2024 Honda XL750 Transalp Review | First Look

2024 Honda XL750 Transalp
2024 Honda XL750 Transalp in Matte Black Metallic

American Honda has announced that the highly anticipated Honda XL750 Transalp is coming to the U.S. market for the 2024 model year.

2024 Honda XL750 Transalp

The Transalp was originally introduced in Europe in 1986, first showing up in the U.S. for the 1989 model year with a liquid-cooled, 600cc 52-degree V-Twin with 3 valves per cylinder bolted into a full-cradle frame with a box section swingarm. A 41mm fork provided almost 8 inches of travel up front, and Pro-Link suspension offered 7.5 inches of rear-wheel travel.

Unfortunately, timing and American attitudes about motorcycles, combined with the on-road/off-road orientation of the bike, meant the Transalp only lasted two years in U.S. market.

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Related: Retrospective: Honda XL600V Transalp: 1989 – 1990

However, fast forward three decades, and not only have times changed, but so has the Transalp, and after seeing considerable success in the European market, U.S. buyers are clamoring to give this new-generation middleweight adventure bike another spin.

2024 Honda XL750 Transalp

“As the adventure category continues to thrive and evolve, customers are more eager than ever to get out and explore,” said Brandon Wilson, American Honda manager of Racing & Experiential Marketing. “The all-new, midsize XL750 Transalp joins Honda’s iconic Africa Twin and pocket-adventurer CB500X to complete our popular True Adventure lineup, ready to deliver unforgettable outdoor experiences to U.S. ADV enthusiasts from coast to coast.”

In the company’s announcement, Honda called the XL750 Transalp, “friendly but tough—perfect for extended touring trips, as well as the urban cut and thrust, and all points in between.”

2024 Honda XL750 Transalp

See all of Rider‘s Honda coverage here.

The 2024 Honda XL750 Transalp features a liquid-cooled 755cc parallel-Twin with Honda’s Unicam design, 4 valves per cylinder, and 270-degree crank. It has a 6-speed gearbox, throttle-by-wire, a slip/assist clutch, and a standard quickshifter. The bike now comes with five ride modes – Sport, Standard, Rain, Gravel, and rider-customizable – that regulate power delivery, engine braking, and ABS intervention. It also has Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC) for increased or decreased rear-wheel spin.

2024 Honda XL750 Transalp

Speaking of wheels, the 2024 Honda XL750 Transalp rides on 21/18-inch front/rear spoked wheels. For stopping power, gone is the rear drum brake, replaced by a 256mm disc, and the front now has dual discs (310mm) instead of the previous single. ABS is standard and can be turned off for the rear wheel. Suspension travel is still comparable, with a 43mm Showa SFF-CA inverted fork offering 7.9 inches of travel and Showa Pro-Link rear shock providing 7.5 inches.

2024 Honda XL750 Transalp

The seat height is 33.7 inches, and Honda offers an available 32.6-inch accessory seat. It has 8.3 inches of clearance, a 4.5-gallon fuel tank, and a curb weight of 459 lb.

2024 Honda XL750 Transalp

The Transalp has a 5.0-inch full-color LCD display with four display options, self-canceling turnsignals, and a USB-C port under the passenger seat. The 2024 Honda XL750 Transalp will be available in October in Matte Black Metallic starting at $9,999.

2024 Honda XL750 Transalp

For more information, visit the Honda Powersports website.

Check out more new bikes in Rider‘s 2024 Motorcycle Buyers Guide

39 COMMENTS

  1. Oh Honda, why must you torture us so? No tricolor paint job and an impending announcement of less performance numbers than our European counterparts!

  2. Transalp 750 hits the sweet spot on size, power and price. Should be a sales sucess and a great ride. Clearly a road biased adventure bike but still carries some adaquate light off road capabilities…I could see this being a great all-arouder for a one bike garage!

