Honda’s Top Touring Motorcycle Takes on a Stealthy New Look

For all the mainstream hype about the CR-V and enthusiast hype about the Prelude, a certain segment of the population will insist that what Honda does best rolls on two wheels, not four.

I’m certainly part of that group, as every bike I’ve ridden from the brand has been a delight in one way or another. 

Honda

Truthfully, my only real beef with them is that they make so many rad motorcycles you can’t actually get in America.

I’m reminded of this fact with the latest news from the brand, an update to the NT1100 that, while purely cosmetic, looks fantastic.

Evasive excellence

So the big news is that Honda’s best-selling touring bike for the European market — the NT1100 — gets a new color scheme for 2026, Iridium Gray Metallic.

This particular hue is so gray it’s basically black, and it covers most of the motorcycle, with the exception of the brake discs, skid plate and most of the exhaust pipe. 

Honda

Now, as someone who ascribes to the teachings of John Cutter (Wesley Snipes’s character in Passenger 57), I can only see this update as instantly the best of the three available colorways, the other two being Matt Warm Ash Metallic and Pearl Hawkseye Blue.

As Honda often introduces tweaks like this one in Europe before rolling them out in North America, I was initially stoked on this news. 

Then I dug a little deeper and realized that, while overseas, you can get an NT1100 MT (manual transmission), in the US, the only option is the DCT (dual-clutch transmission).

Domestic differences

I actually wrote pretty enthusiastically about the NT1100 DCT back in the spring, so I’ll take this opportunity to re-recommend it. 

Stacked up against the most comparable alternatives — Suzuki’s GSX-S1000GT+, Kawasaki’s Versys 1100 SE LT ABS, Yamaha’s Tracer 9 and Ducati’s Multistrada V2 — it fares quite well. 

Honda

The combo of torque (82.6 lb-ft at 5,500 rpm, courtesy of its Africa Twin-derived 1,084cc engine), price ($11,899) and approachability would likely make it Goldilocks’s choice.

That last factor is interesting, though, because I base it largely on the fact that dual-clutch transmission (DCT) essentially renders the bike an automatic, making it much easier to ride — if less satisfying for curmudgeons like yours truly.

While the bike does have a “manual” mode where you can shift gears via a handlebar trigger, it sounds more like a novelty than something anyone would actually use.

Honda

Which raises the question: What does Honda think of us Americans that it only offers us the automatic transmission version of the bike, while Europe gets a manual?

Considering the fact that less than 1 percent of new vehicles sold in the US last year came with a manual transmission, while the number is still many times that in Europe, Honda probably sees the handwriting on the wall and is just doing what makes the most business sense.

Honda

That would also explain its ever-growing investment in multiple automatic bike technologies — not only DCT but also E-Clutch — and, to a lesser extent, its interest in electric motorcycles.

All that said, considering the fact that one of the European colors, Pearl Hawkseye Blue, is what the US version of the NT1100 currently rocks, I’m optimistic that we’ll get the Iridium Gray Metallic hue for 2026. Let’s cross our fingers, folks.

Availability and pricing

The 2026 Honda NT1100 MT is available only in Europe/UK. Pricing has not been announced, but the 2025 model costs £12,799, roughly $17,000 USD.

Europe also gets the 2026 NT1100 Electronic Suspension DCT. Again, no pricing yet, but the 2025 edition of that bike costs £13,899, nearly $18,500 USD.

Meanwhile, in the US, you can get the dramatically cheaper 2025 NT100 DCT, which starts at $11,899.

Honda

2026 Honda NT1100 MT

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