Yesterday, for the first time, I saw an NT 1100 in a shop in Duluth and it was right nest to a new Transalp 800. Keep in mind that the good motorcycle shops are in Minneapolis 4 hours away. I was surprised that they had a Tenere 700 too. The salesman I talked to was knowledgeable about motorcycles but not this one. We worked through my questions together with the. help of an owners manual. It was confusing with all the options on the bike and the usual somewhat difficult to understand descriptions and instructions in the owners manual. But in the end I concluded that that is not the bike for me for a number of reasons.
First the good part - It is a lot of motorcycle for the price. Great features and looks.
But for me the left bar switchgear is too much for this old rider to understand (I prefer the KISS things). Good screen with lots of modes and controls but I like to watch the road ahead when I'm riding.
It took me 10 minutes to find the coolant overflow tank down low in front of the rear tire on the right side. This bike would take quite a bit of getting used to, but that's probably common to most new bikes.
I want to add front lighting to my bikes and this one proved to be a challenge. The only practical option is to install engine guards on which to mount lights. OK, engine guards are good for the intended purpose too.
Without the benefit of riding it I'm sure a different windscreen would be needed too.
The real deal breaker for me is that the bars are too far forward for my liking. Some of the cables on the bars would need to be replaced with longer ones to do that.
In contrast I thought the Transalp was a much better fit for me ergonomically. I don't mind the higher seat height (in fact I prefer it). But that bike needs cruise control, hearted grips, bigger adjustable windshield, and better lower weather protection.
The time I tried to buy a BMW about 10 years ago I decided to keep my NT 700 because I liked it. Now I'm finding that my current motorcycle has all the stuff I want. However that doesn't prevent me from tire kicking the new offerings. It's fun on a rainy day.