    • WELL it WOULD! hit the ” SWEET SPOT ” had CALIFORINA kept their big COMMY mouth shut …… Now the Transalp will get detuned and wont produce its full 90 hp that the EU enjoy …….. AND as typical the US only gets one of the 3 colors produced ……… HONDA USA is a flipping JOKE……..

  3. I’ve read elsewhere that the US model will be down on horsepower (83 hp) vs the EU version (90.5) which isn’t great. Looks like the US will also only get the black version vs the white with red and blue accent colorway seen in many reviews of the bike so far. Kind of ironic that the US won’t get the red white and blue version. However, still looks like a great addition to the competitive middle-weight ADV segment.

  4. Joins a growing stable of middle weight adventure bikes, a group I am quite fond of. It looks small, but it might just be the pictures. I’ll be looking for a 800cc give-or-take adventure bike next year, so this will be on my list!

  5. If one of these companies building the $10-12k middle weights would put cruise control on, even as an option, I think they’d blow away the competition.

  6. I had hopes this fascination with matte finish paint would have died off by now. Might be a nice bike but I just can’t make myself by a bike that the paint looks like it is sun baked. Would it kill them to offer it in 2 colors.

  7. It seems thru the years that Europe consistently gets the leading edge Hondas well before they are available in the US. Finally this bike is here ….albeit lower spec for no rationale reason

  8. I ride a Tiger 900 and would prefer a 750 ish power model. I really liked my CB500x, but it was not enough power on the road. The 4.5 gallon fuel tank is too small – really needs to be 5-5.5 so it has good touring range.

    Still, I will test ride one when it could the the NW. 🙂

    • Why don’t you like the Tiger 900? I ask because I was considering buying one but on the fence with the Taureg or Tenere, and now the Honda.

  9. Leave it to Honda USA to disappoint us again. A detuned version in flat black. I’m thoroughly convinced that Honda has no interest in the US market.

  10. So the motorcycle manufacturer (finally) figures out we need a USB port as standard equipment. Great. But why on earth would you put it under the seat? So we can all figure a way to snake a cable up to the handle bars? I don’t understand why Honda goes half way on the job when it knows EVERYBODY wants to plug in SOMETHING (usually a phone, of course).

  11. Once again it’s a good thing none of you are the general buying population because spec wise the Transalp and the Yamaha Tenere are very close with the Honda showing 83 hp and an RTR weight of 459lbs and the Yamaha Tenere 700 with hp of 74 and an RTR weight of 452 and dealers struggle to get enough Tenere’s to cover the Buying publics demand and I’ll bet that the Honda will be the same. Asa for the dude wanting a trailer hitch…are you fricking kidding! Where do you ride? I ride everywhere from the Baja peninsula to the jeep passes in the San Juan mountains of Colorado and pulling a trailer isn’t an option in either place. Buy a touring bike.

  12. From reading many of the pissy comments in here about a promising new adventure motorcycle in the U.S., I think I understand why Honda is being cautious. Maybe tone it down a bit guys – huh? I mean, what do you expect, someone to build you a motorcycle to YOUR exact specs? Arrogance on display for sure. Geez.

  13. Always upvote ADV bikes! Surprised it took so long for Honda to join the mid size market. They should have brought the 1000 cc Varadero over to the US years ago. I have a KTM 1190 ADV and 790R and I have hit my aftermarket bash plates plenty. On the Transalp I am seeing an exposed exhaust and what looks like a deep cast aluminum oil sump hanging way below the engine. With no frame near by, installing a bash plate will be difficult and not stout. This bike does not seem to be very dirt ready. It is 100 lbs more then the 790 R with a lot less HP. Even it is used for fire roads, conditions can deteriorate and become more challenging than anticipated

  14. Once again shorter riders get ignored. It’s now a highly competitive segment and so any manufacturer wanting a seat at the table needs to impress with features and value. At least offer something to stand out from the field while keeping up with competitors. I think manufacturers deliberately short the list of features in order to get buyers to opt for the bigger displacement bikes. On my wish list is an ADV bike in the mid displacement range with shaft drive and cruise. Cruise should be easy to do now that everything is drive by wire.

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