"Weird, man. Damn weird.” That was how my elder brother described his first sighting of my Transalp. Admittedly, he had smoked too much weed and was rather strung out. Or it might have been the sight of myself, a mere 5’5” tall, perched on the tall Honda with enough plastic to make ICI shareholders leap up and down with joy. I had always thought the Transalp looked rather neat, whilst its fairing even made a stab at providing some protection from the elements for the rider without the need to go into uncomfortable contortions, as per the race replica crowd.
The bike is built around a V-twin motor, a neat bit of engineering, based on the tough VT500 unit, though increased in capacity to 583cc. I bought an eighteen month old machine that had done 17000 miles, but the engine sounded exceptionally quiet and gave every evidence of still knocking out all its 55hp. The footpegs did vibrate alarmingly when the motor was thrashed close to the red line and even, buzzed quite atrociously in the 70 to 80mph range in top. A pity as this was my favourite cruising speed on A-roads. With chain drive it might have been possible to eliminate this by using taller gearing but I never quite got around to it.
Honda’s engineers let the side down in designing the motor’s ancillaries. They ruined the look of the engine by sticking on two carbs when one would have fitted perfectly between the V of the cylinders. And compounded the insult by having the back exhaust pipe come out at a most restricted angle. Their designers must have clocked up massive overtime getting both cylinders to run evenly with such a mismatched exhaust. This might have been a minor quibble had not fuel economy been poor - anything from 30 to 50mpg!
The exhaust was covered in black paint that was already peeling off when I acquired the machine. The high-rise exhaust looked pretty rough and over six months went from bad to worse. When some of the baffles blew there was a huge 4000 to 6000rpm flat spot that did little for my peace of mind. As the position of the exhaust made it impossible to fit throw-overs, I hacksawed the pipe off just below the swinging arm pivot.
Out of interest, I shoved an old CD baffle down the end of the cut-off two into one system. The bellow was well wild but the bike wouldn’t pull above 5500rpm. After welding on a bit more pipe to act as an adaptor I managed to fit on a GPZ600 silencer (a tenner from a breaker). The bike was still noisy but I was surprised to find that it pulled well with only a slight stutter at around 6000rpm. The Transalp was never really endowed with a massive powerband, just a matter of winding on the throttle and using the box to build up speed. The bike was pleasant enough at low speeds, but would never really yank your arms out unless you dropped the clutch with the revs in the red. Then, its pseudo off-road nature would show through with a wheel up in the air and a back tyre that squirmed all over the road.
The Avon Gripsters fitted stood up well to on the road abuse, but only lasted for 7000 to 8000 miles a set. The front suspension had eight inches of travel and was ideal for riding through pot-holed city streets. The rear shock wasn’t as good, the ProLink set-up appearing no better than a decent set of twin shocks. I worried over the state of the bushes but they lasted out my time with the bike.
The Honda was surprisingly stable on the motorway, whilst the leverage, reasonable weight and big front tyre meant it could be shoved through country bends with all the aplomb of a 250 race replica. Hidden behind the fairing, quite adequate speeds could be sustained, the only problem that gusts of wind could sometimes shake the front end quite viciously. Once, the whole bike felt like it was going to let loose, but I rolled off the throttle and stamped on the brakes pronto.
Maximum cruising speed was 90mph, getting the top whack of 110mph (on the clock) involved an inordinate amount of effort and an uncomfortable, crouched riding position. The seat was good for a 100 miles at a time, which was alright as it was time to start looking for a petrol station. I have done as much as 500 miles in a day, although the chain needed an adjustment every 250 miles (it lasted for about 8000 miles) and I always changed the oil every 750 miles, so it was not an hassle free tourer.
The three valves in each cylinder were such a pain to get at and adjust that I only did them every 10000 miles, by then the top ends were getting very rattly. You even have to take one of the carbs off, yet another reason tor a single carb set-up, although the carbs did tend to stay in tune for long periods. The camchains showed none of usual Honda tendencies towards self destruction, whilst the electronic ignition never made its presence felt by failing.
Falling off occurred quite a few times, due to my lack of leg length. The Transalp proved remarkably tough in these events, usually because my body took the worst of the fall. Don’t know how well that expensive plastic would last off road, though. With my height I was never foolish enough to try it. High speed crashes were conspicuous in their absence, mainly due to a trouble free single disc (backed up by an adequate rear drum) and the easy way the Honda could be manoeuvred around the blind, dumb or merely malicious cagers.
Pad life was around 7500 miles in the front disc, whilst the rear shoes were good for around 15000 miles. Wet weather lag was siight, not improved by using aftermarket pads, although they were a lot cheaper. The bike was not particularly expensive on consumables, only spoilt by fuel that averaged around 40mpg. Given its paucity of high speed performance and slippery aerodynamics I had expected about twice that. Some hope.
I did 34000 miles on the bike with the only complaint from the clutch which started to slip above 6000rpm. This would have been an easy job if the exhaust didn’t need to be removed and half the screws in the cover refused to come undone. Eventual abuse with a large hammer and chisel won the day, resulting in several mangled screws. After new plates were fitted, I put in the old gasket, which meant there was always a small puddle of oil under the bike. I had to weld up some cracks in the down-pipes before reassembling the exhaust.
Cold winters made the bike difficult to start, taking about five minutes until the engine clattered into life. The clutch also dragged, the brake needing to be held on for the first engagement of the gears every day. I went through two batteries, they were reluctant to last for more than a year, the vibes rather than the electrical system, I think. Two clutch and one throttle cable also had to be replaced, the latter leaving me stranded in town. The headlamp would also blow with annoying regularity every 6000 miles, again the vibes getting through.
Apart from the silencer, the finish on the Honda was exceptionally good - even the spokes in the wheels I still cleaned up if you were willing to spend a few hours with a rag, toothbrush and Solvol. When I came to sell the bike after about two years of abuse, I only lost 300 notes on the deal, which |Ithought pretty fair going. The Transalp did everything I asked of it, proved ultra reliable and could still turn a head or two with its looks. On the other hand, I never felt much passion for the bike and don’t feel inclined to buy another.
Dale Andrews