Honda travel transalp special part 1

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Honda travel transalp special part 1
Sdun

to travel

Honda travel transalp special part 1

Honda travel transalp special part 1
The Honda Transalp is being upgraded

If nothing helps, you have to go. Get out of the rut, into the world, to yourself. With the right mobile. You don’t need 15,000 or 10,000 euros for a high-quality touring motorcycle, but maybe just 3,500 euros. Here’s the proof.

Markus Biebricher

07/08/2010

Wake up, work, performance, stress, go to bed. What to do when the hamster wheel of everyday life is turning faster and faster, when you feel like you are locked in and the longing for a break becomes stronger and stronger? Then one thing can help: just get on the motorcycle and away, far away. Going on a journey, finally being free from the daily pressure to perform.

Almost all motorcycles are potentially suitable for a small or large escape from everyday life. But if we want one that is rust-free, runs in a cultivated manner, is endlessly reliable, offers enough comfort for two people, digests bad fuel like lousy slopes, is mobile with four liters and should fit into a budget of 2500 euros, the selection becomes narrow . Honda Africa Twin or old BMW GS are too expensive and too heavy, 750 Super Teneres have spongy chassis when they are heavy, a Kawa KLE 500 is too uncomfortable, single-cylinder enduros offer neither two-person comfort nor smooth running or long engine life Exceptions like the F 650 Dakar or XT 660 are still too expensive. Cheap road machines are difficult on bad slopes.

At some point, with such demands, you almost inevitably end up with an old Honda Transalp. Ridden specimens are available from around 1200 euros, the jewels in good condition with moderate mileage cost between 2000 and 3500 euros. We are talking about the high quality PD 06 models with gold anodized rims, which were built in Japan until the beginning of 1996, either before or after the facelift of 1994.

After a long search, finally a super neat copy from 1995. One that was loved, looks like it was in the store and has only 22,500 kilometers on the clock. Last price: 2300 euros. Steel braided lines and crash bars are in place, overall this moped is a great base. If you took a few more euros into your hand now, the ideal long-distance travel bike for little money could indeed emerge. No, no extensive transport systems, because we want to travel materially clean. How free does it have to feel to have everything you need in an Ortlieb role on the back, to slide slim through the thickest mess? Manageable investments in chassis and ergonomics seem more sensible than fat aluminum cases and 40-liter tanks, which make the moped difficult to drive. At some point, a sensible engine protection or proper gross scooter will certainly be due. Then whatever may come.

Back to the chassis: a tighter design would be good, more reserves for dampers and springs at the front and rear. Also a seat adapted to the driver’s size. There are specialists for both projects who offer big changes for little money. Hubert Hofmann from Rottenburg is someone like that. He is holding the Showa strut Transalp for good quality goods and offers a complete conversion that is cheaper than a new shock absorber from the accessory trade. His company HH-Racetech specializes in chassis modifications. It produces the finest forks and struts for a number of racing teams and manufacturers who have the highest demands on cleanly coordinated chassis. Fork bridges milled from solid, suspension strut mountings, footrest systems, high-precision manufactured innards of forks and suspension struts impress every visitor. So, go Hubert, get to work. When the Transalp comes out of the operating room, the stern is slightly higher and black adjustable propellers gleam on the fork plugs.

A look at the spring strut, which is now shining with a red Eibach spring, shows that something really happened there. This is confirmed by the test drive. The Transalp gives a more stable feeling, responds more finely to uneven ground and impresses with its stronger progression. When braking, it does not dip as deeply, directional stability is higher, and proper movement is less in all situations. There is no more pumping in bends with bumps, you get higher steering precision and better feedback from the front wheel. Our Honda now drives almost like a KTM, the reserves of suspension and damping convince even the most demanding drivers. Hubert Hofmann has completely revised and renewed the inner workings of the shock absorber and fork. Around 800 euros is a fair price for this effective suspension treatment. The new bench, which was created under the hands of Joannis Batsaras, was much cheaper at 130 euros. The young saddler from Sindelfingen conjured up tight seating on the basis of the old bench, which was also in connection with the new one “Fatty”-Aluminum handlebars from K-Maxx (99 euros) lead to a much more active sitting position. Visually, the Transalp has won, technically it has become much more suitable for the slopes and safer for a manageable budget. We will report on the further development of our low-budget escape vehicle. And then at some point it starts. Far away.

Upholstered bench


Honda travel transalp special part 1


Sdun

The bench was padded three centimeters higher with a harder foam core: the knee angles of long legs relax.

The seat of the Transalp PD 06 is not a revelation on long journeys and has a tendency to sit through. Joannis Batsaras built a new core made of much tighter foam on the original base and eliminated the edge between the driver and passenger seat. A new, non-slip cover sealed the banking operation. Cost: 130 euros. Information: Telephone 0163/6719046, www.design-sattler.de. The company Jungbluth, Telephone 02425/901470, jungbluth-sitzbaenke@gmx.de, www.alles-fuern-arsch.de also offers proven, solid seat modifications of all kinds

Better chassis


Honda travel transalp special part 1


Breakable

The standard Showa shock absorber has been modified, lengthened and equipped with a harder spring. Which noticeably improves driving behavior.

In the original, the Honda Transalp PD 06 has a good-natured, but also somewhat soft chassis. She lacks progression and ground clearance for the ride over bad slopes. Here we wanted to achieve a significant improvement and an effective fine-tuning of fork and shock absorber for a reasonable price. Hubert Hofmann took the original fork apart, reworked the compression and rebound stage of the damper unit, installed new, harder fork springs and fitted a new fork cap with a spring preload range that can be adjusted by handwheel over 12 millimeters. Finally, fresh fork oil SAE 10 was added. The result is absolutely convincing, the price for the revision is 480 euros. Now to the rear: The shock absorber was completely taken apart and lengthened. It received a new interior including a revision of the compression and rebound stages and careful fine-tuning. A new, harder spring provides greater reserves, and the adjustment range for its preload has increased significantly. The rear can be raised a few centimeters depending on the adjustment. In combination with the adjustment option of the fork, the ground clearance increases significantly. Costs for the strut conversion: 328 euros. Information: Hubert Hofmann, HH-Racetech, phone 07472/281706, info@hh-racetech.de, www.hh-racetech.com

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