Honda Transalp 30th anniversary

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30 years of the Honda Transalp

The first two-wheeler SUV

The Honda Transalp was undisputedly the first two-wheeler SUV. In 1987 the Enduro came onto the market and is now celebrating its 30th birthday.

Fairing, lower front wheel fenders, two cylinders, water cooling – all of this was considered a no-go in enduro circles until 1987. Because supposedly not suitable for competition, not even off-road, and nothing for really distant adventure travel. So it is hardly surprising that the Honda XL 600 V TWhen it was launched, ransalp was blasphemed as a “yogurt cup” and “wannabe enduro” for touring softies.

Technically reliable and unproblematic

Goal unlike many contemporary designed and constructed automobile SUVs today, the Transalp impressed with deeds. The first travelers were spotted on gravel passes in the Alps, and then increasingly in more adventurous regions in Africa and South America. Despite the spring travel of "only" 200 millimeters, the Honda Transalp was able to do more off-road than many skeptics initially suspected. The Honda turned out to be a technically reliable and unproblematic partner for off-road hiking.

And on the country road or even the motorway, the Honda Transalp impressed with the best seating comfort, smoothness, a comfortable pillion seat and good options for luggage storage. The tough guys with single-cylinder bikes à la XT, KLR and DR were left behind.

Honda Transalp 2000 with 53 instead of 50 hp

The first Honda Transalp, the PD06, was facelifted for the first time in 1989 with a new cockpit and rolled off the production line in Japan under this type designation until 1996 (1994 still a facelift with new headlights and new front fairing). The new type PD10, recognizable by the silver rims, was made in Italy. At the turn of the millennium there was a completely new motorcycle, the type RD10 with a 650 engine and 53 instead of 50 hp, but almost 20 kilos more weight than the first series (212 kilos). The basic character – solid, versatile, frugal, good-natured and above all: suitable for all terrains – was retained. Even after production was moved to Spain. The Honda Transalp now had the type designation RD11.

Only the last Transalp generation from the year of construction 2008 (type RD13) with the new 700 series engine, 59 HP and optional ABS, loses its robustness. In contrast to the agricultural machinery design with rectangular headlights like the Transe from the first series, the injector looks cooler, but rolls up to 19 inches at the front. This is more agile on asphalt, but a drawback on loose surfaces, keyword "wannabe enduro".

Honda Transalp used market flourishes

While the Honda Transalp sold en masse in the 1990s, popularity and sales increasingly ebbed from the mid-noughties, in 2012 the manufacturer Honda ended the construction period after 25 years and sent the loyal Enduro into retirement.

On the used market, for the 30th birthday of this motorcycle, there is another run on machines of the first series. Among the buyers: some of the blasphemers from back then, who thought the good Honda, this unexcited sport utility vehicle, at most a pissed off-road ride around the quarry pond.

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