Is the USA nt1100 is a Frankenbike?

It is a good bike at a great price and for clarity, any misgivings I had in my original post have proven to be wrong. We did get the IMU, larger saddlebags, peppier motor and improved DCT.
When the aftermarket has a 2025 shock out I’ll upgrade. I’ll lower the bike a bit for now, throwing a leg over without kicking something is hit and miss with a 30” inseam. Two fixes from perfection.
Trivia. Their e-shock version replacement cost is about €3,200 - over $3,600.
 
Yes, at 75 years old and at 5'10" with a 31" inseam, getting my leg over with out scraping the pannier is an exercise in futility. My preferred method is to step up in the left peg with the left foot and then swing my right leg over as if I was a male dog taking a pee. This way maybe I won't have any foot scrapes for a short while. I also found that putting this bike on the centerstand takes considerably more effort than my other bikes. Or maybe I just need to adjust my technique differently for this machine. So far after, yesterday 168 mile ride thru some of my fav twisties, I am enjoying the DCT. It the tight stuff I use manual mode and normal roads Auto S-I works good. also found out it is great in the Denver area traffic when I am trying to get across town. No more sore left wrist. A couple of small issues that will take a bit of time to get accustom to is the parallel twin vibs (especially after riding my bikes with the inline fours) and the turn signal switch is a bit lower on the switch housing than my thumb is use to. I wind up changing ride modes instead of signaling. I have yet to explore the car play audio feature and I have wired in my Garmin 550 with my 40 songs that I have listened to for the last 40 years, So car play and blue tooth conductivity etc. are not a pressing issue as of now. Word of cautions. If you have the top box or/and the panniers panels, recheck the fasteners for the proper torque, as I found mine had come loose.
 
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ChucksKLRST said:
Yes, at 75 years old and at 5'10" with a 31" inseam, getting my leg over with out scraping the pannier is an exercise in futility. My preferred method is to step up in the left peg with the left foot and then swing my right leg over as if I was a male dog taking a pee. This way maybe I won't have any foot scrapes for a short while. I also found that putting this bike on the centerstand takes considerably more effort than my other bikes. Or maybe I just need to adjust my technique differently for this machine. So far after, yesterday 168 mile ride thru some of my fav twisties, I am enjoying the DCT. It the tight stuff I use manual mode and normal roads Auto S-I works good. also found out it is great in the Denver area traffic when I am trying to get across down. No more sore left wrist. A couple of small issues that will take a bit of time to get accustom to is the parallel twin vibs (especially after riding my bikes with the inline fours) and the turn signal switch is a bit lower on the switch housing than my thumb is use to. I wind up changing ride modes instead of signaling. I have yet to explore the car play audio feature and I have wired in my Garmin 550 with my 40 songs that I have listened to for the last 40 years, So car play and blue tooth conductivity etc. are not a pressing issue as of now. Word of cautions. If you have the top box or/and the panniers panels, recheck the fasteners for the proper torque, as I found mine had come loose.
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How does the seat seem for comfort?
 
ChucksKLRST said:
So far after, yesterday 168 mile ride thru some of my fav twisties, I am enjoying the DCT. It the tight stuff I use manual mode and normal roads Auto S-I works good. also found out it is great in the Denver area traffic when I am trying to get across down. No more sore left wrist. A couple of small issues that will take a bit of time to get accustom to is the parallel twin vibs (especially after riding my bikes with the inline fours)
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Yea coming from liter class I-4s and V4s since 1977 the 270 throb (my NC750X has it too) is something you have to get used to. The more you ride the more you will come to appreciate the DCT.
 
Bmacleod said:
How does the seat seem for comfort?
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Everybody ass is different and every body usage of the bike is different. For me the seat seems a bit thin in padding. Still breaking in the seat and my ass. The seat was ok for a day ride of 200 mils but after that it might not be so. I am going to put a Colman atv pad on it for a while until I decide if I need to have it rebuilt by a custom builder. It is a fairly attractive seat as seats go, two tone. Presently I don't get to ride much more than a 200 mile or so day ride due to family health issues, so for me the seat might just be adequate.
 
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ChucksKLRST said:
Word of cautions. If you have the top box or/and the panniers panels, recheck the fasteners for the proper torque, as I found mine had come loose.
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Thanks for the heads up. I torqued mine to spec but now I think I'll use a little purple thread locker.
 
billo said:
Thanks for the heads up. I torqued mine to spec but now I think I'll use a little purple thread locker.
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Be careful with thread locker around plastic, It can make the plastic brittle. DAMHIK. even the outgassing of the thread lock can affect some plastics.
 
Do the panels need to come off? I'd use some thin 3m trim tape to secure them if no reason to come off.
 
No they don't, They already had double side tape. Mine did not stick so good. Might pull them off and they your 3m stuff at a later time.
 
I should add that some people actually enjoy the 270-degree throb, my younger brother among them on his 2016 T-120 Bonnie. They say it gives the motor "character" and lets them know there is a "motor" down there. After 4 years I have kind of gotten used to it, but it still annoys me at times, and I think "why can't this thing be smooth?" lol. Usually, it's going uphill that exaggerates it, and a down shift mitigates it to some degree, but not entirely.
 
the Ferret said:
I should add that some people actually enjoy the 270-degree throb, my younger brother among them on his 2016 T-120 Bonnie. They say it gives the motor "character" and lets them know there is a "motor" down there. After 4 years I have kind of gotten used to it, but it still annoys me at times, and I think "why can't this thing be smooth?" lol. Usually, it's going uphill that exaggerates it, and a down shift mitigates it to some degree, but not entirely.
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Agreed.
 
