Honda Africa Twin vs NT1100 l Adventure bike vs touring bike review?
[Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Honda first announced the NC 1100 back in 2021 a Touring bike based on its hugely successful adventure bike well it seemed like a no-brainer after all as well as being able to rip it up in the dark the African twin is also an excellent Road Sora and both bikes now share the same chassis engine electronics and more but which is best the adventure bike or the Touring bike well we've been riding these for the past year and today in this video we're going to be giving them the ABR verdict to find out now before we go into any of that just want to take a moment to thank our good friends at Cena who have sponsored this video Senna is a Communications brand whose headsets we have been using on our motorcycle tours for the past 10 years and to talk to each other throughout this review we'll be using one of its latest models the center spider ST1 now this is a device packed with high-end technology that you'd usually find on a more premium device but it comes in at a very reasonable price you've got mesh technology you've got fantastic sound quality and more you can find out all about the Spyder ST1 through the link below this video I will be letting you know how we get on with it later in the film [Music] again he's a brilliant we're going to give these two bikes the ABR verdict so I'm on the upper twin you're on the NC 1100s uh we're gonna well we're gonna see how they perform in a way that we have done on every review pretty much since APR began haven't we yeah that's right um in ABR magazine we basically structure reviews around sort of real world use of the bike so that when we report on them we keep it relevant to everyone's you know everyday life so the categories of the ABR verdict are we're going to be looking at these bikes as one a commuter to a weekend tourer free at Continental Road tourer uh four as an off-roader and then five as a pillion carrier foreign just approaching stratford-upon-avon so the perfect place to see you know how do these bikes perform as commuters are they gonna make it through the morning rush or are you going to be snowed up in traffic with all the uh the folks in their cars yeah exactly and actually this is pretty much the route I take on my on my way home from work actually so I have first-hand knowledge on the NT 1100 I haven't ridden it back and forth to work over the probably six seven eight bumps now and uh for me personally then this is this probably separates touring bikes and uh Adventure bikes is one of the first things I like about a Touring bike particularly the NT 1100 when it comes to commuting is the very start of the ride when it comes to getting the bike out the garage you know Adventure bikes like the one you're riding a big heavy they're lumps to move maneuver in and out of the garage just holding it back there a little bit I'm not sure the top of my head what the NC weight is that'll flash up on the screen unless you know it but it's not that much lighter is it I don't know it's exactly the same but because of how much smaller and how much lower down the nt1100 is it feels a lot more manageable when you're when you are pushing it around the garage you know I've actually I pushed I've rode the Africa twin home a few days ago and yeah it was noticeable the difference between the NT and the Africa twin just how easy it was to push around the garage the driveway and then to get on the thing where in the morning get it my driveway I've got a couple of cars on there it's on a slope um and it is a bit awkward to get bikes out and I have to admit I do much prefer a bike that's lower less top heavy first thing in the morning it's just easier to move around isn't it and the Africa swing you know it's it's it's certainly not a it's a lovely well-balanced bike when you ride but it is a bit taller it does hold its weight a bit higher up um and it is a little bit trickier to move around especially you know if you're I don't know feeling naked or hungover you made a good point about getting on the bike as well because the African twin is um it's actually I think very approachable for an adventure bike it's got uh I think an 850 millimeter to 800 instead of 70 millimeter seat which okay does still need some clambering on to get your leg over the back seat um but once I'm on it you know I'm six foot just under and I've got a fair bit of leg Bend spare while um while having both feet on the floor and that's one of the things I like the most about the African sword and something they improved um over the years making it a little bit shorter making it more approachable for more Riders absolutely yeah absolutely so it's a 820 millimeter high seat um so just swinging your leg over there is effortless well for me it's effortless I leave and then if you're you know a bit less mobile than myself I think you would still find it a lot more approachable than the uh the Africa twin um but then moving on on a commute so you've you've finally wrestled the bike out of the garage you've got other Drive you're painting a great picture you're thinking why the hell am I riding to work when I could have just taken the car for me again I've been able to put both feet on the floor and you know I could stand up with the bike underneath me hey I'll be the same I'm doing the same Justin stood up yeah but you're upstairs yeah but it just it well there you go Plus for both bikes is it makes it so much more just easy and less faff and when it comes to filtering