Honda XADV 750
Now, today, Honda announced a big update for 2025 for one of their more unusual bikes, the XADV 750.
You see, this isn’t a particularly popular bike in the UK, but it’s actually a big seller out in the rest of Europe.
Having reviewed the previous generation a couple of years back, I can absolutely see why.
It basically combines the comfort and convenience of a scooter-style riding position, but with big bike power and torque, and also some of the adventurey image of something like an Africa Twin.
And look, I’d fully expect this new 2025 version to be a big seller as well, with some well-thought-out updates that bring it bang up to date.
So here we go with the 13 key things that you need to know about it.
Engine and Performance
Now, look, fundamentally, you’ve got the same engine here, but with a couple of key tweaks.
It’s the same 750 Parallel Twin as you’re getting some of their bikes like the NC750X.
It’s a great performer because it’s super practical, really efficient on fuel, and also fairly long strokes. It’s got plenty of guts.
Naturally, with that engine, it’s not particularly peaky in terms of top-end power. It makes 57 horsepower peak.
But there is a healthy 69 Newton meters of peak torque, and it’s made fairly low in the revs at 4,750 RPM.
That means it really does chug along nicely, and also it’s got a fairly nice sound to it as well with the 270-degrees crank.
Transmission: DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission)
And also this bike comes with a DCT or dual clutch transmission for twist and go riding. So again, that plays into the practicality of this bike.
And if you leave it in automatic, Effectively, you got a bike that rides like a scooter.
But it is worth adding if you want a bit more control for quicker rides or if you’re riding off road, or even if you’re doing those low speed maneuvers, then you can put it into the manual mode where you choose your own gears using the buttons on the switch gear.
In fact, that riding is one of the first key updates for 2025 with a bit of a revision to the DCT system.
They say that it not only gives you smoother starts from a standstill, but also a bit more control on the throttle at lower speed, so under 10 km/h.
And to be fair, that is the riding that I think most people find challenging with DCT.
It does take a little bit of getting used to.
So especially on a bike like this that could be used for commuting, a little bit more control when you’re picking your way through traffic at lower speeds is always going to be a good thing.
Emissions
On top of that, they’ve revised the catalyser for this year for cleaner running, so that means it now meets the latest Euro 5 B or five plus emissions regulations.
Cruise Control
And you’ve also got an update here, which means that cruise control is now fitted as standard.
And again, this is a big boost for anyone who’s doing regular commutes where you want to just take a little bit of the fatigue out of the throttle hand.
On top of that, I should point out as well, you can get three-piece luggage for this bike, so it might not be your first choice for touring, but it can do a bit of that thing.
And again, with longer stints on the motorway, cruise control is always, in my opinion, a valuable tool for a little bit more comfort. It is a fully-fledged system as well, so you can enable it with the right-hand switch gear.
And then over on the left, you’ve got a resume button, and also plus and minus button, so you can nudge the speed up and down.
Chassis and Suspension
From a chassis perspective, I reckon this one is pretty much the same as the previous gen.
You’ve got the same frame, you’ve got the spoke tubeless rims with the 17-inch at the front and the 15 at the rear.
Suspension looks about the same as well with a shower, 41 millimeter upside down fork.
There’s the Mono shock at the rear and then 150 mill-ish of travel front and rear to give it that slight off-road credibility.
Ducati Multistrada V4 Pikes Peak
And then also a pair of radially mounted Nissan four pot calipers up front to take care of stopping duties.
The only difference of note from the chassis specs that I can spot is the fact that it’s gained a kilogram of curb weight and having pretty much the same engine and chassis.
I guess that’s going to come from some of the extra features that have been added, which we’ll get onto in a bit.
Realistically, that’s such a small amount that I doubt anybody would notice it riding the two bikes back to back.
Also, this bike does carry its weight really quite low, and so it is fairly easy to maneuver.
Styling and Design
Wrapped around the chassis, though, where you do have a new styling job, and while it does continue that theme of an adventurized scooter, they’ve just sharpened up the lines a little bit to keep it looking fresh.
One particular area of interest might be the lighting, though, where they’ve actually combined the front indicators with the daytime running lights, and they say that’s actually a world first for the entire motorcycle market.
