RUMOURS are circling the internet suggesting that the Honda Transalp may be making a return in the not too distant future.
The whispers have originated from the Japanese website Young Machine, who have been pretty close with these types of rumours in the past. It is predicted that the bike will be powered by the NC750 unit.
Honda Forza 750 video reveal
The bike is thought to be forming one part of a three-bike range of machines that all have the NC750 engine as a powerplant. The other bikes in the range are a scrambler and a traditional naked bike along the lines of a CB750. With that in mind, it’s not likely that the bikes will share a common frame design, or indeed anything else in the current Honda line up.
Honda CB1100X also rumoured
Another bike being touted by the Japanese magazine is a sport-touring machine along the lines of the CB4X concept we sat at EICMA in 2019. Unlike the concept though, the machine they expect is not an inline four-cylinder. The bike they are predicting is powered by a very different engine, lifted from the CRF1100L Africa Twin.
We’ve already seen patent drawings for other bikes that use this powerplant, such as the much talked about Rebel 1100. Seeing the engine landing in another potential new model seems feasible, it’s already in production with a long lifespan to survive future emissions regulations. And more importantly for Honda, it comes readily equipped with the DCT system that is so important to the brand.
While these rumours do seem to have weight to them, they are just that, and until we see some evidence that the bikes are being developed, we’ll treat them as just that!