as well the narrow Pro well the narrow-ish profile of the NT makes it nice to to nip down through traffic and you know I'm gonna completely agree with you that because I've also ridden the NT um for a quite a few hundred miles uh if not more over the past year um and I completely agree it's a lovely bike to commute on but the at to me it does feel a little bit Slimmer I don't know if it is I haven't measured it but what I really like about the at is that that nice high uh view you get of the road ahead so I think you can see a little bit more of the traffic unfolding in front of you and when I'm riding through kind of traffic and we've got a van in front of us like this it does feel great to be able to see stuff or just pop up on the pegs like I am now nice natural seating standing position and have a look what's going on yeah absolutely and wait you are saying 80 right Africa twin yeah sorry an awful abbreviation laziness there's laziness of Mind of my bar yeah it's the sort of person to call them ADV bikes right I think I think it's safe to say that they're both good uh slipping through City traffic they're not the best don't get me wrong especially with the luggage on um you know I had a Honda cb500x that I used to um commute through London on and that thing was nice and slim nice and light um a much smaller bike and I quite frankly was a much better City commuter but if you want a bigger bike that's you know great over long distances which we'll touch on a little bit later which is also going to be good for a city commute then you know these two bikes are both pretty darn good I think oh yeah 100 you would say if I'm commuting I'm going for the NC 1100 I hate to say it I'm a I'm an African swim Fanboy I love this bike but the NC makes more sense especially because I could pack my work clothes into the luggage I don't need to spend extra um I I it takes it ticks all the boxes no that's exactly it it does everything you would need it to do as a commuter and just you know getting on this bike and riding it is such a pleasurable experience with the engine that it's got it just makes every commute want to enjoy um I also want to touch on the fact that the the car play which you hook up to uh which which connects to the uh the LCD sorry the TFT screen in front of me means that it's easy to listen to the radio on the way to work you know all the Comforts you'd get from inside the car you can get on your bike so you can listen to the ABR garage podcast as you uh as you approach the office or you could do that um so well you could yeah you can you can also do that on the Africa twin it's got the same TFT Dash sorry I just love this out of that engine you mentioned the NC's got a great engine well the Arkansas's got the same engine I think they're slightly differently tuned but oh they're amazing but anyway yeah you know if my my sensible heads on I'm picking the NC how about you NT yeah 100 but what about these these two bikes as weekend tourers and by Weekend tour I mean a bike that can uh you know you finish work on a Friday night and then you've got Saturday and Sunday to play around on the roads and you're probably going to spend a bit of a few hours on the motorway to get to your destination and then once you're there he got Dave riding around twisty roads just finding new things and just generally enjoying your riding yeah I'm I'm thinking about typical weekend after work pack up Motorway to North Wales ride some eight roads on the way and then twisty mountain passes you know that's a great weekend away isn't it back to the office in time for Monday morning exactly yeah just uh enjoy making making the most of your weekend on the bike you got pretty much so uh James what do you think of the the Africa twin as a weekend touring I tell you what I think out of all the Adventure bikes around that right now around right now the optical twin is really up there in terms of Versatility uh so for those for those kind of like Motorway schleps on a Friday night when you just want to burn miles this thing's comfortable uh it's powerful you know it's it's gonna be great in that situation as long as you put on a bigger screen I won't keep banging on about it but this little stubby screen is no good on the motorway um but the dueling Rock between for me is when you're in the twisties yeah it's a big old bike with a 21 inch front wheel but boy it is fun to throw around it really does below its weight like the best adventure bikes around and this thing is just brilliant so flick between certains and carve around and the Swiss is it's great fun for me it is a shoeing as a cracking weekend so answer yeah it's hard to argue with any of what you've just said there about the Africa twins yeah it's all true but by itself the Africa twin is a uh you know it's a sort of bike that makes you want to ride forever and longer I don't know it sounds a bit very fairy but it does but they haven't the Mt 1100 kind of takes all that of the Africa twin and just makes it a more user-friendly comfortable package the most exciting you're saying no I don't know because when it comes to the motorway riding because inevitably you want to get anywhere in the UK you're going to spend a bit of time on the motorway but it comes to Motorway riding I'm more than happy to just stick the Mt 1100 in cruise control and just you know let the let the miles Melt Away behind me because this big screen in front of me everything in front of me right now is just dead air it's so so good at protecting me from the from the oncoming wind and the