Honda CB500X

I bought a CB500x, my son took me to pick it up and was looking at a 250L and the salesman asked him if he wanted take a 250L for a test spin. My son rode both bikes and said the X would be his choice, no contest.

My new X

Father/Son CB500X's= way cool!

No, I let him ride my bike, and the dealer let him ride the 250L, My son rides a R6:eek1

I meant he should get a 500 Too! I can't wait until my two boys can get the NC700X. Easier for keeping spare parts that way!

The wife is getting a 500 shortly. I wish I could get one for that reason. Tool/part compatibility is a great thing. I'm just way too tall for the bike.

I went to Fun Bike Center, here in San Diego.

I sat on a 500X and a 700X. Like CageronTwoWheels, said in his video, the bike feels really light. I was suprised. Later at home it hit me that the tank is empy. So add about 27lbs to the tank, and the ease of movement would go down a bit. But, really light. Granted, my combat boots were on the ground flush with a slight bend in the legs, so my legs helped stabilzed her.

On the 700X, it did feel heavier than the 500, and you have to lean forward just a little more. I did not like the rear tail light set up on the 700, but the 500 looked good.
__

You guys are making great points with the comparasion to the CRF250L. What I'm looking to do will require thousands of miles on the tarmc. That extra 95lbs (when adjusted for fuel and tank mass) and 25 horses, wind protection, luguage room, range, P. Twin would help out a lot on the highways. And, the Interstate would now be an option at any hour of the day.

Ohh, I almost forgot. I looked under the 500X. No suprise, no protection. But it is not as vuneralbe as the 700X under belly (with a 4.7" wider wheel base.)

I'm hoping that by early next year, there will be some good products out there for a skid plate. Not for the TAT, but for just forest roads and other well groomed areas that may have a sudden dip or something.

By the time I buy in November or December, the 2013 250L will be gone and so instead of a $1,500 up grade it would be a $1,300. Up grade.

The 500 reminds of a Sport Touring MC. So, not knowing anything about this type of bike, I looked into the Big Three Japananse brands.

The closest bike is the Honda CTX700. Which has even less of a wheel base than the 700X. :eek1 CTX700= 60.2" NC700X=60.6"

The CTX700 range is at 202 miles range. And of course the suspension is less than the 500, but not much.

Kawasaki has nothing close to the 500X.

Suzuki has the V-Strom. Great bike (love the 19" tire), but at 472lbs, wheel base of 61.4", with just a little more range than the 500 (58mpg X 5.3 gallon fuel tank), I'll pass. Plus, the 64hp is a little more than what I'm looking for. If was 6'-3" and 200lbs, the V-Strom would be a easy buy. However, I"m 5'-8" and 163lbs.

Suzuki's has no sport touring bikes.


I guess the 500X is not recreating the wheel, it's just that there is a market for it. I do not like Adventure Bike as a lable (seeing how Honda did not want the bike to venture off road for the press release in Spain. Something like Sport Touring Cross over would be good.

One last thing.
How, many P. Twin 470cc bikes are on the market today? It seems like that is really small for a P. Twin.

Honda made the first "effort" for the A2 licence category, we can expect
more bikes from other manufacturers probably soon.

Kawasaki had the GPZ500, ER5 and KLE500 all based on a 500cc twin
that had 60, 50 and 43-ish hp up to about 2007.

Suzuki left the game with the GS500 I believe in 2006, it was an air cooled
500, 45hp ballpark, Kawi had them beat there.

Honda also had the CB500/CBF500, 500cc/50hp like others mentioned,
also up to around 2006-07, maybe still in some markets.

Not aware of any Yamaha small twins in the past 10 years, but they got
a 500 and 530cc scooters that are parallel twins and produce 43 and 47hp.

Man I really hope these sell like hot cakes and push Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawisaki to follow suit!

In the mean time, if there were another bike with the same size/specs/etc I would look into it, but for now it really is unique and seems to really have a market.

It's been hard to find one here in South Dakota / Nebraska area but I'm no doubt getting an X sooner or later.

