Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1518395
P102 COMPARISON I HONDA TRANSALP XL750R & YAMAHA TENERE 700 locks up. We've swapped brake levers and brake pads, looking for significant improvements short of stripping the ABS system out and replacing all the lines with higher-spec braided- steel units with success. The Transalp has a slightly larger fuel tank at 4.5 gallons versus 4.2 gallons. That means that you are looking for your next gas station at around 180 miles on either bike and have a max range of around 210 to 225 miles if you're riding conservatively. Both of these bikes provide a lot of bang for the buck, consid - ering they're less expensive than 90 percent of the ADV bike mar- ket today. Either could be your winner, depending on the type of riding you prefer and your physi- cal size. If you prefer to ride on the street and will do little to no off-road riding, the Transalp's small power advantage and standard up/down quickshifter tips the scale in your direction easily as a capable ADV touring machine, especially if you want a lower seat height and a lower price. But, if you prefer hitting the dirt, desire a bike that looks the part of a rally-faired off-road performer, and especially if you want to ride in more technical terrain, the much better suspen- sion performance, smoother power delivery, and wonderful lack of electronic switching, tips the scales heavily towards the Tenere. At Cycle News, we feel ADV bikes need to perform in the dirt to be significant con- tenders in this class, and for that reason, we put the Tenere at the top of this comparison test. CN YAMAHA TENERE 700 HONDA XL750 TRANSALP ($10,799) ($9999) ENGINE: Parallel Twin Parallel Twin DISPLACEMENT: 689cc 755cc BORE X STROKE: 80.0 x 68.6mm 87.0 x 63.5mm VALVETRAIN: DOHC, 8 Valves OHC Unicam, 8 Valves FUELING: EFI EFI ELECTRONICS: Three option ABS. Front/Rear ABS on/off rear only. Sport, Standard, on, Front on/Rear off, Both off Rain, Gravel and Customizable. Rider Mode, Engine Mode,Engine Brake Mode, Torque Control with/ Wheelie Control HORSEPOWER (CLAIMED): 72.4 hp at 9000 rpm 83.0 hp at 8500 rpm TORQUE (CLAIMED): 50 lb-ft at 6500 rpm 55 lb-ft at 9500 rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-Speed 6-speed CLUTCH: Wet, Multi-Plate Wet, multi-plate FRAME: Tubular steel, double cradle, single unit Steel diamond mainframe & subframe HANDLEBARS: Tapered aluminum Tapered aluminum FRONT SUSPENSION: KYB coil spring, Showa SFF-CA, fully adjustable non-adjustable REAR SUSPENSION: KYB, single shock, Pro-Link single Showa shock, linkage, fully adjustable preload adjustability FRONT-WHEEL TRAVEL: 8.3 in. 7.9 in. REAR-WHEEL TRAVEL: 7.9 in. 7.5 in. FRONT BRAKE: Brembo, 4-piston calipers, Dual 310mm discs with dual 282mm discs w/selectable ABS 2-channel ABS REAR BRAKE: Brembo, 2-piston, 245mm Single 250mm disc with disc w/selectable ABS 2-channel ABS FRONT WHEEL / TIRE: Spoked / 90/90R-21 in. Spoked / 90/90R-21 in. REAR WHEEL / TIRE: Spoked / 150/70R-18 in. Spoked / 150/70R-18 in. RAKE: 27.0° 27.0° WHEELBASE: 62.8 in. 61.5 in. SEAT HEIGHT: 34.6 in. 33.7 in. FUEL CAPACITY: 4.2 gal. 4.5 gal. WEIGHT (WET, CLAIMED): 470 lbs. 459 lbs. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S