Honda tried importing their 2-cylinder 600cc XL600V Transalp dual-sport into the U.S. in 1989 (the white model) after first bringing in the single-cylinder NX model the year before. It was a bike before it's time and only a few riders saw the potential of the large-looking "dirt-bike" styled model. For those who bought into the bike and began riding farther from the main highway routes onto smaller and smaller roads, and sometimes off-road, it was an epiphany. As big as the bike appeared, it was so well designed that it rode much more nimbly through rocks, roots, water and technical areas than a rider would imagine. It gained a small but ardent following of adventure riders who are still faithful to the model. Honda brought the bike into the U.S. one more year (1990) which included the red and the moonstone. That was it. Sales did not meet expectations and the model was pulled from the U.S. market, never to be seen here again.
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