It has been just over a year since I got the Transalp home and the following is a short ownership report.
Bhpian skviknaraj recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Ownership Update
Previous bikes owned: TVS Apache RTR160 -> Mahindra Mojo -> 2023 KTM 390 Adv (1st gen) -> Honda Transalp XL750
Till date kms Covered: 16000 kms; about 60-70% of the kms covered was for commuting. It is about 50-55 kms a day with about 36-40km on the Chennai Bypass.
Part of the commuting is through the infamous traffic between Porur and Ramapuram, made even worse with the metro construction. Compared to the first gen 390 Adv that I had before this, Transalp is mush more well behaved. I do not get frustrated as I did while I had the 390 Adv. This can be attributed to less heat on the legs, especially below the ankles and also the gearing. Gear are better / smoother and changing less frequent.
I have the quick shifter installed, which makes downshifts and upshifts a breeze and also the overall riding experience better. On the KTM, the quickshifter would always throw an error after covering around 20 -30 kms.( Attributed to toes resting on the gear lever. Ever since I started moving my toes away from the gear shifter, the errors became less frequent.)
Things I like
- Engine: the acceleration above 5500 rpm is awesome and there is a significant pull. Not the smoothest in terms of vibes, but not very jarring also. Vibes are present between 3000 and 4500 rpm. Vibes are not noticeable when using gloves. This could be sue to resonance as I have a few things mounted on the bike.
- Handling / Weight management: I have the Honda crash bars set and this takes the weight to around 240 kgs. Once the bike is upright and moving, the weight disappears. Filtering through traffic is also breeze. I am 5’6″ and tip toe when on the bike. Moving the bike back when seated is hard. So I just get down and move the bike as required.
- Wind blast: For my height and the stock windscreen, the wind just goes to the top vent of my helmet and it is perfect. Though I wouldn’t mind some wind hitting my chest to tackle the hot summers. Previously a ride of about 450 kms from Chennai to Erode or Erode to Chennai would leave exhausted for the rest of the day, requiring a nap. With the Transalp this has not been the case and I feel I can push more.
- Highway Manners: Very stable. I rode the bike through pouring rains from Chennai to Vattavada and the bike did not once go off the intended line. I was maintaining between 90-110 kmph without any issues. On my previous bikes for sure I would have stopped or gone down to 50.
- Wheel Removal/Installations: Removing the wheel and fixing it back is as easy as it gets. The disc pads/caliper stay in place and do not dangle when the wheel is removed. this makes installation after a puncture fix really easy. This is for both the Front and back wheel. If not for breaking the rear bead, I guess I can start fixing the punctures myself.
- Rear Rack: the bike comes with solid rack as standard. It has nubs integrated to run straps or bungee cord off and is thick. It can support 8kgs so fixing a top box or luggage is easy. Easy to fix luggage to straps to the rear grab rails.
Things I do not like
Very few in this category
- Tubed Rims : the golden spoked rims gives a very good finish to bike except when you the tube gets punctured. Could be my bad luck, I have had 5 punctures in total, as on date. 3 times in the rear wheel and twice in the front wheel. The first puncture happened on the 3rd day after taking delivery. Luckily it was within the city limits and could get it fixed in a few hours. Apart from the ease of removing and fitting the wheel, I would say it is not fun. I am currently in the process of getting Outex kit fitted. If it works it works else back to tubes. For the moment on long trips, I am carrying spare tubes. One pain is that people are not ready to work on tubed wheels on new vehicles as they feel something could wrong with the brakes. I can understand their hesitation when I had to deal with punctures on the RE Himalayan. Compared to the trials / jugaad need to be done for the Himi 411 rear, it is very Straight forward on the Transalp.
- Rear Wheel Size: The rear wheel is R18 and R17. On top being tubed, this is not a R17. R18 tubes are rare in the Indian Market. Luckily these can be ordered from Honda itself and they cost about 1.8k. I would suggest ordering one before hand and keeping it in Stock. The front is 90/90 R21 fairly common and Himmi or KTM tubes can be used.
Miscellaneous Stuff
- The bikes has a CANBUS system similar to the Africa Twin. Sadly the Hex ezcan for the twin cannot be used on the Transalp as the pin/ports are different. There is no Hex ezcan system also being developed currently.
- Bike Comes with a Ground switched headlight. So people looking to tap the high beam signal will have to use a ground switched relay. This matters when using aux lights which have a high beam strobe function.
- Bike in “STD” Riding mode and in first gears feels jerky. This is due to Throttle mapping. I would suggest using the Rain, Sport or User mode which uses the full power.
- The user mode allows to switch off ABS for the rear. But it will reset once the bike is switched off and on. Pain in the rear if ones wants to use the bike offroad.
- I taken bike for the Full experience program by the School of Dirt which was also attended by fellow bhpian Crazy Driver. Read more about it here. Though I did enjoy it. I probably should have taken a more lighter bike or one which would have let me place my legs on the ground comfortably. The bike survived multiple falls and slides with the crash guards performing better than expected. Will I attend once more, YES, but not in the Transalp yet. Their terrain/trail is brutal.
- Bikes have only E5/E10 sticker and recommended fuel is Ron91. So normal fuel will do. Till date I have filled only the regular petrol. Just last week I filled Speed and found the vibrations to be lesser. Could be placebo effect. Will try it more extensively and see if there is any difference. Regarding Ethanol, I have no idea how the bike will fare. But so far there has been no issues
- The windshield is scratch prone. Considering My height and seating position, I have to see through the wind screen in bumper to bumper traffic / slow speeds and visibility is poor, even worse when it rains. I have resorted to hanging my head to the side of the bike to get additional road visibility when needed. . I am contemplating getting a shorter visor next.
- Bike has small levers in the front fork below the brake calipers. These are to prevent stones / debris from hitting the Brake caliper. Honda Engineering / attention to detail, I like.
- The head lights are useless. I have tried lowering the lights and still need to lower the lights. Hopefully after this try the lights are ok. But I do not have high hopes. To adjust the lights, the dash board panel has to be removed.
- Suspension seems to be a little bouncy. Where the 390 Adv was firm, this bike bounces. But atleast I have not got any back pain on the Transalp, which I did experience on the 390Adv on the same route to work.
A few pics to close this ownership report
A closer view of the caliper protector ( assumption)
Bike with the top box. Box is used only on long trips. Box is off when commuting 
Somewhere in Kerala 
And Dear
Somewhere in Kerala
Mileage summary
Distance Summary
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
