Honda XL750 Transalp confirmed for U.S. market

After making a big splash at Europe’s EICMA motorcycle show in 2022, the Honda XL750 Transalp has been given the green light for U.S. sales. The mid-size adventure bike has not been sold in the North America since the mid-1980s, but with the class gaining tremendous popularity here it would be foolish for Honda to miss out. 

Slotting between the Honda CB500X and Africa Twin, the XL750 Transalp shares a 755cc engine with the CB750 Hornet, also not available in the U.S. The four-valve-per-cylinder Unicam parallel twin makes 91 horsepower in Euro spec, but Honda has not yet released output figures for the American-market version. One of the hurdles to getting it certified in the U.S. was meeting the strict anti-pollution standards of California Air Resources Board (CARB), which it did in spring 2023.

The Transalp is kind of like a two-wheeled Toyota 4Runner (the Africa Twin would be the Land Cruiser), built to be taken off regular streets and into the unpaved wilds. To give you an idea of what it was designed for, in European spec the bike offers several ride modes, including Sport, Standard, Rain, and Gravel. Its front fork has 7.8 inches of travel and a remote reservoir rear shock has 7.5 inches. 

The Transalp been an absolute hit in Europe, and U.S. customers have looked on longingly from afar. Now American riders will have the option of a more compact adventure bike, something that competes with the Suzuki V-Strom and the well-received Yamaha Ténéré 700. 

Honda says it will offer a variety of accessories to tune the Transalp for specific applications, such as adventure, touring, city and comfort riding. Its MSRP is $9,999, and you can have one in any color you want as long as it’s black. It arrives in dealerships this October for the 2024 model year.