Honda Transalp 600 "Cobra" by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

Honda Transalp 600 “Cobra” by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

This build… I don’t know where to start. At first sight – it’s clearly not a “natural” beauty. But if You look deeper, under the facade… It actually has so many cool and out of the box features, that I had to list them, not to forget anything. And every petrolhead should appreciate them. First thing…

The donor bike is… extraordinary.

Honda Transalp 600 "Cobra" by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

It seems like this transformed Honda Transalp is a result of “a dare”. Or some kind of a bet…

  • “You cant do anything cool out of a Transalp?”
  • “No? Hold my beer and watch!”

I love the builds that break the rules. And this one – breaks many of them.

The Cobra is a customized 1987 Honda Transalp. Hard to tell since it’s natural Enduro looks are reduced here to a simple and minimalistic UJM. In its days the Transalp was an amazing bike with a lot of innovative features. It was powered by a liquid-cooled, four-stroke 52° V-twin 600cc  engine. It was durable, lightweight and could perform in any terrain easily. This particular piece – was in very bad shape, before Rome located, Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche took the time to save it.

The bodywork

Honda Transalp 600 "Cobra" by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

Is carbon fibre with fibreglass. It’s a single unit: tank (from a custom Honda) and seat. That allows it to open like a car trunk.

The paintwork is quite tricky, as it is asymmetrical. At first when I was browsing the photos – I thought they built 2 of them. A twins project! But it turns out – it just black from one and white from the other side. And surprisingly out that the engine… usually covered with fairings – is quite a good looking V2. Speaking of…

The tech

Honda Transalp 600 "Cobra" by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

The engine was dead when they found the bike. So the EEM team rebuilt it and made a frame that would work better with the new concept of the bike. The team re-engineered Honda cooler by installing the radiator under the seat. To be cooled by the rear tire, it was strengthened by a steel mesh. To keep the air flowing – the fan was installed. This way they managed to get rid of twin stock coolers placed on the sides (making the bike unnecessary wide, especially considering that it’s a V2 engine).

Honda Transalp 600 "Cobra" by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

The headlight is custom made using 3 separate lenses. The fuel system was redesigned with new Mikuni carbs and a K&N air filter. The concept reminds of H-D custom air intakes on the side of the bike.

Honda Transalp 600 "Cobra" by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

EEM machined custom and very wide triple trees were, so they could fit in a fat front tire.
The tiny Motogadget digital speedometer was put right next to the left handlebar. I don’t know if it’s practical, but it definitely is another extraordinary feature of the build.

Honda Transalp 600 "Cobra" by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche

The result – is a good looking machine! It’s not a shiny, chromed 50-year-old Honda or a Triumph, that fits perfectly in the Brat or Cafe Racer definition. But by no means, is this a bad thing! The possibilities are endless and with the number of garages and the custom scene growing – it’s more and more difficult to stand out. Some people choose to do the extra mile, to modify something unlikely to get the attention. I like this Transalp. It’s impressive on many levels and yet based on such down to earth donor bike, that in theory would never look good.

Honda Transalp 600 "Cobra" by Emporio Elaborazioni Meccaniche
BTW. Some tongue-twisting name of the garage they have!

Source: www.emporioelaborazionimeccaniche.it  | Facebook

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