Honda’s modern adventure bikes have earned a reputation for being discreet. They’re comfortable, capable, and surprisingly accessible for machines designed to go far beyond the pavement. That’s why one of the company’s latest custom build showcases “On-Road vs Off-Road“At Wheels and Waves is surprisingly confusing.
Meet the ATC750, a unique concept created by Honda Benelux and Belgian dealer Anqueti Motor Sport. It starts out as the XL750 Translap, one of the most balanced middleweight adventure bikes on the market. Then someone looked at it and decided it needed huge paddle tires, a custom rear axle, and a healthy disregard for conventional wisdom.
Photo by: Anquetti Motorsport via Honda
The result is fantastic. It’s also a machine that raises many questions, most of which begin with the words, “What happens when…”
If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a tribute to Honda’s old ATC three-wheelers. In the 1970s and 1980s, Honda sold a wide range of all-terrain bicycles that became extremely popular before eventually disappearing from the market amid growing safety concerns and rollover accidents. The original machines developed a reputation that could be summarized as “they were fun right up until the moment they weren’t.”
So naturally, someone decided to revive the idea using a 755 cc adventure bike that produces 90 horsepower and about 56 pound-feet of torque.
Photos: Anquetti Motorsport via Honda
From a design perspective, the ATC750 is fantastic. The custom rear bodywork integrates surprisingly well with the Translap’s factory styling, and the huge rear tires give it a stance that looks ready to cross a desert, invade a neighboring county, or star in a post-apocalyptic movie franchise. It grabs your attention immediately, which is exactly what a concept creation should do.
The problem is that the standard transloop is already very good at the job it was designed for. Honda spent countless hours engineering a motorcycle that could handle dirt roads, highways, and everything in between with a minimum of drama. ATC750 appears to have taken that recipe and asked if drama could be added as an optional extra.
Adventure bikes (and any two-wheel motorcycle for that matter) work because they lean. Riders instinctively lean them into corners, manage traction through the tires, and let the chassis do its work. The ATC750 throws that familiar behavior out the window. Instead of a rear contact patch, there are now two huge paddle tires connected by a custom axle. To turn faster will probably require a completely different riding style than the motorcycle it started with.
Photo by: Anquetti Motorsport via Honda
This is where things get interesting. Unlike a purpose-built ATV, which is engineered around multiple contact patches from day one, this machine lives on an awkward middle ground. It has the height, suspension travel and proportions of an adventure bike, but it’s now operating under a very different set of physics. Those long-travel suspension components may be great over rough terrain, but watching them work under a tall three-wheeler is both amusing and disconcerting in equal measure.
Then there are the corners. Lots of corners. The type that most translap owners usually slide by without thinking twice. On the ATC750, every turn looks like an invitation to find out if you’re secretly a professional flat-track racer. Most riders are not. That’s what makes this thing so attractive.
Photo by: Anquetti Motorsport via Honda
To be fair, no one built an ATC750 because it would perform better than a stock translap. This is rolling artwork. It’s a celebration of Honda’s strangest off-road history, revolving around one of its most modern adventure platforms. And in that respect, it is completely successful.
Would I ride it? hell yeah. Will I run it quickly? This is a very difficult question. How are you? Would you risk life and limb to experience such a strange and unique custom creation? Sound off in the comments below.
