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I owned a succession of Kawasaki ZRX1100 and 1200 before my Monsters. When I was thinking about buying my first Monster I test rode a 796 and 1100. I preferred the 1100. It had a bit more grunt than the 796, more like what I was used to.
I have toured on an 1100 and 1100evo. I'm about the same height and weight as you and never had any significant issues other than occasional cramp in my hips because the pegs are quite high, but that was when I was riding for 11-12 hours a day. The only thing that I would say about touring with people riding Harleys is that it can be slightly frustrating because their natural cruising speed and cornering speed is much lower than a Monster. On twisty roads I ride ahead and then stop and wait.
For comfortable town riding on the 1100 I would suggest a slight change of gearing (1 tooth down on the front sprocket or two up on the rear) to help with low speed performance, but bear in mind that much below 4000 rpm the bike isn't happy. A remap of the ECU will sort that out and keep things smooth down to about 2500 rpm. Bear in mind the Monsters aren't like big in line fours. My Kawasaksis could be ridden at walking speed on tickover without the need to slip the clutch. My 1100 generally needed the clutch until about 15 mph.
There's only about £1000 (or less) price difference between a low mileage 796 and an 1100, which to me makes the 1100 look to be good value.
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