hand guards are incredibly effective as well so you've scored the motorway Park covered it's got the the fun on road performance part covered it's got the luggage included so you can throw your stuff in there for a weekend away you know realistically it's it's pretty much the perfect weekend tour and and also one of the things I really like about the NT is that it is a it is a very capable Touring bike but it's not huge so if you look at your likes of your I don't know your bmwrt or or even your Honda Gold Wing you know they're they're casing Road soaring bikes brilliant machines I've ridden both and absolutely love them but they're big and they are heavy it was what I love about the NC is it's a bit smaller it's a little bit lighter it's a bit more agile yeah that's right it's uh 13 no 11 999 for the manual version 12999 for the DCT version what's it the Africa twin what's that the model you're riding there it is uh this from 13 049 pounds um yeah it's it's more money um more money for Less bike for me it's an emotional thing with this bike as well though and I think that's really important when you're buying a bike in France we'll talk about more this more in the conclusion but God this Africa twin pulls at my heartstrings I love it and and actually both these bikes benefit from this incredible I think it's 1089 cc engine makes a hundred break one hot break horsepower and oh my God it sounds wonderful I'm just yeah I couldn't agree with my people in general say the Mt 1100 is a bit of a boring looking bike but when you get on it and when you twist that throttle and it growls back at you it's it's it it just makes you smile and it's an exciting bike to ride from that perspective that's it despite all that mate I get it I really understand your point of view I I'm just I'm going with the Africa swin if I've got lucky German I've got more space in that luggage um I just love the way the Africans wind looks and feels and it's a purely emotional decision you might win on paper but the Africa swim wins in my heart foreign James well I think you know as I I mentioned briefly you know jumping on the ferry you've got a week couple of weeks off work maybe more uh you're heading down to the Alps the Pyrenees uh Italy and Beyond in Europe for us UK Riders um so we're thinking you're going to be covering a lot of big Mars in a short amount of time to get to the fun bits to get to the mountains to get to the coastal areas so you know you're going to need a bike that's going to be comfortable covering big miles at speed as well as carving around twisty Mountain parties yeah basically the trip that we all buy our bikes for that we do once maybe if we're lucky twice a year yeah yeah it's the highlight of my year and I think a lot of people who ride bikes at adventuring soaring bikes for them as well so what these bikes like for that sort of Germany though so don't tell me the NT 1100 is going to be great yeah in a word yes it's great but um I think that speed that's largely what Honda had in mind when they were building the the NT 1100 was those sorts of trips you know it's got we've just spoken about it from the the weekend tourer perspective um and all the all the elements that make it great for that perspective but that is also carried through onto the Continental Road tourer so the wind protection the the Apple carplay the the navigation when you're going across the continent I had to we start heated grips it's got luggage on the back of the loop there's enough room for uh weekend riding I would definitely want the top box for a week away yeah you talk about the luggage on the NC yeah it comes as part of the package but the reality is it's pretty small uh I just come back from from 10 days in France to up with my wife um we were on actually BMW GS with a big metal luggage loads and loads of carrying capacity and we struggle for space um we would have really struggled for space in those uh in those plastic panties 100 so for me even though I've got to pay extra luggage on the uh Africa swim is much better much better for long distance travel particularly with two of you what about the the tank range of the Africa Twigs you're on the standard Africa twin which has a fuel capacity of uh what was it 18.8 liters we're playing top trumps now aren't we yours is yours is bigger than mine so is bigger than yours it's 20.1 liters I believe it's even 24.1 or 20.2 yeah but I can get about 250 miles uh out of a tank with the Africa twin it's slightly less um if you were to however get the Africa twin adventure sports you're looking at a 24 liter tank so depends which which Africa twin you're getting for for long distance touring ironically the the off-road focused one has a bigger tank making it better for off for longer distance touring you know if you look at the stats yeah you're gonna get further on the NC in reality though 18.8 liters you know it's going to get you a couple of hundred miles between Phillips it's enough for touring would I like more yeah 100 but it's certainly not something that would put me off the Africa swim um and I have to admit one thing that I absolutely adore about the Africa swim is this riding position now I've waited until now to talk about it uh because we're talking about spending long days in the saddle but boy this feet hand-sized back triangle I think it might be one of the best in adventure biking it's so really it's so comfortable so yeah the seating position is actually something that was that's different between the NT 1100 and the Africa twin um Honda says that they've