Honda revived a classic adventure bike from its roster. The Transalp. Now,

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If anyone can prove that there's life

beyond death, it's Honda. Two years ago, Honda revived

a classic adventure bike from its roster. The Transalp. Now, after attending

the launch back in 2023 and spending probably about 12 months, 5000 miles

riding that original XL 750 Transalp There are a few things discovered

as we lived with it. That took away from the really positive

first impressions and kind of lessened the bike's appeal

to live with for me personally. But Honda has listened to feedback

and they've updated the Transalp for 2025 In this video,

I'll answer three questions. Has Honda changed enough

to fix our concerns with the Transalp? Is it still one of the best value

midweight adventure bikes on the market? And most importantly, should you buy one? So what's new? On paper, not much has changed. Most obviously is the new headlight

that draws a bit of family resemblance to the Africa twin. And that's paired with a new windscreen

and a refreshed upper fairing. The five inch TFT display has also been updated with a new layout,

which is crisp and easy to read. You also get an updated switchgear with a backlit toggle switch

to navigate the menus with, I think, the biggest changes

in the suspension, and they've revised the damping settings

both at the fork and the shock, and have made the bike

so much more stable and enjoyable to ride. While the fueling and engine mapping

have had some slight changes to increase throttle responsiveness and create

more difference between the riding modes. Aside from that,

there's not really much else to report except for new graphics and colors

and a new accessories catalog, including waterproof soft luggage and a thick

comfort seat, amongst other things. When you've got a winning formula,

you don't want to mess with it too much. After all, last year

the Transalp became Honda's third bestselling bike in Europe,

overtaking the Africa Twin. The engine is still the same 750 cc, 90 brake horsepower,

75 Newton meters of torque. But the injection settings

have been tweaked ever so slightly to make the throttle more responsive

when you roll it on, smoothing out a jerkiness

that was present before the playfulness of the engine

is the highlight. With a usable spread of power. The shove in the low end to slingshot you out of corners,

but also likes to be kept wound on. What a sound it makes when you do. The same time, the engine is still friendly for beginners and isn't too excitable

for around town usage either. It's just as happy

plodding through traffic as it is twisting mountain roads like the ones

we've been trained to do here in Portugal. My favourite thing about the XL 750 Transalp is its handling for a bike

with a thin 21 inch front wheel. It handles impeccably on the road. It takes no effort at all. Throw it into corners with stable, precise

steering, light handling that's impossible to get tired of, and a nimbleness that you rarely find

an adventure bike, aided by the 208 kilo weight

paired with that excellent engine, the Transalp was great

fun in the twisties. In fact, it's one of my favorite

mid weight adventure bikes for carving up tarmac. The fact that it's so easy to ride

in the twisties also gives it plenty of credibility as a tourist for,

well, crossing the Alps. So the suspension

you get 200 miles at the front, 190 miles, travel at the back. And before the main issue I have with

this bike was the really under sprung,

soft rear shock. Now when you're traveling,

you know by yourself casually around town, it's very comfortable. But if you're given a bit more on the roads or here, put some luggage on it

and you were going away for a weekend, you really started to feel the limitations

of that soft, soft spring, and you'd lose a bit of directness

through the corners. You start to float out a bit,

and it was a bit vague, and it really kind of took away

from how much fun the bike could be to ride,

especially with that engine. Honda's gone and revised the damping settings. They've made it slightly softer

at the front but firmer at the rear. To me, that's just transformed the bike. It's so much more stable. It's so much more direct and its steering,

the steering was always great and the handling was always great

because like it's got the 21 inch wheel, but there was just that vagueness

in the rear end. But with the new suspension settings, it's

so much more planted and you can really just take the bike and put it sort of spaces in the corners,

and it's so much fun to ride. It's really, really transformed the bike for me. Although the suspension has been tuned

for performance rather than, comfort, the Transalp is still a good place to spend a day. The sitting in bar position is neutral. Leg bend angle relaxed

and the revised windscreen does a good job of reducing wind blast

at high speeds. As before,

the standard seat seems to be one area which Honda has sought

to keep the price down. And when I've spent a few hours riding it,

my arse got fairly sore. However, on this launch, my bike has been

fitted with an accessory comfort seat. And what a difference it's made. It's made the seat firmer, better sculpted

and more padded, 20 mils thick and cushioning, which also has the benefit of making

the bend of the knee more relaxed as well. With a standard seat height of 850

mils, Transalp remains very accessible. I've got no problems

getting my feet down at five foot eight, and it's not too top heavy either. So the biggest visual change is the new front fairing. The old one is a little bit

on the anonymous side, shall we say. And the fact that it was shared with

a number of other bikes in their catalog, you can kind of feel

the cost cutting at play there. But now Honda's revised front fairing,

new headlight, new windscreen and it's giving the bike a bit more character,

a bit more of its own look. There's also updated graphics,

a new color called Pearl Mud Deep Gray, which actually looks pretty cool. I don't think the Transalp is a bad

looking bike at all. Probably not going to turn many heads,

but it's far from ugly. Let's call it conventionally attractive. You can test ride all the latest adventure and touring bikes at the ABR Festival 2025. If you're looking to buy a new motorcycle,

