Honda announced minor updates to its value-menu CL500 scrambler and XL750 Transalp adventure bike at EICMA this week. Neither machine has been on the market for very long, only a few months here in Canada, so the changes to each bike are minor.
The CL500’s changes are mostly skin-deep. As Honda’s press release says, “Its head-turning style has been amped up for 25YM with two new colours, whilst the rich details remain such as the rounded fuel tank, knee pads, rubber fork gaiters and an upswept dual-exit exhaust muffler with drilled heat shield. All lighting is LED, and the LCD screen is now easier to read in bright light.”
Well at least the lighting update and the new screen take us beyond the world of Bold New Graphics (speaking of which, the new colors are the imaginately-titled Pearl Dusk Yellow and Mat Fresco Brown). Honda also updated the CL500’s seat, and that’s all the changes we know for 2025.
As for the XL750 Transalp, this bike gets a new set of LED projector headlights as well.
There’s also a new windscreen made of the environmentally-friendly Durabio material—Honda seems really keen to push this material onto its middle-range models this year. And there’s also a new five-inch TFT dash, says their PR, “with Honda RoadSync smartphone connectivity and four-way toggle switch, auto-indicator cancel and Emergency Stop Signals (ESS) technology.”
Self-canceling turn signals are always a nice thing, and Honda isn’t the only OEM turning back to this idea this year.
Both of these bikes should be here in coming months, but chances are most riders won’t even notice the updates on dealership floors.
Looking forward to seeing these in person—Honda’s attention to detail never disappoints!
The new colors and upgraded LED screen on the CL500 sound like they’ll definitely catch eyes on the road, and the environmentally-friendly Durabio windshield on the Transalp shows Honda’s commitment to innovation.