adjusted it so you're 10 degrees further forward on the nt1100 and you definitely feel that the bars are lower down and you're more lent forward and there's not a huge amount of pressure through the wrists but there's definitely more through the wrists than there is on the Africa twin and if I was to you know if I owned an nt1100 I would look at getting the bars raised to put it more into that Africa twin seating position because I agree on long distance rides that perfect upright seating position of the Africa twin and the nice feet house hands triangle is is pretty much perfect and that translates into the standing position as well yeah and do you think um that seat position is kind of it's one of the reasons why the NC 1100 seems to be having a bit of a identity crisis because you'll see it described as a as a sports tourer all over the Internet um and they've given it a slightly slightly more forward starts but to me that is hands down a Touring bike there's nothing sporty about here it's a zombie bike it's not it's not a sports Tire if we're talking about it from a continental uh Torah point of view you know when on the motorway you'll be great on that but once you get to the twisty roads the mountain roads if you're really gunning it you're pushing the limits of the suspension as you're going around corners fast and pushing it hard and uh yeah you you felt it how many days yeah I do and you know what that's that's one I've been very positive about both bikes um as we've been talking but that is one thing that the Africa twin does does suffer from as well which is a hell of a little Fork dive now I think it's forgivable in an adventure bike because you know you're you're paying for that extra suspension travel um so that it performs off-road when you're kind of you know hitting Rocky steps and and so forth but it does you know if you push the bike hard you do feel you do feel like the suspension could be tighter it could be firmer now again it's a compromise I'm always willing to make with an adventure bike I'll be honest with you it's not a compromise I'm particularly happy with with a dedicated road bike no and you know that that leads us on to another area taking the engine out of the Africa twin and putting it in the nt-1100 you know it's the the twin is beautiful twin but it is it is it chugs along and you can really feel it through the handlebars and the footpegs it's not enough to give me uh numb fingers on them hands on them feet but it's there there's a vibration there comparing it to a four-cylinder bike it's really noticeable move moving on to something else which I think brings both bikes Into A League of Their Own currently uh as long distance Torres or as touring bikes in general is the inclusion of Apple carplay and Android auto on the TFT Dash in front of you your favorite I do you know what I'm not I've not got it running at the moment but it is so good you do need like you said a phone you need the cable to plug your phone in and handily you need a headset a an intercom a Bluetooth headset uh or mesh which we're using right now which is the center ST1 I still have spider sd1 oh me it's a cracking piece of Kit isn't it like we've what we've been riding for an hour a couple of hours now doing some filming you're crystal clear through my headset really I I don't think I've lost you once only when our video guy tried to give you a call because he got lost yeah exactly I have you been crystal clear as we've been going no matter how far away we've been from each other pairing the two up there's a case of pressing a single button and there we are talking to each other through the headsets and the sound quality has been excellent and you know that's so important not so many times on bike trips I've like met Maze and we stood in a car park for like half an hour trying to sync up that made sense it's just so it's so irritating it's delayed me so often in life I love this big wheel yeah that's what I was just gonna say was it yeah like because we did um we did a test of intercoms a couple of years ago didn't we in adventure my Rider magazine yeah um and I think I tested 10 or 12 of them and oh God the amount of them that are really fiddly to use particularly with gloves on now I'm only wearing summer gloves here but um but this big wheel it's it's fine with big thick winter gloves as well you just turn it the buttons are big um it's really yeah it's a great bit of kit which um I guess leads us into as we're about to return to the uh the busy traffickers Trafford and Avon the perfect place to talk about what these bikes are like off-road which absolutely as as we nip across the manicured Lawns to get past the traffic but no I think I think uh that's been under no illusions there is only going to be one winner in this category isn't there yeah 1100. yeah I've been waiting for