there's nowhere better to compare and contrast bikes

and the world's leading manufacturers. Head over to ABRFestival.com to get your tickets today Nothing has changed in the wheels

and brakes for the Transalp in 2025. As before, you get a 21 inch spoked front

with an 18 inch rear wheel shod with either metallic carry Street

or Dunlop Mix two tires. Both are good options and both offer

plenty of grip. Keep in mind these do take tubes. It's the same story

in the brakes department with two 310 mill floating discs stopped by dual piston

calipers up front and 256 mill disc at the rear,

matched with a single piston caliper. The brakes on razor sharp

but they've got an intuitive feel to them and can handle the bringing the bike

to a quick, controlled stop. In an ideal world,

I'd have them a little more responsive, but they're still

definitely up to the job. The Transalp has always been a soft roader

other than off roader. The latest model continues the same. It's actually quite an enjoyable bike

to ride on gravel roads like the one we've right here in Portugal,

with the easy light handling. Planning on exploring gravel trails

and light green lanes? It's more than up to the task. The gravel mode is included

within the riding modes, which offers an off road setting for

the rear wheel, ABS and traction control, and preset engine mapping settings. But they've re tweaks the gravel mode

because before the traction control cut in very early. And so if you're using gravel mode

on anything more than just a very flat gravel track, you'd find the traction

control would cut in. You'd have trouble getting up slopes. It was a bit difficult to use,

and now they've tweaked the gravel mode, and it's still a pretty hard touch

when it comes to cutting in and intervening with traction control. But I found

when we were out riding on the gravel, if you're like a beginner off

road, it's a lot more confidence inspiring than it was because it would

still let the back wheel slip out. If you're going up a hill. It would still give power

when you need it to get up. You know, a gravel slope as before,

it was a bit more sketchy, but I still found that turning off

traction control on the rear wheel ABS was the way to go

for handling the bike off road. This is a bit tricky to work out

how you do that through the menus. It takes a little bit of time, but

once you're used to it, it's not so bad. It's not a Dakar bike and never was and never will be. And if you accept that

and accept the kind of riding you're most likely to be doing, which is the kind of gravel fire tracks,

light green lighting, you know it is. It is all you need. When the Transalp first returned in 2023,

it was one of the best value for money. Mid weight adventure bikes on the market

coming in under ten grand. Two years on, it's great to see that Honda

hasn't bumped up the price at all. In the UK, the retail is still 9,749

pounds for the 2025 model. Get a lot of bike for that. A great engine, fantastic

riding experience, everyday ride ability and practicality

and good touring and off road potential. Plus there's the TFT with phone connectivity

and five riding modes. However, there's more competition

than ever in this market, especially with the bikes

coming out of China with offerings from Voge CF Moto and Kove, many of which

undercut the Transalp and offer more. On paper, however, the Transalp is incredibly

well built, with the attention to detail of Honda's engineering and manufacturing presence in every part of the bike. Mechanically, it's as reliable as they come and delivers a more exciting ride

than the price tag may suggest. There's a couple things that I wish

Honda included as standard. They are available as accessories,

and I feel like if you're going to buy this bike,

you need to get them. number one is, of course, the sump guard. You've got 210 mil ground clearance,

but there is one to expose some. The exhaust pipes

are really right in front, so if you're going to be going off road,

they'll be taking a beating. So you want to get the sump guard. The other one is the seat. Now the stock seat I found it's still the

same as it was in the 2023 model. It's pretty uncomfortable

for anything over an hour riding the comfort seat

I've tried out today, and it's amazing. It's so much better. I feel like it should just be standard, to be honest,

but if you want to buy the bike, definitely take the comfort seat. It does increase

the seat height by 20 mils. but I still

found easy enough to get your feet down. it actually gives you a bit more space to stretch your knees

when you're riding on the bike, and it's just so much more firmer

and uncomfortable for long distances. You know, I spent, you know,

plenty of days, plenty of weekends, eight hours on the sadle

of the 2023 Transalp I was pretty sore by the end. But I think comfort seat on. You'd be good to go. Capable. It's a word that gets thrown around a lot

by motorcycle journalists, especially when they can't think of

anything else to say. But the Transalp is definitely capable

now, more so than ever. With a revised suspension, it's more capable as a tour and off road,

and there's a corner machine. It's a thrill to ride, and I don't think

I could ever get physically tired of it. But and this is subjective, it's

not a bike that I'd fall in love with

and see the relentless capability. It has perhaps lost

a little bit of character along the way. To how good it is

at barreling through mountain roads. I don't seem to get off the Transalp walk away and turn around for another look. But in the real world, practicality trumps most other things. If you need a bike and can do almost everything,

you could throw at it for years and years. The Transalp is a fantastic choice. Now, if I wanted a bike to go around the world on the Transalp,

is definitely on my shortlist. I could commute on it daily. I would never miss a beat, and I'd be grateful for its comfort,

handling and affordability. I don't think I'd be standing around

outside the office with a bunch of non-whites,

admiring the Transalp for it’s sex appeal. But I would be very happy

that I made a very good choice.