Honda XL750 Transalp Review: 2023's Best New Adventure Motorcycle? 

The review of this bike sounds exactly the way I feel about my 1989 Honda Transalp, I've been riding it for thirty years and it's never missed a beat. It's great on the road and competent offroad

I like the bike. I really wish it came with cruise control and tubeless wheels.

I had a Transapl 25 years ago and I loved it to bits. Never missed a beat, and I was trashing it all the time. This new one is surely HIGH up my shortlist.

Brilliant first look at this bike and thanks for the seat height comments. I'm going off for a test ride on one of these as soon as I can!

Great video and the graph for rider modes was super informative and helpful!!

Wow I've been waiting to see the real road review of transalp and I'm impressed!

Great video, mate! Good to hear that it is a good allrounder. Will get mine in May…in black. Will be a good road addition to my 1100 AT. My beloved AT will stay for sure. She is my offroad horse.

I wish the headlight was more Dakar like

It was pleasure to meet You on press launch 😉 greetings from Poland

Great review. Jumped on the configurator and just about everything is an optional accessory and £££'s. When spec'd similar to others it really isn't much cheaper!

I feel like ‘extreme’ internet opinions often forget about the average, real world consumer; the fact that this bike is a seemingly solid all rounder with a great price point, decent amount of tech and the Honda reputation will probably be enough for it to be a successful platform. It’ll also help to keep customers who started on the CB500X within the brand since they might not want to make the big jump to an AT

This segment is pretty awesome with the Transalp and DE, now. Incredibly good rigs! Still, and inexplicably, there is NO excuse to not even offer cruise control on these bikes. If the manufacturers think it'll force buyers into the next category up, they're crazy. What it will do, though, is kill some sales, even sending more into the used market for those next-level bikes that have it. For anyone who ACTUALLY does miles, it's a no-brainer. Wrist-rest and throttle lock sales will surely see a bump. Thanks for a great review, MB!

Very good review as always. I had an Africa Twin 1000 and found the wind buffeting terrible and tried what most people assume is the problem, increasing the height. No different. So, I tried increasing the width by adding cardboard cut-outs roughly the same shape as the OEM accessory ones. Completely solved the problem for me. Even tried the usually successful Airflow (no good). So, size does matter, the width not the length. I do agree about the colours. It would have been good to have one red or blue like the XL650, or the two-tone blue/green XL600 (which I had, excellent bike)

I like the TransAlp… nice looking bike and great spec… But I still think a second hand Standard Africa twin would be the better buy.

This will go on my short list. Another great review.

The main question isnt 'is this the middleweight adventure bike to buy in 2023?' but rather : how available will this bike be in 2023? because supply issues have been an on going problem in most parts of the world and most have 6months upto a year of waiting lists. Remember the NT1100? all these new bikes suffer the same issue, way too high demand and zero supply.

Great review. I absolutely loved the original of transalp. I was a little disappointed to not hear a comparison to the original. I guess I’ll find out next month when i rent one to go up north.

Love the look of this bike, maybe a contender when my VFR 1200x is too much bike for me. Brill review, thank you Motobob 👍🏍

Put the CB500X 19" and 17" wheels on that and you have the perfect road tourer. Simple as that.

Great review and great bike. Please keep on producing this good stuff.

Bought one today..same colour scheme...fantastic bike..

I have a fully kited CRF300L Rally for really rough trails and trips to remote areas. But I would absolutely love the TransAlp for commuting, longer touring trips and cruising mountain roads and trails in Colorado and Utah.

Just seen one at my local dealer, it’s beautiful. Seems like I will test ride and buy. Cheers.

As always a great and balanced review 👍👍👍

great review motobob :))

I'm not an off road rider but like the stance and comfort of this style, great review I will be trying one of these

Thanks for the review this is my ideal bike.

Great review and comparisons ❤

Thanks for the review. Regarding the Power to Weight ratio, I personally use Power to Weight including driver weight, because that is what we find while riding, you see, the Power has to move the bike and the driver. I get better comparisons while comparing quite different bikes regarding weight. This ratio is more realistic for me. Also I use an average weight of 95kg for the full geared driver. Nice rides!