the reason why the Mt is better than any other bike or foreign I can't I can't I can't argue my way out of that one I think yeah the Africa twin hands down uh you you tell us why James what do you know what before I tell you why um it would be nice it's good to stress that if you are late soaring abroad you need to go down a a gravel road to get to your campsite or something like that you know you're going to be able to do it on the NC it's not it's not you know just because the pain from pavement ends doesn't mean suddenly the bike can't go forward just going to take a bit more care um it's not the sort of bike that you would think actually I'm gonna go and ride off road on purpose you know so it's it's gonna be all right but um mate this suffer can swim what can I say that that hasn't been said before it is just a mega bike off-road now before all you try and buy people out there start shouting at me that it's big and heavy yes it's big and heavy and of course if you're riding off-road you're better off going for something smaller than lighter but if you're looking for an all-rounder so a bike that's gonna you know take you down to the Alps in a short amount of time and then let you enjoy some of those military gravel roads mate the African twin is Sublime it really is 21 inch front wheel 18 inch rear nicely set up for off-road actions smoke wheels so they're sturdy uh the bike feels nice and balanced at low speeds lovely standing position um and the engine's really nice and silky and it will just chug and chug up a hill like a tractor now I don't some people say things like that about Adventure bikes or agricultural they're not refined well you know who cares when you're off-road you're scrambling for grip and you're going up a steep incline this thing will just it will just tremble up that hill and um I spent I spent a couple of days at the Honda Adventure Center um with their um with their team pat their head coach and Flash their instructor and the rest of the team and we had Bridgestone battle xax 41s on so 50 50s higher uh it was just insane what these bikes can do but like I'm a very very average Rider off-road you know I'm no Chris Burch I enjoy it I'll roll my wheels over pretty much everything but I'll do it at my own pace and I won't be towel sliding out things like that um but the bike will just take you anywhere when you want to go it really is a cracking piece of Kit yeah I've ridden in the Africa twin off-road at the Adventure Center and it is amazing what that bike can do off-road it feels like a far smaller and light a bike when you're on it the standard position is just the most comfortable and natural I've found on a bike on an adventure bike um there were a few that come close like the Ducati Multistrada Enduro wow that's a big old bite to take off right there yeah I mean it just feels so natural to stand up um but yeah like you said the NT will go down an easy Gravel Road or if there's a count your campsites at the end of it or whatever but if you're going to be off-roading and green laning is part of your life or you have aspirations to Green Lane then you're not going to buy the nt1100 to do that basically you'd be mad to you know Africa twin wins the off-roader hands down nice nice good to see you on board yeah I'd still buy the Mt 1100. what's the next step which which kind of leads on nicely actually to uh pillion Karen because from my last category our last category yeah because from the perspective of you know from a pillions perspective what's the most important thing is Comfort a lot of that for opinion is provided by the comfort of the seat um grab rails you know the amount of space they've got down there and uh you know whether the panties stick into the back of the legs Etc and neither of us have ridden on any either of these bikes as pillion have we I really hate riding pillion I'm gonna say oh man I cannot stand writing billion on a motorbike I think it just it brings out all the trust issues [Music] um but that aside that aside uh first of all getting on the bike um yeah it wasn't massively easy and straightforward but it's easier than than mounting some of the bigger taller Adventure bikes one two three okay oh I still had to swing my leg over the um over the luggage and get on there but yeah being a lower bike is an easier experience getting on and but actually on the back here mate I've got a fair amount of room um the seat's kind of quite big and roomy firm I'm not sure what I'd feel like in two or three hours time but um but it's all right at the moment and I've I've got a nice leg bent you know the my legs almost at knees are almost at 90 degrees um I I immediately I'm not a big fan of the pegs they're very slim little metal pegs I don't feel as though if I've got a lot of grip on them so I think if I was a regular pillion Rider I'd be wanting to change them out um but overall it's it's it's pretty roomy uh the grub handles they're a little close to my butt cheeks I could do with them a bit a little bit wider wider apart but you know they're solid and I've got enough to hang on soon if I had I think if I had a top box to lean back against I'd be a lot a lot happier yeah yeah it looks like there's a lot of room do you find the panties digging into your legs at all or oh no I just thought you uh stroking my calf there which makes me feel even more uncomfortable but yeah no actually the panties are fine um maybe because they are kind of plastic molded paneers rather than your sharper edged aluminum ones yeah but I certainly don't feel like my legs are restricted in any way it's got a nice sort of almost armchair position it's uh it is it is a nice place to be and I'm not too high up either uh I know some bikes the pillion seat is raised quite High um Harley-Davidson Pan America amazing bikes and tour on I think it's cracking machine but uh my wife was very tall on the back when we uh we've done a bit of touring on it and um she did get a lot of wind blast in the face um I don't think like we're not going that fast now but I don't think I would experience that um and it's a nice view sorry I keep bumping you with my GoPro my helmet but uh there's you know I've got a nice view I'm not certainly not tucked in behind you it's well it's very well