Hi from Donegal

[3HondaBroc]

Hi folks,just bought an 03 Transalp,great bike for the roads here in the wild Northwest,I'll be looking for plenty of advice I'm sure,looking at spending money on her already,it's a great pastime,though expensive,I've 4 Hondas in the shed now!

 

[Loggy]

Hello mate. Welcome to the forum from South Oxfordshire.

 

[Lord Vader]

4???
Greedy git
Welcome to the madhouse

 

[Lutin]

Hello from Galway and welcome to the madhouse. Don't worry about the inmates as they're fairly harmless - just as long as they take their meds.

 

[Hamster]

Hi and welcome from another transalp nut. Good to have you along.

 

[3HondaBroc]

Thanks for the welcomes fellas,just looking to add some better lighting,the stock headlight is a bit useless,might try fitting hella spots on somewhere below the headlight.

 

[Lutin]

Thanks for the welcomes fellas,just looking to add some better lighting,the stock headlight is a bit useless,might try fitting hella spots on somewhere below the headlight.

I don't think my Transalp's headlight is that bad. But I did put a Halfords Extreme Brilliance bulb in it. Does make a difference. Or at least I tell myself it does.............

 

[3HondaBroc]

Thanks for the welcomes fellas,just looking to add some better lighting,the stock headlight is a bit useless,might try fitting hella spots on somewhere below the headlight.

I don't think my Transalp's headlight is that bad. But I did put a Halfords Extreme Brilliance bulb in it. Does make a difference. Or at least I tell myself it does.............

I'm used to twin H4 osram nightbreakers on my st1100 and I've also got hella ff50's bolted on under the mirrors,great lights,
on the vfr I have twin osram nightbreaker H4's as well, good lights but I'm spoiled with the pan,the lights are so good.
So along comes the transalp with a single H4 I think it is,so you see what I'm comparing her too.
My 4th Honda by the way is a 500cc qaud
I'm probably going to have to get new front discs,would you go oem or spurious? they look well worn,also need to get new black fork boots for her,don't like the look of the blue ones that are on her.
Fork oil and coolant change is another likely job,is the engine aluminium same as the pan and vfr? I had to get special prestone coolant for them for the aluminium block.

 

[Lutin]

I'm used to twin H4 osram nightbreakers on my st1100 and I've also got hella ff50's bolted on under the mirrors,great lights, on the vfr I have twin osram nightbreaker H4's as well, good lights but I'm spoiled with the pan,the lights are so good.

So along comes the transalp with a single H4 I think it is,so you see what I'm comparing her too.
My 4th Honda by the way is a 500cc qaud

That would explain your thoughts on the lights alright.

I'm probably going to have to get new front discs,would you go oem or spurious? they look well worn,also need to get new black fork boots for her,don't like the look of the blue ones that are on her. Fork oil and coolant change is another likely job,is the engine aluminium same as the pan and vfr? I had to get special prestone coolant for them for the aluminium block.

Original discs are similar prices to aftermarket ones from Wemoto (and are cheaper than EBC), so I'd go OEM.

Yes, the engine is aluminium. Never heard of having to get special coolant because of the ali engine before. Most car engines are ali these days as well.

 

[3HondaBroc]

Is it a difficult job to change the coolant in the 650 does anyboby know whats invoved or any tips? thanks

 

[Lutin]

Is it a difficult job to change the coolant in the 650 does anyboby know whats invoved or any tips? thanks

Any tips? Yeah, get hold of a Haynes manual or the Honda workshop manual (but that's harder to find).

As for the job itself - not that difficult but a bit long and tedious as the fairing has to come off - just so's you can get to the radiator cap. Seriously! Actually you might be able to get to the radiator cap if you remove the Right Hand fairing inner panel and then remove the plastic radiator guard.

There's a small drain plug on the bottom of the water pump - you could get away with not removing the belly pan, but it might make collecting the old coolant a bit messy.

Other than that, there's not much to it. Refilling is done via the radiator and after running the bike for a few minutes, topping up the radiator and reservoir.

