As the motorcycle industry falls into something of a slump, one segment in particular seems largely unaffected. Adventure bikes have been big business for quite some time now, and middleweight adventure bikes offer us a fantastic tool for escape for a lot less than previously imagined. It is within this segment that we find some of the most versatile motorcycles ever made.Honda was relatively late to the game, but with the Africa Twin, we got one of the most well-balanced full-sized adventure bikes on the market. Once more, it took a while for Honda Motorcycles to develop a proper middleweight contender, but once they did, they gave us what is one of the best all-rounders money can buy. Like any great all-rounder, it might not be the best at anything in particular, but it can handle pretty much anything you throw at it. The Honda Transalp Is The Japanese Adventure Bike That Can Do It All Honda We are currently spoiled for choice in terms of middleweight adventure bikes. Each one of them could be labeled an all-rounder with the ability to handle anything from the daily commute to a multi-day adventure ride. Modern adventure bikes are something else. The Transalp hit the market a little late, but it differentiates itself sufficiently to make it a real contender.Honda Yamaha really got the ball rolling with the Tenere 700. It showed the world what was possible with a lighter, more off-road-capable adventure bike. It sacrificed features in favor of weight savings, almost to a fault, as the original bike left off some features most adventure riders want. A crop of fantastic European bikes followed, all feature-rich, all significantly more expensive than any of the Japanese competitors.Honda The only European bikes that still compete with the Transalp are the Aprilia Tuareg 660 – which might well be even better in some respects – and the Chinese-made KTM 790 Adventure. Both bikes still cost more. The most like-for-like alternative might well be the Suzuki V-Strom 800DE. It is the heaviest of the lot (it weighs almost as much as the Africa Twin) but wears its weight fairly well, and can handle the rough stuff as well as any modern middleweight adventure bike. Yet, the Transalp is still cheaper. Rivals Yamaha Tenere 700 Aprilia Tuareg 660 Suzuki V-Strom 800DE KTM 790 Adventure The Transalp Has A Potent Parallel-Twin Power: 90 Horsepower Arguably, the most surprising thing about the Transalp is the fact that its parallel-twin makes this much power. It is a genuinely quick bike on the road, and in the wrong hands, genuinely dangerous off-road. Mercifully, Honda is all too aware of how quickly things can go sideways off-road and offers a suite of rider aids to keep you right side up on the trail. Unlike some manufacturers, Honda didn’t feel it necessary to mess around with the tune too much.HondaYou will find this engine has the same power as the new Hornet. It already has a very flat torque curve and is well suited to adventure-touring. Honda’s take on the 270-degree/crossplane engine is actually exceptional. The Unicam design is clever in that it saves on parts and complexity. Just like every other parallel-twin like this on the market, it is reliable and meets all emissions standards around the world.For most motorcycles, 90 horsepower might not seem like a game-changer, but most motorcycles can’t go anywhere like the Transalp. It is somehow all things to all people, and much of that is down to how flexible its powertrain is, making light work of long highway runs, short dirt road excursions, and commutes. The Transalp Offers All the Features A Budding Adventure Rider Might Need More For Less Honda The first and most obvious feature the Transalp offers is a proper adventure-ready 21/18-inch spoked wheel combination. It is a necessity if you want to find appropriate off-road tires, and while the stock tires are closer to street tires, you can fit anything you want later on. Suspension travel is adequate, but Honda chose not to include a skid plate. You could argue that most adventure riders replace stock skid plates, but it makes the bike look unfinished. The wind protection is also far from perfect, but it is still easily the most comfortable middleweight on the market, making longer highway stints a relative breeze.Honda offers several nice-to-have electronics, too. You get a nice 5-inch TFT dash with smartphone connectivity, a ride-by-wire throttle that enables the inclusion of five ride modes, and a quickshifter. Not to mention traction control and ABS, which can be switched off at the rear wheel when required. Honda was able to include all these features without adding too much weight. At 459 pounds, it is actually one of the lighter modern middleweight adventure bikes.Honda As much as the Transalp is often criticized for not being quite as capable as the other middleweight adventure bikes, that is really missing the point of the bike. It is not designed to be that “all-conquering” off-road middleweight; it really was always intended to offer a more balanced approach. It can certainly get down and dirty off-road thanks to its relatively low weight.But it can also cruise down the highway for hours at a time without getting uncomfortable. It can also be your practical commuter during the week thanks to that reliable, yet still tractable Unicam engine. Somehow, it remains pretty affordable, too. The Transalp might not be particularly good at any one thing, but what makes it impossible to ignore, is the fact that it is pretty good at just about everything. Features TFT dash Ride modes Traction control ABS Spoked wheels Quickshifter
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