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Honda Transalp 1st Ride Reviews


Endopotential

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On 3/13/2023 at 12:44 PM, winddown said:

 

I guess from their perspective they are serving the market, or at least the bean counters would have convinced the board they were.  That doesn't mean the bike wont be a flop sales-wise.  Into their decision making must come the 'China factor'.   The chinese "Rubbish" is not in Oz in a big way but there are people who have convinced themselves that they are great bikes 🤭  The starting point is $$$, I'll save a packet, and then to justify their decision I see these buyers saying outlandish things about the quality and reliability of Chinese bikes. 

 

Well what other people ride is their business, but I wouldn't even park up beside one just in case the sidestand failed and it fell over onto my bike.  We used to buy Japanese and German solar panels, 100% quality they were.  Then the China price drove them all out of business.   And No Louise, generic Chinese  panels are not as good, they have a high failure rate unless they are the ones made their under license and strict supervision.  Perhaps bike manufacturers are just trying to keep ahead of the curve and maintain market share so they aren't pushed out the back door too.  Most of us here understand the value of quality but young riders coming into the market, what do they know?  They know Shet!  Just like we all knew Shet when we were 17 years old.  Their life experience boils down to purchasing computers and smart phones and they are all a much of a muchness, not so with motorcycles.

 

How's that for a grumpy old man's opinion 😜

 

 

Hah I'm there for it 🙂

 

But really, I remember the days of shitty Japanese cars, before they became *the* car for reliability.  The (major) Chinese MC manufacturers may get there one day.  It's not like Chinese manufacturers are some unified group - there are good ones and bad ones.  The problem is it's extremely hard to tell them apart, and one could be good today and garbage tomorrow. 

 

But for all people like to hype the newest CFMoto bikes and such, I'm gonna stick with known-good machines. Our Tenere's CP2 has a decade of proven rock solid reliability from a manufacturer that's lead the industry in reliability for a very, very long time.  Maybe those CFMoto bikes ARE reliable, solid machines.  I'll let someone who isn't me be the test dummy there; I'm not even comfortable buying KTM.  If, 10 years from now, they're reliably competing for reliability with the likes of Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki, then sure, I'll give em a go.  But definitely when they're new to the market?  If something breaks, can you get a part?  How quickly?  Hell, a big reason I won't buy an Aprilia or Ducati here is simply because there's a higher chance of needing parts and a very good chance that they'll be extremely difficult to get.

 

But frankly?  Even the most flattering reviews are actually pretty mediocre.  Like, "It's an excellent bike for it's price!" where they're complimenting it, with the caveat of it being cheap.  I'm not *that* broke. 

 

Reliability isn't really about money to me.  It's crucially important because I've known *so many people* who've had their bikes laid up for entire riding seasons because they're waiting on some stupid part or other that broke, or even just months to get an appointment at a local shop to have something fixed.  I want my bike to just work.  To never wonder if it's not going to start when I hop on it... or if it'll get me home.

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  • 1 month later...

Has anyone heard if the Honda Transalp will be in North America in 2023?

I do a google search of the news and find nothing.

I stopped by the local dealer and the kid (anyone under 40) said it will NOT be here this year.

 

I sat on a 2023 NC750x DCT abomination.... No clutch lever, electronic gizmos all over the handlebars, even a parking brake blob that I couldn't figure out....

The kid told me that is the future.....

We're buggered!!

 

 

Edited by Hibobb
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We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe

~Oliver Wendell Holmes~

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On 4/23/2023 at 9:56 AM, Hibobb said:

Has anyone heard if the Honda Transalp will be in North America in 2023?

I do a google search of the news and find nothing.

I stopped by the local dealer and the kid (anyone under 40) said it will NOT be here this year.

 

I sat on a 2023 NC750x DCT abomination.... No clutch lever, electronic gizmos all over the handlebars, even a parking brake blob that I couldn't figure out....

The kid told me that is the future.....

We're buggered!!

Those are the most depressingly boring motorcycles I've ever seen.  

 

I'm not into DCT's myself, but don't have anything serious against them - but even if you took the DCT of the NC750X it'd STILL be an abomination of a motorcycle.  

 

I don't thing we're going to see the Transalp this year.  Dunno if that was the plan or not, but no dealerships around here have any information on actually getting any in at all. 

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My girlfriend wants to buy a Transalp.

 

Norway was promised 260 units and many of them had been pre ordered. Only 60 units are arriving with the rest promised for september and March.

 

The story is that Honda lack components to complete the orders , with the stock they have going to the biggest markets for the bikes official launch next month.

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The shop where I got my T7 is also a Honda dealer.  The sales guy who's apparently been in the industry for decades is pretty cynical about Honda's whole future concerning motorcycles in the US.  During the worst of the chip shortage, they realized they could make a ton more money using those chips in cars, rather than the lower margin that comes from motorcycles.  

I was trying to decide between the T7 and Transalp last year.  So glad I didn't hang around waiting for the alternative.

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27 minutes ago, Endopotential said:

The shop where I got my T7 is also a Honda dealer.  The sales guy who's apparently been in the industry for decades is pretty cynical about Honda's whole future concerning motorcycles in the US.  During the worst of the chip shortage, they realized they could make a ton more money using those chips in cars, rather than the lower margin that comes from motorcycles.  

I was trying to decide between the T7 and Transalp last year.  So glad I didn't hang around waiting for the alternative.

Chips issue should hopefully resolve itself soon but if not, why don’t they go proper green, stop digging for the precious minerals, and we’ll all go back to carbs and distributors with synthetic fuel. Bugger all emissions  👍🦖😂 I’d buy one. 

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