I’d left the freeway behind and was riding a ridgeback road, valleys falling away either side as the twisting road swung left and right as it followed the ancient hill down from its peak. The NT1100 was in its element, fast touring on country roads — comfortable, quick and trustworthy. I could do this all day.
In 40 years of riding I’ve forced all sorts of bikes to become tourers. I’ve carried camping gear on a Moto Guzzi Le Mans III, I’ve crossed the Nullarbor on a Yamaha FZ750 and melted throw-over saddlebags into numerous exhaust systems.
If you have a motorcycle, you can go touring — but some bikes will be more suitable than others. Manufacturers noticed this decades ago and the sports-tourer was born, although its definition has blurred over time. When I was a teenager in the 1980s it was a bike that wasn’t a naked, wasn’t a sportsbike and wasn’t a tourer. They were versatile machines which could take on a winding road yet keep you comfortable getting there.
Honda built and sold squillions, powered primarily (at least in the larger capacities) by inline and V-four powerplants… engines and bike configurations that are now all gone. Sports-tourers were replaced by adventure bikes, which were still pretty handy on a winding road (while being less likely to upset the constabulary), just as comfortable and far more capable on a dirt road.
“…THE SUCCESS OF THE AFRICA TWIN MAKES IT EASY TO SEE WHY THE COMPANY DECIDED TO USE THE SAME ENGINE IN ITS NEW SPORTS-TOURER”
Honda was caught napping as its V-fours fell out of favour — none of the final generations sold well.
