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Wherefore art thou, Honda Africa Twin? For years now we have been lamenting Honda's inclusion of a true middleweight ADV offering in its lineup, to go up against bikes like the BMW F850GS, and newcomers like the Aprilia Tuareg 660 and Yamaha Ténéré 700. Today, that wish has been answered.

On paper, the Honda Transalp fits the bill, though I reserve some judgment until I see US pricing and availability.

My only serious gripe with the spec sheet is the bare-bones suspension pieces, but a cut-throat price tag could help me swallow that pill (along with some nice drop-in cartridges in the aftermarket).

Instead, most of my thoughts on the Transalp actually concern the Africa Twin.

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After much expectation and waiting, the Honda Transalp returns to Big Red’s lineup. Officially dubbed the 2023 Honda XL750 Transalp, the bike shares its 755cc parallel-twin engine with the new Honda CB750 Hornet.

This means power comes in at 90hp (67.5 kW), with torque at 56 lbs•ft (75 Nm). That should be plenty to appease those shopping in the middleweight ADV segment, and the 458 lbs (208 kg) wet weight means that the Honda Transalp competes nicely against even the latest crop of machines in this category.

Episode 90 of the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast is out with another “weekly” episode, for your two-wheeled listening pleasure.

In this episode, we did it…we finally did it. We finally produced the long-lost Honda Gold Wing episode, which is actually also our first video podcast.

There were many naysayers amongst you – and if we’re honest, there were some naysayers in the Brap Talk ranks as well – but we got it down, only two years and change after its original recording.

The venerable Honda Gold Wing is getting a recall that affects only the manual transmission model of the long-distance tourer.

According to NHTSA documents, the recall affects 1,740 units from the 2020-2022 model years, and concerns the ignition timing programmed into the bikes’ ECUs.

This recall does not affect any Honda Gold Wings that have the company’s dual-clutch transmission (DCT) installed.

Marc Marquez’s second bout of diplopia, or double vision, inside the space of six months has been resolved favorably. The Repsol Honda team today announced he would make his return in Austin, after being given the go ahead by his doctors.

The news was not a complete surprise. Marquez had posted earlier on Tuesday that he had been at Alcarras, riding a Honda CBR600RR, as a test of his eyesight.

Honda went into the Indonesian Grand Prix widely seen as potential front runners. Pol Espargaro had been fastest in the test at Mandalika a month previously, Marc Marquez had been quickest on the second day of the test, Honda riders had set a consistently fast pace, looking better than their single-lap speed.

What’s more, Espargaro was coming off a podium at the season opener at Qatar, the race where Marc Marquez had finished fifth.

To say the Indonesian Grand Prix ended badly for Honda is an understatement. Pol Espargaro was fastest Honda once again, but the Repsol rider crossed the line way down in 12th, 33 seconds behind the winner, Miguel Oliveira.

Espargaro was one of only two Honda riders to finish in the points, crossing the line just ahead of Alex Marquez on the LCR Honda in 13th. Takaaki Nakagami could only struggle to a 19th place, 49 seconds behind the winner.

That wasn’t the really bad news, however. The worst blow for Honda was the fact that Marc Marquez manage to miss the race, and perhaps endanger his chances of the 2022 title, or worse. Much worse.

The Honda Hawk11 made its public debut this past weekend, unveiled at the Osaka Motorcycle Show.

Thanks to spy shots and details that leaked ahead of the bike’s debut, there aren’t too many surprises to be found from this Africa Twin powered roadster.

In fact, the biggest surprise is not on the spec-sheet, as Honda is so far saying that the Hawk11 is destined only for the Japanese market, with nary a word from the European and North American subsidiaries about the bike arriving in those regions.

After the first MotoGP race of 2022, the Qatar Grand Prix was over, an observant Twitter follower asked me why the symbol used for Marc Marquez’ front tire choice was different to everyone else.

Watching the replay and then consulting the analysis PDFs on MotoGP’s new results section made clear what Marquez had done.

He and his team and chosen to fit a soft front tire that had been scrubbed in, and consequently, had been used for one lap already.

I am just going to front-load this opinion: motorcycle press photos need more wiener dogs in them. It just works, and when they are paired with a pint-sized motorcycle like the Honda Dax…well, it just makes obvious sense.

An early 2023 model, the Honda ST125 Dax is a continuation of Big Red’s miniMoto lineup, using the same 9hp, 124cc, SOHC, two-valve engine found on the Honda Super Cub 125, complete with an auto-clutch handling shifting for the four-speed gearbox.

American Honda is bringing an electric dirt bike to market for kids, but it is not quite what you think. The CRF-E2 is actually designed and built by Greenger Powersports, which is in turn licensing the “CRF” designation from American Honda.

Despite the bike not coming from the Japanese factory, the CRF-E2 (note the lack of a “Honda” name in that title) will be sold through Honda’s dealerships in the United States.

With 3.4hp (2.5 kW) of peak power, a two-hour ride time, and a 2.5-hour charge time with the optional quick charger, the CRF-E2 is aimed at young new riders as an entry point into dirt riding. The MSRP is set at $2,950 in the USA.