Honda Transalp 600 feedback please

[Road kill]

Any opinions,,feed back from current or previous owners.

Cheers.

[Skinny_Birdman]

Yup, my better half and I had one for 22000 pretty much faultless kms. It was her first proper bike, and she loved it. They are a grouse bike for road and anything up to trail riding.
Pros:
Nice comfy ergos
Good wind protection
Relatively free of vibration compared to a single
Neutral handling, can be chucked around a bit on the road and not terrible off road
Easy to work on, not that you'll have to very often. Doesn't fall to bits
Can be loaded up with ooodles of luggage
Works well for a range of rider heights.
Cons:
A bit gutless
A bit of a whale when the going gets properly tough ie single tracks through the forest
Brakes on the single disc models are a bit pants
Hard to find a decent one, which is why I have a 650 now

I guess they are expensive and a bit less offroad focused relative to a DR or KLR , but they are more comfortable and the build quality is probably a bit better. On the other hand they are cheap relative to one of those orange bikes I hear so much about, but I guess not as competent. Plenty of other former and current owners hereon.

[Transalper]

Guess I'd agree with what he said and the one I have now is the one Skinney Birdman had after I initially sold it to him when I went to a DR650. I bought it back.
For me swapping between a DR650 and TA600 I fond the DR a light feeling blat blat bike that responds to gravel better with a little aggression and also does highway, the TA600 does highway better and initially feels more stable on gravel but I find it requiring more thought and effort to ride not letting it's weight take over and I corner a lot more carefully on it. TA has that road bike feel to it on road as opposed to the DR.
My partner liked the TA pillion seat (though it does need a tweak to stop her sliding forward all the time) and hated the DR pillion position so when it came up for sale again I bought it back once again owning two adventure bikes.
Plan was/is to have the TA for road and light adventure touring and downsize the DR for a lighter more enduro bike for the more technical rides.

The TA is indeed a bit underpowered but does ride quite nicely overall and suits the nice crusy scenic riding I wanted it for rather than trying to be fast.

My current issues are rotting rims and a wearing spline on the output shaft. Discussions online about the spline recommend using the OEM Honda front sprocket to help minimise that as after market such as JT may be hardened too much.

[Skinny_Birdman]

You've got me a bit worried with that TA (although not worried enough to pull the sprockets off). I guess mine have a few kms to go before they get to 80000km though.

[Transalper]

Don't know what to do about preventative measures for the rims, at this stage I'm just cleaning them up getting rid of as much powdered rim and all the sharp bits I can for now while eventually going to get a new rim laced up.
Linton said a bunch of stuff but I only retained some of it.

I'd keep using OEM front sprockets and make sure the sprocket retaining plate stays in good condition. Just check it occasionally until you know whether it wears quicker than the sprockets or lasts a couple of sets.
I'm not sure how much the 650 is actually affected other than reading of the wheel rot in them too.