I just got one two days ago, that's what brought me to this forum. Bought the panniers and insalled them myself, except for the locks....that cost me about $150 at the locksmith around the corner.
I like it more every time I ride it. The Honda is replacing a Yamaha Super Tenere, which has a snidge over 170,000 miles on the clock (all mine) maybe you can tell I loved that bike. If this Honda is as good as the S-10 I will be very happy!
Anyway....Hello and ride safe!
 
Tombstone said:
I just got one two days ago, that's what brought me to this forum. Bought the panniers and insalled them myself, except for the locks....that cost me about $150 at the locksmith around the corner.
I like it more every time I ride it. The Honda is replacing a Yamaha Super Tenere, which has a snidge over 170,000 miles on the clock (all mine) maybe you can tell I loved that bike. If this Honda is as good as the S-10 I will be very happy!
Anyway....Hello and ride safe!
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Could have saved yourself 150 bucks. I did my three locks myself. Not that hard but one must have nimble fingers, good eyesight, and patience. First lock was an exercise in patience, took me a couple of hours as my 75 year old fat fingers fumbled around with the tiny springs and tumblers. Second two locks took about an hour to complete both as I had the right dental tools / picks and magnifying glass. Also now I knew the trick to keep the tumblers and springs from falling out. Using a white hand towel on my work space to keep the springs from bouncing away when they did fall out of the cylinder. This way I did not have to spend 30 mins looking for them on the floor. Also writing down which tumblers went where in the first lock so as to copy that in the other locks. Was a fun exercise to say the least.
 
Tombstone said:
I just got one two days ago, that's what brought me to this forum. Bought the panniers and insalled them myself, except for the locks....that cost me about $150 at the locksmith around the corner.
I like it more every time I ride it. The Honda is replacing a Yamaha Super Tenere, which has a snidge over 170,000 miles on the clock (all mine) maybe you can tell I loved that bike. If this Honda is as good as the S-10 I will be very happy!
Anyway....Hello and ride safe!
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Also check NT-Owners.org. It is the sister site of ST-Owner

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ChucksKLRST said:
Could have saved yourself 150 bucks. I did my three locks myself. Not that hard but one must have nimble fingers, good eyesight, and patience. First lock was an exercise in patience, took me a couple of hours as my 75 year old fat fingers fumbled around with the tiny springs and tumblers. Second two locks took about an hour to complete both as I had the right dental tools / picks and magnifying glass. Also now I knew the trick to keep the tumblers and springs from falling out. Using a white hand towel on my work space to keep the springs from bouncing away when they did fall out of the cylinder. This way I did not have to spend 30 mins looking for them on the floor. Also writing down which tumblers went where in the first lock so as to copy that in the other locks. Was a fun exercise to say the least.
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Thanks....but now it looks to me like the $150 @Tombstone laid out was money well spent!
 
ChucksKLRST said:
Could have saved yourself 150 bucks. I did my three locks myself. Not that hard but one must have nimble fingers, good eyesight, and patience. First lock was an exercise in patience, took me a couple of hours as my 75 year old fat fingers fumbled around with the tiny springs and tumblers. Second two locks took about an hour to complete both as I had the right dental tools / picks and magnifying glass. Also now I knew the trick to keep the tumblers and springs from falling out. Using a white hand towel on my work space to keep the springs from bouncing away when they did fall out of the cylinder. This way I did not have to spend 30 mins looking for them on the floor. Also writing down which tumblers went where in the first lock so as to copy that in the other locks. Was a fun exercise to say the least.
Click to expand...
When I got my GSA they threw in a set of aluminum side cases and top case... The salesman did all 8 locks while I stood there... 2 of the locks lock the side cases to the racks, then 2 per side case and 2 for the top box.

He did the same trick w/piece of paper and also wrote down the numbers so once the correct number of pins were noted in sequence it sped up the process. But, yeah lots of springs, clips, little ball bearings.. Of course he'd probably done this hundreds of times but took him about 10 mins for the first lock then half that for each remaining one.
 
Tombstone said:
I just got one two days ago, that's what brought me to this forum. Bought the panniers and insalled them myself, except for the locks....that cost me about $150 at the locksmith around the corner.
I like it more every time I ride it. The Honda is replacing a Yamaha Super Tenere, which has a snidge over 170,000 miles on the clock (all mine) maybe you can tell I loved that bike. If this Honda is as good as the S-10 I will be very happy!
Anyway....Hello and ride safe!
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Howdy Tombstone and welcome to the forum

wow 170,000 miles on your S 10...that's seriously impressive
 
FastST said:
NT1100 or Versys 1100 is a dilemma
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I just traded my 2019 Versys 1000 SE for the Honda. The Versys will cost you about 4 to 5000 more, but you get a manual clutch. The Versys is a great bike but it is a tall bike so if you are inseam challenged be aware. The engine on the Versys is very smooth but you need to wind it up just a bit to release the ponies. In reality the Versys 1100 is only about 50 to 60cc more than the 1000. Can't go wrong with the Versy. If you get the Versys I have the pannier insert bags for sale. Used once.
 
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