A little bit of good news regarding the Honda Transalp 750. Turns out this time the bike is coming to Canada as a 2024 model. Not since the old XR650 has Honda Canada had a seriously capable dual sport offering in the middleweight segment – and the Transalp is a gigantic leap ahead of that old, really old, Honda stalwart (but that’s understandable as the origins of the XR650 went well back into the last century). So what brought this on? Why the Transalp and not the handful of other bikes that never made it to our shores over the last couple of years from Honda.
Competition would be one reason. Suzuki just released that beefed up, more off-road capable DL800 P…errr, VStrom with its new parallel twin and Yamaha seems to be doing alright with the Tenere 700. Until now, Honda’s only response to those two machines was the NC750 which, while looking the part, is a street machine with some gravel capabilities. The Transalp 750 is, on the other hand, intended to be very much at home in the dirt.
Which brings up another reason the bike is coming to Canada. Honda has a few legendary names in motorcycling and the Transalp is one of them. To be fair that legendary status came from Europe but we knew about the bike over this side of the ocean. The original Transalp was a winner and Honda hopes of little of that mud and dirt stirred magic makes its way to this new machine.
So what do you getting the 2024 Honda Transalp 750? A 755cc parallel twin (about 86hp in in North American version) fed from a 16.6 litre fuel tank so range should be adequate. It rides on a 21 inch front wheel connected to the road via a 43mm Showa fork with 7.9 inches of travel. The back wheel is an 18 incher and is allowed 7.5 inches of travel. Seat height is a reasonable 33.7 inches. The entire package weigh in at 489lbs ready to ride. There are four riding modes and switchable ABS. That’s the basics. Aside from the price which is $12,589 (plus the $899 Freight, PDI … etc, etc, etc.). That compares to an MSRP of $13,299 for the Suzuki DL800 and $13,599 for the Yamaha Tenere 700. So right in the ballpark.
