Transalp Engine Swaps

Swap Candidates

The following engines should swap in with no modifications to the frame:

• Honda Hawk GT NT650 (known as the Honda Bros outside the US market)
• Honda Africa Twin XRV750 (RD04 or RD07)
• Honda Transalp XL650V
• Honda Transalp XL700V
• Honda Shadow VT750 (1998 - 2013)

The Honda NT650V and NT750V Deuville motor will not swap in, because they're shaft drive. It may be possible to put the head and cylinders onto a Hawk engine. The Deuville EFI throttle bodies may be usable on a 52-degree Honda EFI conversion.

The Rotax-made Aprilia 60-degree V-twin engines might be made to fit, but will require frame modifications. To my knowledge, this has never been done.

Engine Swap Details

NT650 Hawk GT

Exhaust

• This post shows the difference in front exhaust port angles between the Transalp and Hawk engines.

The latest Two Brothers Racing exhaust 1-1/2" at the exhaust port, 1-5/8" through the curves, 1-5/8" at the collector, to a 2" tail pipe to the muffler.

Modification

The Hawk 650 still has great aftermarket performance support. Hord Power is the best known supplier and modifier in the US. Hord Power commented on the Hawk GT forums:

The order of building hp into a Hawk goes:

Stock 47hp

Pipe/3.0 kit/pods 52hp

700 kit/cams 62hp

Stage 1 heads 67hp

Stage 2 heads 72hp

Flatslides +5hp

Stage 3 heads 80+hp and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and other $$$$$$$ stuff to make it "reliable."

XL650V

• Thunder Dan's engine swap. He put a 2003 XL650V engine into a 1988 XL600V.

XRV750

Transalp Friends Germany has details of fitting an XRV750 RD04 motor into a 1988 XL600V Transalp.

VT750

The 52-degree, chain-drive VT750 engine uses an inline crank pin, as opposed to the offset crank pins in the XL600V Transalp. This makes the VT750 sound more like a Harley Davidson, which uses a 45-degree engine with a single-pin crankshaft.

Skyliner on AdvRider says the 1993 - 2013 VT750 will bolt directly into a Transalp frame (Mar 25, 2024). Details:

• Transalp or NT650 camshafts fit
• Uses internal oiling, so 1991 NT650 heads fit, as well as Transalp 650 and Deuville heads. This allows Transalp 650 or XRV headers to fit.
• Ignition pickup is different.
• Gear shift shaft is shorter than the Transalp

Additional information from Skyliner about the clutch, firing order, cylinder heads, and exhaust (Feb 20, 2022). This post covers cooling plumbing and FCR carburetors.

Rotax V990/Aprilia 1000

Additional Rotax V990 details are on the Rotax V990 page.

The Rotax V990 engine used in various Aprilia 1000 models might conceivably be made to fit into the Transalp frame. If so, it will definitely require custom mounting brackets, and may require the complete removal of the lower cradle from the frame. Aprilia uses the Rotax engine is a stressed member.

In addition to Aprilia motorcycles, a similar Rotax 990 is used in the Can-Am Sypder RS and RT models. In the Can-Am, the transmission is reconfigured to provide five forward gears and a reverse gear, instead of the six forward gears found in the Aprilia variants.

Hawkati on the Hawk GT Forum has fit an Aprilia Mille engine into a Hawk GT frame. There is a Youtube video showing the engine roughly fitted into the Hawk GT frame. Here is a link to the entire video series. There is also a set of photos on Flickr.

• The rear, top bolt fits nearly identically. (This corresponds to the upper mounting lug on the NT650 Hawk and XRV750 Africa Twin engines that's missing on the XL600V Transalp. The fitment is shown at 0:58 in the video)
• The front sprocket was 7mm high, requiring the engine to be tilted forward. (Explained at 1:27 in the video)

There are a few different variants of the Rotax 990 used across several Aprilia models. I have skipped the Mille, because it's the least suitable to this application.

