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CB 500 X First Look

Blog Date - 26 July 2013

Ever since I spotted the new CB 500 range at the Bike Show in December I've been a little more than just curious. While all my friends were drooling over Ducati's new Panigale I just wanted to learn everything I could about the "X" version of Honda's 500. 

Panigale...PAH! 1200cc's, too much. 195bhp, who needs that? Bet it won't do over 60 to the gallon. Bet there's nowhere to put your camping gear and clothes. Bet you can't get a full set of engine bars for it. Over 25 GRAND for the Duke? I could buy 5...yes FIVE CB 500's for that price. I could have the slightly sporty CBR 500 R, a nice simple CB 500 F and THREE CB 500 X's for that price. Panigales are toys for people who have far too much money. You can't blame Ducati for trying to take that money off them.

cb 500 x in a showroom window. black in colour
It's not a bad looking machine all in all.

So what caught my eye about the CB 500 X? I do rather like the "Big Trailie" bikes. Comfortable, good luggage capacity and handling. But they've all gone down the big engine route. And big engines require big bikes to carry them. And big bikes are a pain in the goddam ass. When they're moving they're fine but turning one around in a tight car park on a cold wet day is scary. Parking it on grass requires planning. Picking it up when it's sunk into the grass must be impossible. They're also massively tall. 

The 500 X is the first Big Trailie that's not really a Big Trailie. It's a medium trailie. I still don't fancy the idea of picking it up out of a boggy field but it must surely be easier than a water cooled BMW GS 1200. With a kerb weight of 196kg it is not a lightweight but it is comparable if not a tad better than Yamaha's much more serious XTZ 660 Tenere. It produces a manageable 47bhp to match the new licence rules not 150bhp to scare the living daylights out of the rider. Most importantly to me is it's rumoured to return around 80mpg. Serious miles could mean serious savings on fuel compared to a thirsty Multistrada.

close up of the cb 500 x engine from the right hand side
I don't think Honda's broken any records with the motor. I hope it's reliable and trustworthy, not bothered about power.

So it ticks quite a few of my favourite boxes, but what about the biggie...price? Well at an RRP of £4,950, that's 5k in real money, it appears to be fantastic value. Yamaha's XT 660 Z Tenere is listed at £6999, Suzuki's V-Strom 650 is around  £6,899. So the 500 is around about 2 grand less than these bikes. Why? As far as I can see there's three reasons.

First off, "Modular". Honda's new buzz word means that the CB 500 X shares a vast majority of it's components with the CB 500 F road bike and the CBR 500 R sports bike. That means Honda's getting 3 models for the price of one almost. A bit of suspension here, a styling change there and bada-bing, you're road bike's now a small big trailie or a middleweight sports bike. There must be a downside. 

The X was never designed from the ground up as a trailie. Yamaha's 660 is a bona fide off road machine that really will cut the mustard across deserts and rocky mountain trails. The Honda is a road bike with a bit more room and a tad more ground clearance if you ever get caught down a short farm track. The CBR 500 pales into insignificance when compared to real sport bikes like a Ninja 636 or an R6. So none of the range excels itself in it's chosen niche.

Secondly they're built in Thailand. Obviously wages and running costs must be cheaper there. While I'm sure Honda are holding the reins regarding build quality it'll never be up to the perfection and precision that we've come to expect from Japanese home built machines. My CBF 125 is Indian made and while it is a genuine Honda and works well, the corners that are cut to save money are there to be seen if you look hard enough. 

Finally specification. There'll be no trick suspension or exotic brand names. No fancy alloy frame. No superlight and clever esoteric metallurgy in the engine. Budget bikes are built to a budget and you get what you need and no more.

So on inspection...what is there to report?

The first thing I notice is the rising rate suspension linkage. WHY! I'm aware of the alleged handling improvements of rising rate but personally I've never actually noticed them. There are many non rising rate machines like Yamaha's XJ6, Kawasaki's ER6 or Versys and Honda's CBF 600 which work perfectly well without it. So why on a budget bike go to all the effort of the complex linkage? From my perspective its another set of bearings that need care and eventual replacement.

close up of the rear linkage for the suspension of a cb 500 x behind the exhaust and footrest hanger
Rising rate linkage. Not required in my book, especially on a budget bike.

Other than that it's just a bike. Standard tyre sizes mean there should be a fair choice of rubber. Only a single disc up front but unless you're racing or into stoppies I'm sure it'll be fine. ABS is standard from what I glean off the Honda website. The exhaust appears to be all stainless which is good. The headlight and "beak" is ugly to my mind but it's comparable to many of the other modern machines in its style so that won't put me off. I know there's a full touring kit for it somewhere. There nothing "new" on the bike. Nothing to get excited about. That's fine by me!

close up of the rear brake disc, brake caliper and abs sensor on the cb 500 x
ABS and wavy discs. ABS seems to be coming standard on bikes now, there's talk of it being compulsory soon.

So you get what you pay for. Personally I do think the CB 500 X will tick most of my boxes but the last thing I need to do is ride it. I've recently ridden Kawasaki's well established small big trailie, the Versys 650 and it is a very competent machine. I've yet to ride the latest version of the V-Strom. I'm hoping to ride the 500 X soon but there's a problem. There's very few of them in the country and no-one around here has got a demonstrator! 

the cb 500 x headlight and surrounding fairing.
What is it with these modern angular pointy headlights? I guess it must be me, everyone else seems to like them.

 

 

Reader's Comments

Tom McQ said :-
Still no signs of Demo bikes in the 500 range Ren?? Seems a little odd.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Hi Tom

According to Preston Honda there's a shortage of the CB 500 X so as soon as they get one it's sold so no demo machines.

I wonder if that's marketing nonsense or fact...
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC
Greg said :-
Hey! I do not know where you live but I bought cb500x at Fowlers in Bristol and they have a Demonstrator so you can have a test ride.
01/01/2000 00:00:00 UTC

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