HONDA XL750 TRANSALP (2023 - on) Review

I've had a lot of bikes, and still have a GS. The XL750 is ideal for commuting - so much lighter, more agile, better mpg and easier to fit through gaps, and (for a relatively cheap bike) and - optional extras excluded - feels much better screwed together than my previous KTM SAS1290. I've never found the brakes wanting, and the suspension is good (if firm) with the rear preload wound up. 1 star lost as the rear preload adjuster is not fun to access!

I love the engine - for commuting it is fun, frugal and entertaining; even the exhaust note is great. I don't find the torque lacking as a lot of reviews seem to suggest, and my other bike is a 1250 GS. I'd only maybe have an issue for long distance touring - but I didn't buy it for that.

The bike is well built and appears robust - however mine was off the road since April this year due to a Honda Safety Recall which then wasn't actioned. It's taken until October, escalation to Honda UK and then DVSA to get it sorted - so I effectively have lost a riding season on the bike. So the 1/5 is for the quality process and support, not the reliability of the bike itself.

Bike appears to be simple to service, my first service was cost effective. Service locations appear to be simple to access. MPG (UK) is pretty good - acknolwedging mine is still low miles I'm getting 65mpg.

The menu functions and instruments are great, controls are easy to use (the indicator switch position still catches me out occasionally). I have mounted a Garmin GPS over the dash as the inbuilt app wasn't that easy to use whilst focussing on traffic, but I class that as a nice to have. I don't have an issue that the bike comes in basic format; I could tailor it to what I wanted.

Can be a cruiser and a hooligan is needed, brakes are very good. The rear shock lets it down, its too soft and needs an upgrade, I'll probably change it for a Maxton unit with hydraulic preload adjuster. Front suspension is good enough, I have it 5 turns in from soft and it suits me better.

Its a peach, good power through the rev range, works very well with the QS. As I have stated the only let down is the throttle jerkiness at low speed but the engine itself is great.

No corrosion but I have coated the bits and I do look after my bikes. Reliability has been good apart from the snatchy throttle at low speeds and the QS playing up a couple of times but I am only 6 months in. Being a Honda it should be good, last couple of Hondas I have had all stood up to the test of time very well.

60mpg plus all day long, base price for the bike is good IMO but the extras bump it up. I will use my local shop for servicing as its closer and slightly cheaper. Insurance was reasonable at £200 FC (55yr old with pillion).

Traction control & rider modes are common place now but apart from that you don't get much else for the basic price. In total I have added Honda QS, Low seat & Lust lowering link (I'm 5'5") fogs & light bar, Honda air deflectors, Honda heated grips, Honda handguards & Puig extenders, Honda centre stand, fenda extenda. All extras and annoying that the CS was not standard.

Brakes are excellent both front and rear. Lots of feel on both and nice and progressive. Suspension as I said above is cheap and average at best. However, despite this, the bike’s handling really excels. It is so easy to ride. At low speeds it is stable and nimble and is fun to ride in traffic. On faster roads it handles beautifully. It turns effortlessly and holds its line perfectly. It’s stable on the motorway. Even two it was fine. Very impressive. I have also ridden this bike green laning and it was surprisingly good. Not hardcore but thick muddy ruts and rocky narrow paths and it was great.

It’s a fun motor. Very economical. I got nearly 80mpg when pootleing across Spain. When you wind it up its very willing. It is “only” a 750 and I would like more low end grunt. The combination of great handling and a free reving engines means you can make progress. Its not hyper sports by any means but the engine power is well matched to the bike. Gearbox is great and I was going to buy a quickshifter but cant see the point

Suspension is a bit budget. Its ok. The rear shock feels cheap and I may replace it. Front shocks are better but still might replace them. Switch gear is a bit plasticky and the gear shift and rear brake pedal cheap. However, for the money it’s good. Reliability wise Ive had no problems. Chain wear has been minimal. Everything works as it should.

Annual service cost depends on how many miles you do!! Service interval is 8000 miles and is about £250. Very economical. 57mpg if Im feeling enthusiastic 80mpg if I really try to eke it out

Standard screen diabolical. Strange not buffeting but sounds like I was following a jet engine. Taller screen a lot better. The little deflectors they sell didn't seem to make any difference. Seat very uncomfortable for me. It slopes down toward the tank which in my case meant I had a choice between a sore back or crushed testicles. I initially opted for the sore back and later had the seat remade with the slope removed. Much better. There is no range on the dash. Strangely it tells you how many miles you have done since the low fuel warning and what your consumption has been. So if you know the reserve tank size and you’re very good at mental maths you can work it out yourself. The TFT is ok but a huge proportion of it is dedicated to telling you the values for power, TC and Engine Braking which is of no use to man nor beast. There is no ambient temperature gauge which surprisingly I have missed quite a lot. No heated grips, no cruise control.

Very comfortable. I'm 5'10" with a 32" inside leg. I fitted the add on wind deflectors with the standard wind shield. They keep the buffeting to my chest and shoulders to a minimum on the motorway. I fitted the lower seat to give a little more confidence/security to firmly plant my feet on uneven surfaces when carrying full kit. Slightly dipping my head also keeps the wind off my helmet at motorway speeds. I was happy to spend 6hrs plus a day on varying roads with a couple of short refresment/fuel stops.

As everyone else seems to say...Fantastic! More than enough power for the real world. Brilliant fun to ride unladen for a couple of hours blast and great fun and absolutely effortless when fully laden with luggage. Plenty of power on quick A roads and lovely on tight single track 1st and 2nd gear switchbacks.

