Honda CB500X review

[nerrrd]

So I’ve had my cb500x for about 6 months now, here’s a review. Bear in mind I have a pretty limited amount of expertise when it comes to bikes, so YMMV.

Anyway, in that time I’ve done around 6500kms, mostly on tarseal. No problems at all with my riding style (ie sloooow) as far as handling in the dry or wet goes, or with the Scorpion trail tyres which came with it, which also seem to be wearing well and are plenty grippy enough for me.

I’ve also done some riding on gravel - a couple of times on the roads north of Auckland, a trip to and from Lake Waikaremoana, an adventure training day with the Northern Gravel Adventure Riders, as well as most recently a gravel-road-riding training day with Prorider.

In each case I’d say the bike handled everything with ease, the main limiting factor was the rider. The worst experience in all of that was on a freshly gravelled road, where the handlebars ended up slewing backwards and forwards long enough for me to think “I’m about to lose this” just before the bike eventually pulled itself together and got me through. There’s plenty of examples online of people with more confidence and ability than me taking these bikes off the beaten track, the main limiting factors apparently are ground-clearance, tyre choices and ABS that can’t be switched off.

The bike is smooth, reasonably economical (average mpg readout stays around 5L/100km mainly commuting around Auckland - did raise an eyebrow today when it cost $27 to fill, doesn’t seem that long ago I could fill a bike for $10 :-( )

I’ve added a few bits and pieces - crashbars, handguards and heated grips, windshield risers (cheaper than a bigger windscreen), lower wider footpegs (cheaper than raising the seat for more leg room), centrestand, I kept the top box from my old bike and added some Givi soft saddlebags (mainly for groceries). All of these work well for me.

There are a few issues. The front brake tends to vibrate a lot, especially when under an increasing load (say stopping downhill) and before the ABS kicks in - the Brembo on the front of my old f650cs was way smoother.

There’s been a very occasional whine from somewhere on the bike, which I’ve not been able to explain. I’m a bit worried that the chain was too tight there for a while, since the recommended amount is 40mm which seems like a lot - but I’m using a ruler now to keep an eye on it (no more trying to adjust it by eye). Haven’t had it for a while.

Gears are notchy, doesn’t like the change from 1st to 2nd when cold, also occasionally hear a brief bit of knocking from the engine when starting from cold. I get lost sometimes between 4th, 5th and 6th - they all feel pretty similar when rolling, the engine is so quiet and smooth. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve tried to change up when already in 6th.

Also at low speed the engine kind of feels like it’s lugging in first and second, which doesn’t seem right - might just be the uneven ‘beat’ of the twin? I’m probably not revving it as much as I should, I prefer a languid pace. If you do rev it the bike takes off, so it’s not as though there’s any lack of power (by my definition).

These seem like minor quirks though, overall I can’t really fault the bike so far. Was great to pay the lower registration fee recently as well. Having said that - I still think I’d prefer an nc750x (the nc700 which I test rode at the same time was a better fit for me, but not by much.) The cb500x is a better looking bike though IMHO, so that’s a bonus.

Here’s some pics - and yes, the ‘hi-vis’ handguards and top box insert are intentional (although they came out a bit more yellow/less green than I was hoping for.)

[xXGIBBOXx]

There is a snorkel. On the front of the airbox you can remove to give it a a cool intake raw and a there is a plate halfway down the exhaust . A length of pipe and hammer can sort that out . The front brakes do fade a bit on road trips . I went from Auckland to Palmerston north and back and got brake fade at about the same point both ways . Same gearbox click 1-2 on cold days or from sitting at the lights for a bit and going from neutral to 1 to 2 . It's a good little work horse , made to a budget not to a market . The standard tyres wear square fast , mine were thin at about 9000 got 11000 kms out of them. $27 to fill ? 91 ? Mine loves 98 gets close to 400 kms to a tank and 91 was round 330ish . But I do hoon the crap out it on the back roads light fun bike . Adjustable front forks would had been nice . I dropped the front 20mm down the forks and it sits better on the road now for me .

[Ulsterkiwi]

I took one of these for a 45 minute test ride. I liked how light and responsive it felt. Made my '98 F650 feel a wee bit agricultural but probably not a fair comparison with 16 years of technology separating them. The dealer priced some of the farkles for me. $900 for factory hot grips!!!!!! In the end up he was having a laugh with the trade in on my own bike but more than anything I do want something physically bigger so will wait until I get my full (later this year) and have a look at the NC750. (amongst others)

Thanks for the review, interesting that the niggles have happened to more than your bike.

[caspernz]

Nothing better than an owner review I'd say.

What stands out for me is the practical add-ons you've done, I like! A vibey front brake would annoy me as well, and I'd do a bit more asking around to see if it's model specific or just your bike.
Notchy gears will improve as the mileage goes up, or you can fix it by swapping to synthetic oil next service.
Sluggish response is generally alleviated by twisting the throttle a bit more, or if that fails getting a bigger bike, it's only a 500 after all.

So bearing in mind it's more or less an entry level bike from Honda, would you say it's a good choice for commuting or learning?

[nerrrd]

Yes I think it's a great choice as a commuter - it's nice and comfy (the seat's actually the most comfortable stock seat I think I've ever had), you sit upright with a good view of what's going on, and if you do give the throttle a twist it takes off pretty quickly to get you out of any trouble.

For a learner, I think you'd want to be a reasonably large individual if this was your first introduction to man(person?)handling a bike. I managed to drop it when putting it on the side stand once, and was very grateful for the help I got in getting it back upright (although it was loaded up with a bit of luggage at the time). But it feels really light and well-balanced when upright or underway, you sit nice and low and it hasn't really done anything unexpected, other than accelerate a whole lot quicker than my f650cs did - by which I mean the honda responds almost instantly to a twist of the throttle whereas the beemer tended to pick up speed more gradually.

Crikey $900 for heated grips??? They really are having a larf, my Oxfords were installed free of charge from memory, first thing I added. Interesting about filling it with 98, I've been told I should run at least 95 in it as it burns a lot cleaner than crappy old 91, I just tend to go for the cheap stuff by default - a false economy by the sounds of it.

Been thinking I should do an oil change on it now instead of waiting for the next service, so good to know that might help with the gears too.

[pritch]

If the bike is still under warranty I would talk to the dealer about that front brake. It shouldn't be doing that. I haven't ridden tha X but I did ride the 500S and the 700 neither of which had that problem.

[mobileguy]

I'm just under 8k done on mine. Over the last week with the storm the bike has handled the bad weather over the bridge every day really well. Bike is great as a daily commuter. Interested to see others have run 98. Mine is about $22 a week about 50km day.