We’ve heard this rumour before, and now it’s back again, stronger than ever. Supposedly, we’re about to see a new Honda sport tourer hit the market, based off the Africa Twin’s engine.

This time, the rumour comes from Ben Purvis, writing for BikeSocial. Purvis says Honda’s gotten a European trademark for a motorcycle named the NT1100.

That probably doesn’t mean much to North American riders, who mostly think the Honda sport-touring line began and ended with the VFR800. Over in Europe, though, Honda had a long history with middleweight sport-tourers under the NT badge. First there was the Honda NTV600. This was basically a Honda Hawk GT with a shaft drive instead of a chain, oversized fuel tank, and other touring-friendly accoutrements. These machines didn’t sell particularly well, as they had high-end features at a high-end price on a middleweight bike. Next, Honda built the similar-but-cheaper NTV650V Deauville starting in 1998, which came with a full fairing and touring bags. Although this machine was very practical for budget-strapped touring enthusiasts, it ended up nicknamed the Dullsville. Eventually, this morphed into the NT700, which was imported to the US 2010-2013. This was not a smash sales success, and Honda canned it in favour of the NC700 series.

Now, Honda’s supposedly planning on reviving that practical touring formula with the parallel twin engine from the Africa Twin. It makes sense, as Honda’s already used it to great success in its adventure bike series, and now in the Rebel 1100. It would totally make sense for Honda to squeeze all the use possible out of the engine, especially since it’s already matched to a DCT twist-and-go gearbox. Honda gets just over 100 horsepower out of the Africa Twin version, and just over 85 horsepower from the Super Rebel. Most likely, the NT would be close to the same tuning as the adventure bike.

Expect Honda to give us a peek at this bike next fall, if we’re going to see production (and that does indeed seem very likely).

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