RIDE REVIEW I 2024 HONDA XL750R TRANSALP
P88
buyer for the Transalp is prob-
ably not planning to pound this
bike over gnarly boulders as we
did at the press intro, anyway.
The suspension will be fine for
most buyers, and Honda knows
that they can attract more
customers with a low retail price
than by touting suspension
specs that a good percentage
of customers don't understand
anyway and will probably never
even need if they're riding pave
-
ment and gravel roads.
Once back on the tarmac, the
transmission on the new Trans
-
alp is as smooth as glass, and
the motor purrs along effort-
lessly. The factory electronic
settings work well, and that's
great because you can't change
anything in any mode other
than User, but I didn't feel it was
necessary. And if you don't like
them, there's no reason why you
couldn't run User mode on the
road and set it to whatever you
desire. For me, Sport was great,
and again, there were no issues
with the amount of power avail
-
able from your right wrist. Twist
it hard and it goes.
Honda nailed the power curve
on the Transalp, and it's hard to
make a mistake no matter what
gear you're in. There's power all
the way through, making riding
this bike a blast whether you're
a beginner or an advanced rider.
It's simply a fun bike to ride.
Street manners, even with
the 21-inch front wheel, are
lively and predictable, and the
bike—remember ours had big-
block tires fitted—handles fast
corners and slow-speed city
riding with ease. The six-speed
transmission lets you roll down
long stretches of tarmac while
only taking small sips of fuel
from the 4.5-gallon tank. The
wind protection directs the air
around your helmet, and there
was little to no buffeting on my
Honda nailed the power
curve on the Transalp. It's
hard to make a mistake no
matter what gear you're in.
