Honda Transalp 600

HONDA TRANSALP 600

CYCLE WORLD TEST

The perfect bike for around town. Or around the world.

HONDA DESCRIBES ITS NEW TRANSALP 600 AS A “NEW-concept touring bike,” and for once there’s more truth than hype to that PR-department statement.

Actually, the Transalp is a superb do-it-all motorcycle, a perfect choice for the rider who likes diversity in his riding. The Transalp works well as a commuter; it’s great for a quick hop down to the convenience store; it will happily cruise all day on the interstate or play roadracer through the twisties; and it doubles as an off-road machine that’ll reach the end of that dirt road you’ve always wondered about.

The Transalp—sold in Europe for the past two years—is the latest stop in the evolution of the dual-purpose motorcycle. Until recently, this type of bike was typified by Honda’s now-discontinued XL600, a worthy, if not spectacular, off-road motorcycle that was handicapped on pavement by its lack of an electric starter and its sparse rider accomodations.

The Transalp, like Kawasaki’s KLR650 and Honda’s own NX650, takes the opposite approach, and is much more street-oriented, evidenced by a small fairing that protects the rider from the elements. But the Transalp is even more road-worthy than the single-cylinder KLR and NX by virtue of its engine: a liquid-cooled, 600cc V-Twin that allows relaxed freeway cruising. Off-road, the Honda understandably suffers from its street bias: Dirt roads can be ridden with more control than on a normal street machine, but the bike’s 450-pound weight restricts its speed to a casual, take-in-the-scenery pace.

But that’s okay; there’s nothing wrong with taking time to inhale the beauty of that little-traveled dirt road. And when the rider returns to a paved or semi-paved road, the delightful V-Twin engine easily propels the bike up to, and beyond, legal speeds. Honda’s patented off set crankshaft throws cancel most of the harsh booming of the 52-degree V-Twin, without the weight and complexity of a counterbalancer. Only a mellow, pleasing hint of a thump is transmitted to the rider.

This engine is suprisingly powerful, too. Despite being rated at only 54 horsepower, the motor accelerates briskly, and never hesitates or stumbles as the next higher gear is selected. It only hints at being rather small in size when asked to pass traffic on a steep uphill. Even then, a quick downshift or two gets the engine back into power-producing mode. In fact, we couldn’t fault the character of this 583cc V-Twin under any condition. The engine instantly comes to life, hot or cold, as soon as the starter button is pushed. And it can be ridden away as soon as the rider wishes, without any stumbling or balking.

An equal portion of expertise is evident in the rest of this machine: The rider sits in a comfortable, upright position; the handlebar is wide and high; the seat foam is just about the right firmness, although being a smidge thicker wouldn’t hurt. The control levers and switches are logically placed and work smoothly; the instruments are easy to read night or day; the halogen headlight throws a wide, bright beam; the No. 525 O-ring chain requires almost no maintenance; and the dual-use tires grip well on a wide variety of surfaces.

Suspension travel and compliance are also impressive. A leading-axle, enduro-type fork features almost eight inches of travel, and a single-shock rear suspension lets the rear tire move almost as far. Both ends of the 'Alp were a little harsh on smaller bumps for the first few hundred miles, then the rear smoothed out nicely. The fork got better, but never completely lost its harsh feel on pavement joints. Larger bumps and dips were absorbed smoothly.

The generous suspension travel, a narrow engine and 8.7 inches of ground clearance let the adventurous rider stray deep into the back country without too much fear of grounding the Transalp’s lower fairing. And scraping any part of the bike on a twisty section of paved road is nearly impossible.

Even the off-road-sized wheels—a 17-inch rear and a 21-inch front—do a remarkable job in their dual-personality role. The only hint of the front wheel size being biased toward off-road use shows up as a slight increase in steering force needed toward the end of a paved, decreasingradius turn.

In an effort to keep the bike’s weight reasonable, both wheels use wire-spoke wheels designed much like those on Honda’s off-road-only XR600R. The smallish-sized spokes appear fragile for such a large machine, but their straight-pull design eliminates the weak spot on a normal wire-spoked wheel: the bend near the hub. We had no problems with breaking or excessive loosening of the spokes, proving that looks can be deceiving.

Brakes for these off-road-copy wheels are also very XR600-like: a single-disc front brake and small drum rear. They require little effort to operate, and both provide a good, progressive feel. Although not up to pure streetbike standards, the brakes perform well as long as the rider uses both brakes when stopping. If he gets lazy and applies just the rear brake (especially at higher speeds), he quickly learns that it will get hot and fade.

Loading the Transalp for a several-day excursion can be a problem, too. A nice rack provides a latching place for a duffel bag, but trying to fit soft saddlebags to this bike can be a problem due to the high-mounted, spark-arresterequipped exhaust silencer. And forget about attaching most tankbags to the top of the fuel tank: Its hump-back shape won’t allow it.

But that shouldn’t be a serious problem for the hardy explorer who will see this bike as a means of escaping the restraints of civilization. And after he straps his gear to the rear of the Transalp, he’ll get a lot of attention at stoplights on the way out of town. It seems as though almost everyone either owns, or has owned, a dual-purpose bike. And most of them think the Transalp is a new-model XL600, since almost nobody sees the front cylinder of the V-Twin hidden under the fairing.

But even people who know nothing about a motorcycle seem to be attracted to the Transalp: “That’s a nice bike. It’s some kind of an enduro, isn’t it?’’

Yes, it is some kind of an enduro, and it’s some kind of a touring bike, and it’s some kind of a sportbike, and. . . . ®

HONDA

TRANSALP 600

$4498