On the plus side, it does give you a really clean esthetic at the front, and also from a practical perspective, I suppose it’ll stop you snapping off an indicator and having to repair it if the bike does go over.
My only concern here would be if they’re actually visible enough and distinguishable from the daytime running lights, but they do look well thought out and fairly outwiden, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Color Options
Also on the esthetic front, you’ve got some new paint options, and this bike, if I remember correctly, has always been available in a red and black finish as one of the options, which gave it a bit of that Africa twin look.
This year, though, for 2025, well, you’ve got three options of graphite black, pearlglare white, and matte deep mud gray.
Now, presumably, they’d have kept the red if it was a really good seller, But I do think it would have been nice to have at least one more vibrant and colorful option.
Now, there is, to be fair, a special edition matte goldfinch yellow, which does tick that box.
But the problem with this one is it’s only going to be available in Europe and won’t actually be coming to the UK.
DuraBio and Recycled Materials
Something a little bit less obvious about the bodywork and panels, though, that you might not quite spot from the pictures here, is that they’ve started to try and use some sustainable materials, like one that’s called DuraBio.
Now, they say this is a biomass plastic, and the idea here is to help Honda towards their environmental target of 100% sustainable material usage by 2050.
So yeah, the DuraBio is used for the side skirt covers and the windscreen.
And also the luggage box and the seat base have been made from recycled bumpers from Honda cars.
Then you’ve also got recycled polypropylene for some of the covers and panels across the rest of the bike.
And as a side benefit, they also claim that DuraBio means they avoid the CO₂ emissions that are typically associated with the conventional painting process.
Maybe that means these bikes aren’t actually painted and the DuraBio just has its own color baked in.
And that could be one of the reasons that we don’t have the red model anymore.
Maybe it’s only fairly subduced jude tones that are actually achievable with this manufacturing method.
Windscreen and Wind Protection
Now, I think one of the best things about the XADV in terms of that practicality is the wind protection, because the top half is a bit adventure bikey with a big nice wind screen and also some handguards to to keep the chill off your hands.
But then also your lower body is down behind the scooter-esque bodywork, and so it really does make for a nice cozy little cocoon.
One of the updates here, though, is that they’ve changed the windscreen adjustability.
So previously, you had to do it with both hands, and that, realistically, for most riders, I think meant pulling over.
And it also had five steps of adjustability. So they’ve tried to simplify it.
And now you can do it just with your left hand so you can keep the throttle steady with your right and just get the screen up and down on the go.
And they’ve also reduced it to three steps just to make it easier to get on with.
Seat
On top of that, the seat height remains the same at 820 mill, but they have narrowed it a bit to make it easier to get your feet down.
And of course, this bike is a little bit wide around the body with those floorboards down either side.
So a little bit of extra help here just to get your feet planted And it is 237 kilograms.
It is probably going to be appreciated, especially by shorter riders.
Comfort and Adjustments
Then in terms of comfort, they’ve added a bit of extra foam, so 10% more.
And they say that should give you a little bit more cushiness over distance for those longer rides.
Storage
The other thing I really liked about this bike is you’ve got that big storage space under the seat.
So 22 liters, in fact, which they say is big enough to take a full-face helmet.
So if you are commuting, you can leave your lid in the bike and not have to carry it around, for example.
And you’ve also got LED lighting in there to make it easy to see your stuff, as well as a USB C port for charging your gadgets.
There has been, though, a bit of an update for 2025 with the seat damper, so they say it’s now easier to open and close.
And there’s also mention of, if that’s not enough space, a little glove box up front.
I can’t quite make out if this was brought in with the previous Gen, but they do say there is now more space, even though they don’t give any more specifics.
Updated TFT Display
Speaking of the cockpit, though, there is a big improvement here.
I think it’s probably the key update, and that’s that the previous Gen’s LCD display now makes way for a full color TFT.
Lcds, I reckon, are starting to look a little bit dated now.
And also, I think the TFT is going to be more readable in varying lighting conditions.
So yeah, this is definitely a big tick for me.
On top of that, you’ve got a few different screen layouts, so you can get something to suit your taste.
And it also enables connectivity features, so you can control calls and media like I say, if you’ve got a Bluetooth headset.