Nearly every bike coming out is called an Adventure, at least this one is called something different. I dare any journo to get hold of a Honda Goldwing, put dirt tyres on it and do a review on the new Goldwing Adventure. You would create another niche market for sure.

Great review thank you!

Thanks for an interesting, informative review. I want one.

Many people love that new engine with great horsepower and affordable price. Especially as prices keep increasing

Thanks for review. Here's one for the algorithm 💥

As a Pedro mota fan, I will forever be allured by transalp and what it is capable of

Great review as usual! My initial thought was a comparison with the Tiger 900 but at £4-5 (i.e. 50%!) more, it's not really fair. A much better comparison is actually my current Tiger 800 XCx from 2015 (Tiger vs Transalp) which for weight (196kg dry vs 208kg wet), bhp (95 vs 90.5HP), torque (79Nm vs 75Nm) and seat height (840mm vs 850??) is pretty comparable except I do have cruise control (though not gold rims!). So I won't be looking to trade in for the new Transalp, but an interesting prospect for second-hand market in a couple of years time. Thoughts?

Another fantastic video. Tks Shame there's no. Choice between tubed and tubless. Other than that lightweight amazing bike. Luv it

Great review, like this bike 🥳

Best review on this bike so far. My sub wasn't a waste. Lol.

Thank you, Now I have one more to add to the compare list.

I really like this. Maybe a bit too safe with the styling, which is a shame, but I like!

Looks like a great bike here in Thailand. Where the paved road ends with no warning and you have miles of gravel roads then back to pavement. Where a road bike would bottom out very quickly, this seems to be a great design for a country, not known for it’s upkeep of roads.

You are always the best my man!💪 thanks for the video!

With a high front mudguard, I don't mind the look at all. Cheers and thank s

What we need are more adventure style bikes for short legged riders. I’ve a 27 inch inside leg. But prefer both feet on floor. So 850mm seat height is a no go.

I love the white with retro red/blue color scheme. That'd be the one for me.

Excelente review 😊👍🏼

Great review. Thanks for sharing

What a great bike and I wold love one but I'm very fond of my vfr800x and it does what the transalp does .

Good upgrade from my cb500x but seat height maybe a challenge looking forward to seeing it down under when it’s released.

Another excellent video - been looking forward to this one. Also, Motobob, you looking good - you lose some weight?

EXCELLENT review

Bike specced like the one in this video is around €16.700. That’s 30% above base price of €12.899 where I live. And then you are still left with a bike with tubed tires, no cruise control and only adjustable pre-load. Not so cheap considering the competition. Tuareg 660 still the best option imo

I love this bike. I have the 500x, the Transalp will be perfect. Love the retro looks.

Now i really wanna see the review of Suzuki V Strom 800DE from you

Absolutely agree with the colour scheme. The white version is the best by far, but that still doesn't mean much. So much wasted opportunity there. Oh well...

When you power the bike off, does the modes reset to some default? Or have they improved it to remember your settings so you don't have to reselect when I'm doing long offroad days?

Love the channel really good content. shame Honda didn't put a detachable subframe on the Transalp.

Great video I really like it.

The Aprilia Tuareg 660 is lighter: 204 kg with 18 liters furl included (wet weight). Also is not top heavy like the T7. 82 HP.

i bought a cb500x model22 last year but man would i love to own the TA! It's such a nice looking bike! :D

Thanks for the review, mine it is coming in June, long time to wait and comment until then.. What infos do you have regarding the maintenance: Air Fiter, Oil Change, Valve adjustments, etc.? the service intervals, greetings from Romania !

It will definitely sell out. I’d want one if I didn’t like my Africa twin.

Black with gold wheels would be sick!

Is it just me? I thought the price quite expensive when you can buy the acclaimed Aprilia Tuareg 660 for £8,999 (advertised on the web), But as ever a good review and I think you correctly pigeon holed the Transalpine . I have a CRF300Rally for the off road stuff and the Transalpine looks like an approachable touring bike.

What equipment does it have over the hornet to justify the additional 2.5k price? It seems like adventure bikes are a couple of grand more because ADV riders can afford it rather than any difference in manufacturing costs

Like the original Transalp 600 that inspired this bike, it is going to prove to be well more capable on trails than the MOTOBOB's of RU-vid think. When was the last time a major manufacturer popped a 21" front wheel on a bike just to ride down a couple of gravel tracks now and again.

