Everything old is new again. And nowhere is that more true than in the big wide world of adventure bike riding. It’s like everyone wants to ride an adventure bike these days, which means manufacturers are pumping out new ADV machinery left, right and centre.
Just look at what is commonly referred to as the ‘mid-size’ twin-cylinder segment of the adventure bike market. This category is white-hot right now as riders accept that they don’t need the size, weight, cost and even performance of the litre-plus ADV uber-tourers. Bigger isn’t always better.
The list of players in this corner of the world, in alphabetical order, includes Aprilia (Tuareg 660), BMW (F 850 GS range), CFMOTO (800 MT range), Ducati (DesertX and Multistrada V2), Husqvarna (Norden 901s), Kawasaki (Versys 650), KTM (890 Adventures and limited-run Filipino-made 790 Adventures), Suzuki (V-Strom 650 XT and new 800 DE), Triumph (Tiger 900 range) and Yamaha (Ténéré 700 and T7 World Raid).
Late to the party they might be, but Honda are throwing their hat in the ring — and they’re relaunching the iconic Transalp badge to do it. Enter the new Honda XL750 Transalp, and the question on everyone’s lips is, precisely where is it going to fit in amongst all the competition on the Aussie ADV riding landscape?
TRANSALP HISTORY LESSON
The mid 1980s were a brilliant time to be an adventure bike rider, although
