In the summer of 2020, the digital designers at Young Machine had some fun imagining what a pair of CB1000R-based sport and sport-touring bikes would look like. The elaborate renders depicted the imagined CBR1000R and CB1000X. At the time, the publication based the two concepts on Honda’s 998cc inline-four.
Fast-forward a few months and the rumors of a one-liter sport-touring CB have started making the rounds once again. This time, however, instead of the CB1000R, there’s talk of an Africa Twin-based model. According to AutoBy.jp, along with the all-new twin-powered Rebel 1100, there could also be a CB1100X in the works.
The Japanese outlet wrote that the rumor comes from Europe, which makes sense. Not only does Honda have R&D centers in Germany and Italy, but Europe is also a popular market for sport-tourers, so the math checks out. The team adds that as soon as the rumor surfaced, their designers started working on renders of a potential CB1100X.
Honda's Busy Rumor Mill:
Instead of slapping a fairing on the existing Africa Twin, the designers created a new bike from the ground up using components borrowed from the CRF but also the NC750X and adapted to serve the new bike’s purpose. Everything from the frame, to the fairing, to the seat, to the suspension looks original which is consistent with Bike Social’s reports of two new Honda frames patented earlier in 2020.
At the center of the design, we find the CRF1100L’s 1,084cc parallel-twin, complete with the same 2-into-1 exhaust system that ends on a lower-set muffler in the render.
According to the source AutoBy.jp cited, we should expect to see the rumored new Honda CB1100X debut sometime in 2022. Don’t hold your breath just yet. If Honda is, in fact, developing such a model, we won’t get to see it for at least another year. Considering how beautiful the Africa Twin’s new 1100 engine is, however, the CB1100X is something we can be excited about.
Sources: AutoBy.jp, Bike Social, InSella.it