Honda’s mini-Africa Twin will become the XL750 Transalp

Back in May 2021. Mo resident sleuth Dennis Chang dove into the rumor mill surrounding a a possible mini Africa Twin from Honda. Trademark applications for the Transalp name have been filed in several markets around the world, including the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Given the success of the Africa Twin and the history of the Transalp name, it wasn’t entirely out of reach to think that a mini Africa Twin would make an appearance. Now Dennis has done it again, finding a trademark application from Honda Motor Corporation dated August 12, 2022 for the name XL750 Transalp. This is the strongest indicator that such a model will appear, since the publication of the said trademark took place 10 days later.

That’s all Honda has given us so far when it comes to the XL750 Transalp, as seen in the trademark application. So, leave it to us to make educated guesses.

Details on said XL750 Transalp are scarce at the moment, but if history repeats itself, the XL750 Transalp will most likely be a more street-oriented ADV machine, leaving the hard work of off-roading to the Africa Twin. That said, the Transalp was still quite capable off-road at the time – and given the current explosion of middleweight adventure bikes, perhaps Honda felt it necessary to give the Transalp more off-road chops to compete with the established players. Engine-wise, it seems more than reasonable to assume that the 750 engine will undoubtedly be the same engine that The new Hornet from Hondaand all we know about it so far is that it’s a middleweight Twin.

The XL branding is a nod to Honda’s previous twin sports, but since it is, it seems odd that Honda didn’t go with the CRF branding – perhaps a further demarcation between the Adventure Sports-focused Africa Twin and the Rally Touring nature of the Transalp.

The Transalp XL700V was last updated in the 2011 model year. The street-oriented tires are a clear indication that the bike was more road-oriented than the Africa Twin. Will history repeat itself with the XL750 Transalp?

Looking back at the concept images from First reveal of the Hornet at EICMA 2021, we recall that the parallel-twin engine is likely to be a Unicam design, again shared with the XL750. The Hornet will likely be revealed first due to the previous concept and teasers, but Transalp fans probably won’t have to wait long after that. It might even come right after Intermot or EICMA this year, but next year won’t be a surprise for the XL750.

As always, we’ll update as more details become available.

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