Smile of the day - What is yours?

[embee]

Originally Posted by R1ffR4ff

Me old 99 passed it's M.O.T yesterday ...

My 2001 SK1 passed MOT yesterday too, no advisories. It had done all of 360mls since last MOT, too many toys and too many holidays

In fairness I do plenty of miles on the bikes in total, just got back from French France last week after around 1.5k mls and off to that Germany in 2 weeks time for another 2k mls (on the NC700 Hondoody).

[Luckypants]

Maybe I should have bought a Kia

[admin]

Shrewsbury Honda have had 16 bikes delivered today according to their Instagram post. I can see at least 4 white Transalps. Hopefully one is mine. I guess it might take them a while to build and register them. Meantime I have my test ride tomorrow. (Silly grin)

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[Kenzie]

Originally Posted by admin

Shrewsbury Honda have had 16 bikes delivered today according to their Instagram post. I can see at least 4 white Transalps. Hopefully one is mine. I guess it might take them a while to build and register them. Meantime I have my test ride tomorrow. (Silly grin)

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We've been chasing our nearest Honda dealer for updates on the new Transalps but they are slow coming back. Not good considering we want to order two!

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[admin]

I ordered mine back in Feb. I created a Honda account to place my order with the dealer and yet I've had no updates about delivery dates. To be fair I don't think my dealer has had any updates either. They should have had the demo back in April but that only appeared a week back.
A few weeks ago a friend in Essex was told by his dealer that there was a production delay but my dealer denied this.
Judging by the videos on YouTube it seems that delivery is being rolled out by country as Italy, Greece and France have had them for weeks.


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[Kenzie]

Sounds about right. Did you just order it without test riding? We were going to go ahead and order a pair of NC750Xs but then we heard about the Transalp.

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[admin]

Originally Posted by Kenzie

Sounds about right. Did you just order it without test riding? We were going to go ahead and order a pair of NC750Xs but then we heard about the Transalp.

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I did order it without a test ride. When the price was announced in Feb the dealer called me and told me that the demo wouldn't be here till April. If I ordered then I'd probably have to wait until September for delivery and that wasn't an option. He also said that Honda always increase the price after the first batch have been sold.
I was tempted by the NC but then I saw the spy shots of the Transalp late last year.

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[embee]

Originally Posted by admin

...
Judging by the videos on YouTube it seems that delivery is being rolled out by country as Italy, Greece and France have had them for weeks.

Met a chap on a campsite in France last week who was on a new Transalp. Looked very shiny.

[admin]

Had a test ride on the Transalp this morning. So different to the VFR. It's taller than I expected and there is quite a high saddle to get your leg over. Once on, my feet were both flat on the floor but that's mainly due to the narrowness of the bike. Everything is in the wrong place, bars foot pegs etc. Balance point is higher than a VFR. Throttle clutch and steering are very light as I wobbled out of the dealership.
Riding position is very comfy although the seat is firm. Fuelling felt perfect to me, it seems almost impossible to stall the engine, no snatchiness, pulls well at low speeds even in 4th gear. This bike had a quick shifter which is something I'm not familiar with but clutchless changes were slick in the upchange but a bit abrupt on the downshift unless you closed the throttle.
Ride and handling were very good. The bike changes direction very easily and holds a line really well. Suspension is quite firm though.
Brakes seemed fine, but not as good as the VFR. There's a bit of dive on the front forks.
I felt far more air turbulence than the VFR. The wind was whistling up my sleeves and I stopped to do them up. I could feel it whistling around my body and legs. Above 70mph I got buffeting on my visor (my bike will have a taller screen). Air flow on the VFR hits you on the top of you shoulders.
The engine is impressive, it's easy to potter around at low speed even in the higher gears, no hunting. Lots of midrange for those 40-70mph overtakes on A roads. If you use all the revs then it really flies especially past 7k rpm. I soon had it in treble digit speeds. I can't say it felt like a Vtwin to me despite the 270 degree crank. There was some vibes through the bars but nothing major.
There are some nice touches such as self cancellation indicators that actually work well. Lots of info on the screen such as battery voltage.
Jumping back on the VFR felt odd. Low, small and narrow. Liquid smooth motor with loads of thrust. Crouched riding position with weight on wrists.
In the ideal world id like to have both bikes as they're so different but I think I'll be very happy with the Transalp once I've got used to the odd ergonomics.

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[Craig380]

Sounds good, John. No doubt you'll feel quickly at home on the Transalp once you've had a chance to adjust the screen / bars etc the way you want them.