It was very evident that it had a tendency to almost feel like dead weight pulling to left or right until you got the speed up. Most bikes I have ridden didn’t give that heavy feeling. If you started to turn took a little more effort.

Right now for adventuring, this and the new BMW F900GS are my biggest interest. Can't wait to hear you compare these two.

Nice review. The looks are in line with most adv bikes. Not gorgeous but not ugly.

The perfect KLR is now a Honda. I would wrap it in lime green. Looks like a wonderful, all-purpose machine. Still keeping my Gen1 KLR though.

It's certainly no "Baby Africa Twin" but pretty good if you want an all rounder.

Are you kidding! Keeping my V85TT enough clearance and suspension stroke for the purpose. No chains no drive chain counterbalance or cam chain. No water jacket. Very reasonable service intervals. Very reliable. And so comfortable.

In a world with ever increasing prices it's great to see that Honda understand their customer base and the concept of price points. People are starting to get fed up with being mugged off with essentially overpriced wank machines. Honda are keeping it real and offering a fantastic package at a tempting price.

Great review. I've been looking to replace my VFR800 for some years but nothing floated my boat. I wanted something lighter, comfortable and practical. This bike ticks all this boxes for me and I placed my order in February. As for colour, I went for the white, the other choices were too dull.

Looks wise I'd say all adv bikes look the best without any excess crap on top (no crash bars, panniers, rear pillion grab rail, stock pipe & 5 heatshields, pillion pegs) cull all the excess stuff and thin the backend out of bulk and add a light set of GL Coyote bags to it and a slim pipe with a more serious set of 80/20 tyres and I think the tricolor will start to look a lot more serious. All adv bikes with the 20kg of garbage bolted to them look like blokes driving F150 and Ranger Raptors with the entire catalogue 4wd shops strapped to them - (plastic/protection/mass over substance and purpose). Check out the stripped back T7's of ARiemann1 or Pol Tarres - an XL750 for fast gravel/fire roads and globe touring with light soft luggage I think will look killer, aggree though that in stock trim I think other Honda's outshine it (the AT in tricolour looks alot tougher to me for example) :)

Lovely, comfy, good sutying. Need a change to have tubeless tires

Great review. Thank you. I think this will be a big hit for Honda. No cruise control takes it off my shopping list sadly. Hope they fix this later. Veridian Cruise makes an electronic cruise control for this bike. I have decided to buy one and fit the cruise control.

Nice video 👍

what is your choice for a mid-sized category adventure bike with the following criteria: 1) lighter is good but needs to eat 25,000 kms on a trip, 2) comfort and able to carry bags for 25k km ride, 3) I have a 30" (760mm) inseam so height and top heavy/weight is important -- I will ride alone off-road in remote locations, 4) Price is no object, 5) most important, reliable and wont break down or can be repaired easily with dealer network or simple. I have rode my F850GSA from Miami to Thailand and it was very heavy. I rode my R1200GSA from top of Columbia to bottom of Argentina -- too heavy at times... Both are quality bikes and do not break down -- but they are seriously heavy off-road for me when loaded up.

It would have been the best new adv bike if it has cruise control.

Would be a really tough call (assuming you're in the market) between a new Transalp with a few choice accessories vs a low mileage Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Rally Pro. I know which I prefer the look of, but having had plenty of hondas over my motorcycling career, (including an original XLV600 and currently an excellent CB500X) if the new Alp is anything like its bretheren it should be super reliable, easy to ride and relatively cheap to own. I guess it comes down the X factor when you come to test ride both bikes...will just have to wait for the opportunity, and watch out for the inevitable group shoot-outs. Note that if you went for a base model 900 Rally, there wouldn't be much in it price wise...something else to consider: on paper, the new V Strom is a better bike if you plan to do more off the beaten track. I'm still semi-holding out for a Norden 501 and Honda's rumoured NX 500, both of which should be in the 'goldilocks zone' for tourable dual sports...two-wheeled first world problems eh?

As someone that is eyeing the Tenere but was curious about this when it was announced, this hasn't convinced me. You're making some serious off road tradeoffs for a more road-centric bike but without any of the features that would make riding the road more bearable. If they had included cruise control or carplay features then maybe. Also the front end styling isn't doing this bike any favors.