Model	Designation	Engine Code	Compression	Horsepower / Torque
Falco	SL1000	V990 PA	10.8:1	118 HP @ 9250 / 71 lb-ft @ 7000
Tuono	RSV1000	V990 RPB	11.4:1	126 HP @ 9500 / 74.5 lb-ft @ 7250
Futura	RST1000	V990 PW	11.8:1	113 HP @ 9250 / 70.8 lb-ft @ 7250
Caponord	ETV1000	V990 PS	10.4:1	98 HP @ 8250 / 71.5 lb-ft @ 6250

Differences (these are just the ones I've noted, there are probably more):

Falco:

• Has a cam position sensor bolted to the valve cover.
• Thicker head gasket resulting in lower compression than the Mille engine

Futura:

• Only has a crank position sensor, no cam position sensor.
• Heavier flywheel
• Smaller throttle bodies

Caponord:

• No cam position sensor

Mille

• Shift drum rotated 180 degrees

The ETV1000 Caponord used 47mm throttle bodies. The SL1000 Falco, RST1000 Futura, and 2002-2005 Tuono used 51mm throttle bodies. The 2006-2009 and 2004-2009 RSV1000 used 57mm throttle bodies.

EFI Conversion

Rather than trying to source and/or tweak carburetors, it's probably best to use one of the aftermarket EFI systems that are now on the market.

Examples

These guys adapted Honda Deauville fuel injection to a Hawk GT motor.

EFI Systems

• Megasquirt
• Microsquirt
• Ignitech
• EcuMaster EMU

Throttle Bodies

The 2003+ SV650 uses 39mm throttle bodies. The 2017 model's throttle bodies are redesigned and "slimmer", according to Wikipedia.

The NT700V was sold in the US. It had 81x66mm bores with a 10:1 compression ratio, producing 65hp at 8000 RPM and 48.8 lb-ft of torque at 6,500 RPM. It's in the same 52-degree V-twin family as the Transalp, Hawk, and Africa Twin. Its throttle bodies are 40mm with 12-hole injectors. It appears that the NT700V used a fuel pump that provided something like 45 - 50 psi.

Specification Comparison

	Displacement	Horsepower	Torque	Bore x Stroke	Compression Ratio	Induction
XL600V	583cc	50 hp @ 8000	39.1 ft-lb @ 6000	75x66mm	9.2:1	2x32mm Keihin CV
NT650	647cc	56.1 hp @ 7897	43 lb-ft @ 6053	79x66mm	9.2:1	2x36mm flat slide carburetor
XL650V	647cc	52 hp @ 7500	40 lb-ft @ 5500	79x66mm	9.2:1	2x34mm flat slide CV
XL700V	680.2cc	59.1 hp @ 7750	44.3 lb-ft @ 5500	81x66mm	10.0:1	EFI 40mm throttle bodies
XR750 RD07	742cc	62 hp @ 7500	46.2 lb-ft @ 6000	81x72mm	9.0:1	2x38mm flat slide CV
VT750C	745cc	43 hp @ 5500	44 lb-ft @ 3000	79x76mm	9.6:1	2x 36mm CV
Aprilia ETV1000	997.6cc	98 hp @ 8250	71.5 lb-ft @ 6250	97x67.5mm	10.4:1	EFI 47mm throttle bodies

Transmission Gear Ratios

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
XL600V	2.571	1.777	1.380	1.125	0.961	-
NT650	2.769	1.882	1.450	1.174	0.965	-
XL650V/XL700V	2.500	1.722	1.333	1.111	0.961	-
XRV750	3.083	2.062	1.550	1.272	1.083	-
Honda VT750C	2.4	1.55	1.174	0.960	0.852	-
Aprilia Tuono	2.26	1.63	1.3	1.09	0.96	0.88
Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 / Falco SL1000 / Futura RST1000	2.5	1.75	1.368	1.091	0.957	0.852

The XRV's first gear is 20% lower, second is 16% lower, third is 12% lower, fourth is 13% lower, and fifth is 12% lower.