following the launch of the gold wing, which was very successful in the us, honda's marketing team perceived that the european market (hence the "pan european" moniker) would appreciate a lighter, sportier, and more manoeuvrable motorcycle. introduced in 1990, the st1100 was given a water-cooled 90-degree v4 engine mounted inline, instead of a flat-four engine (as in the gold wing). the st1100 gained most of the gold wing's other characteristic engineering elements, such as shaft drive, a full fairing and integral panniers. introduced to the european market a year before it was available in the united states, the st1100 supplied within a sportier package the features required by touring riders, thereby filling a niche between the honda vfr750f sports tourer and the larger gold wing.