what, pretty much anything will have that to meet Euro 5 and later legislation on this side of the pond.
I guess that we are done with big V engines in new bikes and even BMW will struggle to meet Euro 6 or other similar stuff.
When they do send it to the North American market, give it a try, whatcha got to lose?
Hope this helps.
why does there have to be a replacement for the st.... What did the ST replace?