thought out nicely uh nicely designed please for a passenger I just wish I was in the front seat Well I think from the well first of all I think if I was going to be taking a pillion regularly I would definitely opt for the version of the Mt 1100 which comes with the top box yes you said you'd need a nice one there to lean back against and that has a nice uh padded backrest for the pillion so that's something I would absolutely get but from a Rider's perspective I can definitely tell you're on the back and I know you you're not as you've got a few more pounds than my partner Naomi what do you think um what do you saying that steering does look a bit longer but yeah the this the steering has been quite late on the front um the suspension is a bit spongy with you on on the bike as well and it doesn't feel as solid as say you know I know it's a bike that's a lot more expensive than it is but the the BMW R 1250 GS Adventure which we rode recently I took Naomi on the back of that and Duke barely told she was there whereas on this I think you'd be able to know the opinions though yeah there's enough power a grunt in the engine to not really make any difference to the riding of the bike in that respect but it just changes the handling of the bike quite considerably um I'm feeling a few bumps bombs through uh through my uh my spine here but do you know that's the difference between kind of a bite that's going to set you back a fair few quid like you know we mentioned the BMW RT or the Honda Goldwing yeah with their semi-active suspension which you know and the GS Adventure as well which you mentioned which automatically changes the uh suspension settings um depending on if you've got pillion on the back or or the position of the rider so you know you spend a few more quids and you get that sort of Technology but not me I don't know I think we could quite happily uh ride through Tuscany through a few Vineyards and a sunny day on this bike yeah well let's see how it compares to the Africa twin which is I think it's my turn to to ride as pillion now unless you unless you'll happily let me be the the pilot get me off get me off okay [Music] so the roads have been reversed when you're on the back of the African swing how you finding it I I can see why you don't like being a pillion now I have I've got to admit I'm not really enjoying it the experience too much but that's not necessarily down to the bike that's more my own hatred of being a billion as well but I think from a from opinion's perspective the first thing I know is getting on this bike uh the Pioneers are so far forward that when you put your feet on the on the opinion pegs actually trying to sort of maneuver your feet around to get on the bike is a bit of a pain and uh now that I'm sat down I don't have much room for my feet I have to have them sort of splayed outwards and the panniers are actually digging into my calves so to be honest for me it's not it's not the most comfortable position when you're riding with panniers and if you're going to be touring two up obviously you're going to be having panniers on there um but you know there's there's a fair amount of room I do feel quite close to you James but I'm feeling I'm both a fairly well comfy down awkward right now so yeah it's an interesting feeling isn't it um but the the grab handle is nicely placed the big the chunky there's a lot to grab onto um and you you know it's that's a nice nice and sort of high up and you can see the whole road ahead but yeah I think for me the the main sort of qualm I have is with the panniers bagging it bashing into my legs did you say um you've been away with opinion on the on the Africa twin before and I think my wife have spent quite a bit of time on various Africa twins actually over the years um yeah she uh it was her complaint actually she you know she felt relatively comfy on the back there compared to a lot of bikes she's ridden but um it was she found that her legs dug quite deeply into that luggage because it is mounted too far forward like you're feeling now and bless her she had so many bruises on her legs by the end of the holiday um it wasn't good so you know and that's I don't know if that's something that could be fixed relatively easily or I'm not sure but um it was certainly certainly something that that's not great for pilly and travel yeah and uh you just put you just grabbed a handful of break there how did it feel like breaking under do heavy breaking with such so much more weight on the back because you know what you're as light as a fairy you really are hardly noticeable no that's honest with you yeah you can sell you can tell there's uh there's a fair bit of muscle that's sat behind me um but actually the handling isn't too bad um often when you get a get luggage and a pillion on the back of the bike the front end of bikes can go a bit light but actually this is surprisingly fine um it does feel a little bit lighter not quite so stable at the front but certainly not yeah not something that I'm uncomfortable about uh particularly at these low speeds we're doing often the the front can wiggle around if you've had that feeling when you're coming off of the ferry and uh you've got luggage on the back of pillion on the back everyone else is around you and uh and your front end wobbles but this isn't too bad actually mate not too bad at all I'd love for us to disappear off to the south of France Tuscany head over to the Alps and just have a thoroughly nice time two up together what about it come on let's turn around and head off we