Thinking of buying a bike to beat petrol costs and the traffic? Me too. So I asked Honda to lend me an XLV700 Transalp for a week.

This 680cc V-twin falls into the adventure/tourer category. That makes it the two-wheeled equivalent of 4×4 vehicles. It looks capable of taming the Kalahari, and probably is. But one wonders how many Transalp owners use it off-road and how many, like their counterpart owners of big butch 4×4s, never leave the tar.

My practical mind tells me it’s better to decide what you want to use something for before you buy it. In my case, that would be mostly for traveling to and from work. Like the huge majority of us, no riding through veld or even on dirt roads is involved.

Why a dual-purpose bike like a Transalp, then? I suppose just so you have the option of doing more than commuting, if you choose to.

It’s a bit like buying a sports bike, say. You don’t NEED to be able to do 120km/h in first gear on a 600cc machine, but it’s sooo much fun …

The Transalp is a tall bike (841mm ride height) and weights a solid 214kg when dry, so it was a little intimidating at first, maneuvering through the traffic. But as with all bikes, you reach the robots/stop street/any traffic-flow obstruction before your four-wheeled fellow commuters. What a pleasure. And you have the power to pull away before them, and to stay ahead of and out of the traffic snarl-ups.

Although it may seem obvious, I have to say it: you must be very, VERY careful while doing this. Bikes always come off second best in accidents with cars, trucks, buses and minibus taxis. So, avoid having any such accidents. Think FOR motorists and avoid riding in less then optimal conditions such as rain or at night, if possible.

Back to the fun. The Transalp has a lovely growly beat and is said to have a top speed of 190km/h. It can reach 160km/h in the fourth of its five gears before the red line at 8000rpm, so that is probably true.

The tank holds 17.5 liters and you can get under 5litres/100km with cautious riding. In town the motor rumbles along completely unstressed and underworked, but on the freeway you can’t help trying out what the bike can do, which must push consumption up.

However, while the Transalp could no doubt cruise all day at speeds exceeding the speed limit, I doubt if I could. The little fairing around the headlight does not do enough to protect the rider at higher speeds, with a lot of wind-buffeting around the helmet. Crouching down helps a bit but riding upright is more comfortable on this bike.

What else to tell you? The motor puts out a leisurely 44.1kW at 7750rpm and 60Nm at 5500. I liked the idea of the narrow V-twin for edging through gaps in traffic but of course the mirrors are wider than the protruding bits on most bikes – something like the whiskers on a cat.

Price: R70 500. So no, you can’t really kid yourself that you’ll be saving money on petrol. R70 500 will buy a lot of fuel.

But the fun factor is a serious consideration. And you will do better than cars in the traffic.

Service intervals are every 6000km and the warranty is for two years/unlimited kilometers.

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