 

[Philwhiskeydrinker]

Hi, from an 02 Alp & four Honda bike owner

As Lutin says, there is a drain stud on the bottom of the waterpump (bottom left of engine).

Be sure to flush through thoroughly if you intend changing coolant types (including expansion tank)
I personally use Ford 10yr long life in all bikes, car and van (Transit).

Also as mentioned and in line with many modern bikes.., the rad cap ain't the most accessible!

Phil

 

[3HondaBroc]

Is it a difficult job to change the coolant in the 650 does anyboby know whats invoved or any tips? thanks

Any tips? Yeah, get hold of a Haynes manual or the Honda workshop manual (but that's harder to find).

As for the job itself - not that difficult but a bit long and tedious as the fairing has to come off - just so's you can get to the radiator cap. Seriously! Actually you might be able to get to the radiator cap if you remove the Right Hand fairing inner panel and then remove the plastic radiator guard.

There's a small drain plug on the bottom of the water pump - you could get away with not removing the belly pan, but it might make collecting the old coolant a bit messy.

Other than that, there's not much to it. Refilling is done via the radiator and after running the bike for a few minutes, topping up the radiator and reservoir.

Thanks fellas, I got a Haynes manual but your answer is straight to the point unlike reading pages of waffle,removing the fairing and engine bars/bellypan would be a bit of a job alright,I may let someone else do it
Thinking of fitting tourances if I can locate a set,anakee 2's aren't available and I think the newer ones look like road tyres a bit.

 

[Lutin]

Thanks fellas, I got a Haynes manual but your answer is straight to the point unlike reading pages of waffle,removing the fairing and engine bars/bellypan would be a bit of a job alright,I may let someone else do it

Thinking of fitting tourances if I can locate a set,anakee 2's aren't available and I think the newer ones look like road tyres a bit.

I've moved to Tourances because the Anakee 2's are no longer available and the new 3's are rather expensive. At the moment I've got an Anakee 2 front and a Tourance rear, and things are just fine.

Got mine from Crossan's Motorcycles (aka the Visorshop) in Newry. Anything over £50 is free delivery - so, basically most (if not all) tyres.

As an example of prices difference -

130/80-17 Rear is £99 for an Anakee 2 and £76 for the same size Tourance.

 

[3HondaBroc]

Just ordered a set of Tourances from Crossans, £134 delivered, thanks

 

[Lutin]

Just ordered a set of Tourances from Crossans, £134 delivered, thanks

Glad to help.

 

[3HondaBroc]

I just fitted a givi monokey rack I got of ebay,it came with no instructions,I didn't fit the 2 little sloped support brackets,I didn't see a need for them,I just bolted the rack down flat to the Honda carrier.
my bike has the indicators on a metal bar at the back of the Honda carrier,probably because its got the pannier racks fitted.hope its ok what I done.

 

[Lutin]

I just fitted a givi monokey rack I got of ebay,it came with no instructions,I didn't fit the 2 little sloped support brackets,I didn't see a need for them,I just bolted the rack down flat to the Honda carrier.
my bike has the indicators on a metal bar at the back of the Honda carrier,probably because its got the pannier racks fitted.hope its ok what I done.

The instructions for the Monokey rack can be downloaded from the Givi website.

 

[3HondaBroc]

Thanks, the monolock plate that was on there already was bolted down flat, so I couldn't see a need for the sloped brackets,other than to level the box a bit,it's sloping very slightly forwards as is,can't see it being an issue really,though no doubt some wet evening I'll remove it and fit the brackets to see what difference it makes.
Must get a right hand switch now to replace the massive police unit.must try and get the oem part number somewhere though as someone told me the kill switch/starter button unit is common among many Honda models.

 

[Lutin]

Honda part numbers are easy to find. On the front page of the forum is a link to "Honda Fiches" under the title "Links" and there's also the web-sites www.cmsnl.com and www.bike-parts-honda.com

Hope that helps.