When is prime time to buy do you think? I'd like one before next Spring but this Fall would obviously be better.

Keep the feedback coming fellas. It is really helpful to those of us searching but don't have a local one to take test rides.

Thanks for the input! It would have taken a couple of hours to research this.

Interesting.

Thinking about this, and looking at Honda's NC700X, it seems European regulators may have had a difficult time deciding how to regulate power. They chose HP. But they let torque to its own devices, it seems. Of course, HP will determine top speed. But lots of torque can provide interesting results, as is the case of the Honda 700 motor.

HP = (Torque x RPM) / 5,252

That means, a motor that hits the max torque below 5,252 will have low HP when compared to their torque rate. Like diesel motors. Or the 700 motor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9wuXJFFmi4

Around the 2 min mark, the rider comments on the bike ride.

The volume seems low, so if you turn the volume up on your console turn it down before the rider gets on the road (at very end), the volume jumps up real quick.

Good video.

Title does what it says. Rider provides good feedback.

hit the 1000 kms mark right here... A pic was needed...

I love the bike. No problems at all. 3,8 l/100kms most of the time!

I was buying my first bike in 2006-2007 so.. it stayed in my noggin.
I believe all of these were carburated tho.

:huh

They have the GSX1250FA, the SFV650, and the DL650 and DL1000, all of which are excellent sport touring bikes. If the height and/or weight of the DL650 is more than you want it to be, the SFV650's curb weight is listed at 446 and seat height is 30.9. I am only an inch or two taller than you, and I have no problem with the DL650.

Taking a trip out west on my 750 Nighthawk, saw the X at a shop in Montrose, now I'm riding it in Moab, will be in Durango tomorrow, riding the Million dollar hwy and all over NM on the way home to Arkansas. First tank yielded 71 mpg, but I don't think the second one will; this bike is way too much fun to lean over. I'm happier with every mile.

Good feedback. The SFV650 is a great example.

The 2012+ V-Strom is one nice bike. I saw one on base, and hunted down the owner. It was the Adventure.
He let me sit on her.
The bike really seemed heavy. There were no painners, so it should have been under 500lbs.
The owner says she has very good manners at slow speeds.

Thanks for posting. 71mpg is about awsome!

If it is not too much trouble, could you take a picture of your 500X up close with full battle rattle? It looks like you have a good amount of gear. I just want to see how it all goes on.
The bike looks like it is very packer friendly. The muffler allows a lot of room to store things.

For those of you that are thinking about the X, Picked mine up last Friday.
If you feel that waiting until fall to buy, sorry, they will all be gone. 2013 models where I live are the "base" models. No ABS according to my dealer until April-May 2014. Your dealer may vary,but I did purchase the only X that they had shown me on the computer that will ship to them before the above time frame. Not a power sports dealer, but someone that I had done purchases with in the past and am considered a very good customer.
The bike is really suiting me well. An urgent thump- thump from the twin motor, entertaining digital instruments, bars above my hip bones, easy on the eyes, and economical as in purchase price and ownership. It's a real keeper and just so that you are aware, I began riding in the early 70's and really enjoy riding low HP bikes again compared to some of the high HP rides that I have owned in the recent years. See you all at the Indy Moto GP!!!!

Well, my last post was more about me rather than the CB500X. Keep in mind that pavement riding is 99% of my riding, and the comparisons to real, or imagined, off-roaders does not fit me.
Start up is right away. No enrichener or choke lever involved.
Pirelli Scorpion tires grip on the street very well.
Very stable on gravel roads that I would have not ridden my last 2 bikes on for 75'.
Extreme lean angles on paved curves, if my feelers touched, It would be WSB.
Very inexpensive insurance.
Fuel it any where, no search for premium.
Very easy to keep clean with out expensive waxes, or washing shampoos.
No one knows what it is! If you are looking for a Poser, forget the CB500X.
Cage drivers (and children) are cool with the low note sound.
More to come later, if you are interested!