1989 Honda Other

JH2PD0618KM200118

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE Well I hate to do it, but I can’t have two motorcycles, so it’s time for the TransAlp (TA) to go. Since I work for Honda R&D here in Southern California for the past 30 years, I’ve had the chance to ride hundreds of motorcycles up through the years. In many ways my favorite is the TA and could not wait to own one when it was first introduced. For those of you who don’t know about the 1989 Honda TransAlp 600, it is an amazing bike that can do so much with comfort, ability and reliability. The best “All Around Bike” I’ve owned. A great street machine that can handle light off road, which means, you can ride to your destination, then ride the dirt roads and carry your camping gear! Perfect. Mine has been well taken care of on its 59,400 mile journey. It has never been crashed and has spent most of its life taking me on adventures! A real “Take me out of here” escape vehicle! The last 2 years I’ve ridden it commuting to work, even though the TA does it easily, it’s not a respectable way to treat her. It’s not showroom perfect and even has a couple dents and some light rust on the wheel spokes, but in good shape with lots of miles of adventures left in her. It starts right up everytime with a small blip of the throttle with the wonderful V-twin sound. While still working for Honda I purchase a few extra body panels since I knew they would getting hard to find. It has many new extras, some saved old parts that you can re-install if you like, but since parts are getting hard to find, you can pick which ones to use. Make sure you bring a big box for all the new parts. Here are most of the extras: GIVI crash bars, larger front disk with brake caliper extension and braided stainless brake line, new standard brake disk, aluminum skid protection plate, removable trunk box, Corbin seat, hand protectors, locking and non locking gas caps, PUIG larger aero windshield, 12V aux handlebar plug, lay down NEW CDI boxes, front and rear chain sprockets, new clutch plates, new carb jet kit, new air filters, stainless steel exhaust header and optional Supertrapp stainless exhaust, new gasket kits, new handlebar controls, extra handlevers, extra shift lever, extra new spark plugs, new front brake pads, exhaust slip gasket, turn signal set, new oil filters, extra new front and rear tubes, service records, owner’s manual, shop manual and pink slip. Oil / filter was changed regularly and living in Southern California bike means no big rust anywhere. O-Ring chain and tires and tubes are almost new with about 70% of wear left. Everything works and she gets about 60-65 mpg! Range is about 200 miles on a tank. The Corbin seat is very firm, but fits nicely for the long rides. The open / upright riding position makes it so comfortable, but still gets good protection from the wind. A true joy to ride. If I could pick just one adventure ride that was perfect, was with TWO TA’s. Riding up to Kern River easily on the freeways, then jumping onto the mountain forest trails. The TA’s handled nicely over the pot holes and crossing the streams was no problem. There was plenty of room for the camping gear and extra clothes. We had a great time. DMV expired in Feb’14 so it needs new tags that run $148 yearly.