Honda Just Made Its Best Affordable Adventure Bike Even Easier to Ride

The introduction of the red brand’s most progressive tech helps make the ADV category as a whole more accessible than ever.

White Honda Transalp 750 motorcycle with blue and red accents, shown from the side with a mountainous background.

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By Steve Mazzucchi

Published November 6, 2025

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Updated November 10, 2025

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The very first off-road bike I ever tried was Harley-Davidson’s original Pan America 1250 Special at its launch a few years back.

The brand took great pains to make this groundbreaking bike rider-friendly, but learning how to ride off-road at the same time definitely made things a bit ~~terrifying~~ tricky.

White and blue Honda Transalp 750 adventure motorcycle with gold rims parked on rocky terrain near a lake and mountains. — The new Transalp looks just as great as previous editions, but a bit of fresh tech makes it much easier to ride.

While people who grow up riding dirt are likely very comfortable with the notion of braking and shifting with your feet while simultaneously standing up and sitting down, it’s a lot for noobs to process.

Toward that end, I am pretty intrigued to see Honda bring its ever-spreading shift-easing technology to its legendary midsize adventure bike, the XL750 Transalp.

E-Clutch is … clutch?

Let’s get to it then. The new Transalp, just announced for the European market, features the brand’s progressive and on-trend E-Clutch technology.

As so many brands open up motorized two-wheeling by making shifting easier (or removing it from the equation altogether), Honda has found a sweet spot between manual transmission and the DCT auto shifting tech it helped pioneer.

Close-up of a black motorcycle engine with protective crash bars and a white and blue fairing panel. — Honda is so proud of its E-Clutch technology that it puts the name right there on the tin.

With e-clutch, when your foot connects with the gear shift lever (pulling up or pushing down), the clutch automatically pulls in, then releases once you’ve made the shift.

This tech is already available on a number of Honda bikes, including the CB650R and CBR650R and the Rebel 300, plus the recently announced CB500 Hornet, CBR500R, and NX500.

Motorcyclist wearing black gear riding a white Honda adventure bike through splashing water. — Splashy water crossings are just one challenge that gets easier when shifting occupies less brain space.

But to me, it makes the most sense on the Transalp, due to the aforementioned sensory overload of handling an adventure bike for the first time, which feels sort of like playing the drums while sitting in the bed of a pickup truck rumbling down a country road.

E-Clutch is not the only feature that makes the new Transalp approachable, either.

Confidence-boosting control

Other tech-driven rider-friendliness includes four riding modes — Sport, Standard, Rain and Gravel — plus the option to dial in your own settings via the built-in TFT screen.

The bike also offers four levels of engine power, three levels of engine brake, two levels of ABS and five levels of Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC), plus the ability to disable rear ABS and HSTC.

Motorcyclist riding a dual-sport bike on a gravel road in a mountainous landscape with patches of snow and a lake. — If this shot doesn’t get you pumped to sign up for some epic adventure, have you no soul, man?

Speaking of the engine, the 755cc parallel twin is the same one you’ll find in the CB750 Hornet … and the 2025 Transalp. Considering it makes more than 90 horsepower and 55.3 Lb-ft of torque, an update was not really needed.

Also largely unchanged are the Showa 43mm USD forks (200mm/7.9 inches of travel) with spring preload adjustment and Pro-link-driven Showa rear shock (190mm/7.5 inches of travel), though both have received compression and rebound damping adjustments.

Person riding a white Honda Transalp 750 motorcycle with gold rims on a mountain road at sunset. — When it’s time to return to civilized society, a punchy power plant and responsive brakes make the Transalp a capable highway performer, too.

As far as braking is concerned, two-piston calipers squeeze dual 310mm wave discs up front while a single-piston caliper grips the 256mm wave disc at the back.

Throw in four decades of history and some of the best ADV aesthetics around, and I can’t wait to swing a leg over this beast. You?

Availability and pricing

While the 2026 Honda XL750 Transalp E-Clutch hits the European marketplace first, I would not be surprised to see a US availability update in the coming weeks.

No pricing has been announced, but considering the 2025 bike starts at $9,999, I am optimistic this one won’t creep too far over $10,000.

White Honda Transalp 750 adventure motorcycle with blue seat and gold rims on gray background.

2026 Honda XL750 Transalp E-Clutch

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About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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