can still get very romantic here James I'm not sure how I feel all right so I've got a magazine to do anyway the next issue of ABR is these edited so after a great ride through the Cotswolds what do we reckon to these two bikes which one would we choose which one would we spend our money on well I think we need to score them absolutely and as you've seen in the video we ran through them through five categories wasn't it just to recap quickly uh commuter weekend tourer Continental Road tour uh off-roader and the pillion carrier so if we've got a point each for each category yep let's run through it so as a commuter who are you awarding your point to the NC the Africa twin my point is going to the end team well I'm gonna have to say the same I think yeah that dedicated road tour for my commute I'm giving it my point two nil to the NT good that's uh yeah how I thought that would go as a weekend tour then for me no surprises nt11 ah your favorite bike absolutely yeah well I understand why you've gone there on paper yes logically yes but if I've had a really busy day at work and I just want to go away for the weekend put a huge smile on my face It's gotta be the African swim yeah I love the way it looks I love the way it performs I like the idea that I can go and do a few lines as well so firmly this has got my vote fair enough um but what about Continental Road Sora those big long distances tough choice do you know what I would be happy taking either of these bikes across to Europe or on a on a longer distance tour and you know if I was going to stay mainly on the on the blacktop or entirely on the blacktop I would be very happy on the NT 1100 sometimes when I go abroad I like to you know hit a few trails in that case it would be the Africa twin given that I'm becoming older and more sensible I would have to go for the nt1100 you were making a lot of old man noises getting them off that bike yeah and it's quite low as well yeah I'm 31 now it's uh there we go there we go you're getting old uh for me now actually if I go abroad I tend to spend most of my time on the road um I saw with my wife uh pillion Ryder and we we travel and go and see things so with that in mind I'm going to take the off-road bike um and again I just I I think as I mentioned earlier on my couple of weeks in the Alps each year is my highlight of my year and so I just want a bite that makes me feel alive and while logically this is a brilliant machine this Spike pulls up my heartstrings so let's get my vote don't hurt its feelings it's it's a great bike okay I don't love it as much as the other twin as an off-road really any point in talking about this I think the Alfred version of the NT 1100 the Africa twin has to win my vote I like the way you phrase that but yeah you know this is this is it is a big bike but it is a great big bike off road that's actually quite newbie friendly you know when I've done offer a course at the Honda Adventure Center some some guys and girls that had never ridden off-road before within 10-15 minutes was stood up riding trails yeah so it is you know it is big but it is very good off-roading yeah you know yeah it's gonna be the ones achieved between all day long yeah yeah last one what pillion carrier we had a lovely time right in pillion we did didn't we yeah yeah very memorable yeah it's the closest I felt to in a long time um there seems to be a clear winner yeah I think it's got to be the Mt 1100 based on purely just the fact that you're going to have to have luggage on the after 20 if you're going with a pillion and you're touring with billion if you're going to a broad year or UK yeah and just how far forward those panniers are it's just and makes getting on and off the bike pretty tricky Affair and it's quite uncomfortable when you're on there so point for the NT for me yeah I'm gonna I'm gonna have to go with you I I didn't ride on the back of the afghan's win but I'd rode on the back of the NC and it was actually quite a nice place to be once I got over my fear of being a pillion Rider um but yeah mate if you're saying that you know it it's uncomfortable on a lap of the estate around here then three or four hours into a trip down French toll roads that's it it's got to be the NC for me so where does that leave us with scores overall so if I do my math correctly that leaves us at six points for the NC four points for the African swim so clearly the African swing is the better bike it depends what you want to do with the bike as to which is the best for you they're both brilliant machines they both have some floors but for the most part they're exceptional yeah on the road and very good off it um you won't be disappointed with the MTV no and you'll have a wonderful time on the African swim yeah so anyway before we round off the end of the video just want to say a massive massive thank you again to Senna who sponsored this video and allowed us to use the Cena spider ST1 headsets to talk to each other as we were doing the reviews and it's been a cracking bit of cable day hasn't it absolutely you know the the the sound has been Crystal Clear um it's been easy to use and yeah it really is a quality bit of kit that I'm going to be leaving on my helmet hopefully if they don't want it back [Music] thanks very much for watching this comparison of these two bikes we've enjoyed ourselves if you enjoyed watching us then please do hit the Subscribe button below it does help us continue to make more videos and please do hit that like button as well until the next time bye [Music]
2022-12-02 01:25