This new parallel twin engine from Honda is looking like a revelation that they need to compete right now. Not just compete, its looking like the bike to beat same with the Hornet.

Love it!

I have been hoping for a real hands-on review and you have hit the mark. I live in the USA and may never get a chance the ride or buy one in my lifetime. I was hoping you could comment on low-speed maneuvering, I drove the NC750 x yesterday and was surprised that at low speed, the bike had a pronounced heavyweight when turning. Did you have any comments on the low-speed turning?

Too bad there's no cruise control. Aprilia might be the choice for a do it all middle weight. Suzuki and Honda have made good bikes though.

The positive spin on the 21 inch front "makes easy find decent off rubber ". Since it primarily an on road bike the 21 inch front will seriously limit the ability to get good on road rubber.

Really nice bike also awesome price

Good review. Given it is a bit more road biased then hardcore off road, cruise control should be standard, if not an option at least. Surely cruise control is a cheap production feature these days.

Ex "American", an Asian expat for the past 15 years, with summers spent in Europe including weeks long riding trips. My current stable is made up of two Asia only 150s, dual sport and CB150x adv, the updated CRF250 (still a 250 here) and the big bike, 350 Royal Enfield Hunter. In Europe I ride F800GS. I wonder how many of us (riders) out there think this is not what we wanted or asked for. Where the hell is our true adv unicorn, a 35-40 hp engine, decent suspension (unlike the sponge Rally 300 joke), 170 ish curb weight, no rider modes, blue tooth, cruise control!!! or massaging seats. A decades long joke and middle finger to us by all the big manufacturers. But wait, as strange as it sounds and from the "wrong" land, there is the Kove 450. Might be too hardcore for this aging guy, but I hope it is as good as the initial reviews say, I hope it's reliable, I hope it might wake up the rest.

It seems all the companies are doing the same thing- KTM is releasing the SMT 890 in 2024 with the same engine as the ADV/Duke. I will definitely be waiting to take a transalp and SMT for test rides- I want a 2 up tourer, that isn’t ultra expensive, super heavy and fun to ride - but more road biased. I’ll sure these bikes will be a good fit for a lot of people. Hopefully they will have a future option to add on cruise control- considering its ride by wire it shouldn’t be that difficult.

I feel like this XL750 kind of bridges a weird gap between the Tenere 700 and the Tracer 9 GT. It takes some queues from the Tenere with its significant offroad capabilities. On the other hand, it is packed with tech and is well suited for long miles on the road like the Tracer. All of that topped with unbeatable Honda reliability makes the Transalp a real competitor in today's market, especially when you consider the price. I wasn't even in the market for a bike like this, but I am now considering I may want to head in that direction.

89 for sale here!👍

Hi. I see that the Tour Mode on the power setting as a full 5 bars. On my 2022 Africa Twin the power levels works in reverse. In other words full power is 1 bar instead of 5 which doesn’t make much sense. Do you know if Honda have now changed this for the Transalp?

think this is Honda staying in their lane and not trying to attack the yams T7. I think supply will be a huge deciding factor for new buyers because if dealers cant keep them in stock and raise prices who knows wtf ppl will choose.

Brilliant review as always Mr Motobob. You asked about its looks. To me it looks safe/boring , could’ve been more radical in appearance. Just one comment , could you leave your diagrams on the page a little longer please. Cheers from NZ.

Sounds good, but I can't reconcile with the tubed tyres, as for me, it would spend most of the time on-road.

YES! I agree this bike NEEDS cruise control and a tubeless wheel option........ I prefer the Matt Black over this RWB color option.......... BUT above all else IT!!!! needs to be imported to the USA ......... WE here for some reason simply are not get the same models Europe gets to enjoy....... THAT ABOVE ALL ELSE HONDA needs to fix...... We see the new Release of bikes each spring and then get the RUG jerked out from under us learning we wont get them........ GRRRRRRRRRRR very frustrating.......

They should play around with the trim options and come up with something similar to what Yamaha did with the Tenere - a more offroad version with adjustable suspension, a smidgen taller, and standard protection for a couple of thousand more. There is room to still come up under the Africa twin and not munch into Africa Twin sales