The build quality is excellent. After 12 months of ownership, no issues at all. Keep it clean and well maintained and it still looks like a new bike. I've done 2 multi day camping trips (N.Wales & the Hebrides). The bike was fully laden with food and camping kit and the weather was horrendous with rain at times on both trips. Everything from A roads to filthy single track. The bike never missed a beat and after a good clean on return looks as good as new.

I'm on the Honda service plan, purchased when I bought the bike last year. There's been no additional cost other than general bike cleaning kit. On my camping trips, fully laden on a variety of roads it was doing an average of 65mpg at real world/traffic road speeds.

I've fitted a number of the genuine Honda accessories (Front side pipes, fog lights, heated grips, hand guards, radiator guard, main stand, 12v socket, fuel tank protection stickers). These were mainly to help with protecting the bike. I don't intend to do any off road other than rough single-track roads. I also use SW Motech soft luggage and side stand extension and a front mudguard extension to reduce the crud hitting the pipe headers etc. All work really well for what I want.

Very good, at it's best on nice paved roads where the ride quality is excellent, it's a budget bike with suspension to match but fine if you don't ask too much of it - it's not a hardcore off roader and never will be so I'd consider a cheap XR or something to complement it rather than forking out (excuse the pun) on decent springs for it. The seat can become a bit painful after hours in the saddle but no worse than any other bike I've ridden.

The engine is a a real peach to me, it's got usable torque low down and fairly spirited after 4k RPM, gear change is smooth enough, throttle is not too bad for me, could be smoother but again no worse for me than some other bikes with ride by wire. The engine does get pretty hot in stop start traffic but cools down when it needs to. The Vstrom has more lower down torque and is more ''pully' but not as spirited up top so with another bike more suited to off road use it works well for me on the street/light trails.

Mines been well looked after, washed frequently and garaged which has kept the corrosion at bay, the plastics and paint are thin but the glory days of Honda where the paint was 3 times the thickness and there was more metal than plastic are sadly gone as goes for most of the manufacturers nowadays, again for the price I can't complain and I would trust it to carry me around the world with little fuss.

I've only had the first service to date and supplied my own oil and filters so labour was around £120 mark. What you get for your money I feel is pretty good with the electronics etc. Tubed tyres are not something I stress about but the inclusion of cruise control even as an option would have been nice - I can see why they've not though to keep costs down and also stop this competing more directly with the AT.

The engine is the standout, the equipment is OK, the heated grips work well, I've put Hepco & becker protection on mine, some Dinali riding lights (way better than Honda's offering) and the Honda high screen and quick shifter, I've also got the Carpe iter on mine which works well for navigation. haven't changed the tyres yet but will likely go for something slightly more knobby next time.

For 80kg the suspension feels pretty good on the road, possibly needs more damping for off road. Brakes are powerful and nicely modulated.

This is the best part of the bike, performant, economic and sounds great.

Only covered 1500miles but so far so good...

Stock suspension is decent. I’m 5’9” and 11 Stone. It munches the miles up well enough but the seat got uncomfortable after 1.5 hours. Heated grips were average and I think are bettered by Oxford heated grips. No really noticeable heat until the 3rd level is selected and 4th level seems a waste along with 1 and 2. Tyre noise was loud. Wind protection is ok and better on the lower half. Bike at its best on a dry day along back roads.

Decent engine. Pulls well and sounds good. I’d never doubt a Honda engine. However, the fuel mapping means town riding is snatchy and you find yourself changing gears more than you want to. CB500X is far smoother. Plenty enough power.

Spoke nipples corrode very easily despite careful cleaning. Corrosion on frame where centre stand main bolt sits. Rear sprocket is a bit of a joke and poor quality even compared to the CB500X. TFT mists up inside the unit. Had a replacement TFT under warranty and it did it again. Was told this normal. Only positive was that it cleared after being sat for a while. Display was still visible. Overall build should have been way better.

Only had the first service done in my ownership. I covered over 2,000 miles in 6 months over the back end of summer into, Autumn and Winter. By then I had had enough and went back to BMW.

Had 12v socket, heated grips, hand guards, side tank and wheel graphics. I later fitted aftermarket engine/frame bars in a bid to try and like the bike more but it wasn’t enough. Heated grips were not great. The TFT connectivity for sat nav is a joke and just pointless. Beeline Moto is way superior. Best feature has to be the engine.

Superb engine but snatchy throttle.

No issues in 12 months and 5,000 miles

Great dash and nice features like auto cancelling indicators. Quick shifter as an option is a must!

Bike is great on the twisties, for me a great all rounder and keeps up with the "wanabe Rossies" of the world. Seat is a bit hard after an 1.5hrs but it could be just needing to break in a bit.

Absolute peach, I read an article stating its power is higher up the revs but I'm not seeing that. Yes it will scream if needed but the power/torque start low enough and to me the power is a great linear curve. It works extremely well with the QS, surprisingly quick and as stated before easily gets 60mpg+.

All round Honda quality, I have coated the bolts etc but I do look after my bikes, time will tell though, after all I live in the UK.

I use my local bike shop for servicing, more than reasonable prices and its just up the road, dealer is an hour away. The Honda service pack is £399 for 3 x services but the inconvenience of traveling is out weighed by the slight extra cost at my local. Great on fuel, 60+ is good enough for me.

CS should be standard but ABS, slipper, TFT, canceling indicators and adjustable modes make up for it I suppose, sub £10 bike so cant really moan to much as its characteristics etc make up for it.