THE RIGHT STUFF?

After a decade of absence from Honda’s range the Transalp is back for 2023. But how does it hold up in the increasingly competitive middleweight adventure bike market?

- Ross Mowbray

Honda Transalp XL750

Honda’s Transalp has built up a loyal following since its launch back in 1987. The Paris-Dakar-inspired machine didn’t sell in any great numbers in the largely sportbike-obsessed UK - but the ruggedly no nonsense 583cc, 50bhp V-twin proved plenty popular in Europe, winning an eclectic fanbase of round-the-world adventurers, big-mile tourers, couriers and daily commuters who valued its ability to go-anywhere and do-anything in a solid, reliable and typically Honda kind of way.

It kept on motoring and selling decent numbers for 14 more years – before getting tweaked for the road in 2001, with a bigger 647cc engine and a bit of a facelift. The softening continued in 2008, with a new 680cc motor and a 19-inch front wheel (instead of a 21-inch). And then it was discontinued without fanfare in 2013, after a few years of struggling to hold its own against the bigger, badder and more capable generation of ‘adventure bikes’ including Honda’s very own Africa Twin and the increasingly dominant BMW R1100GS (which had showed its worth on a global scale in the hands of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman).