Honda Cb 500 X

[mark131v]

Have to agree with Dave Boo and LL2 on this, mine has nearly 17000K on it now and never had any issues. I got to about 13000 on the Scorpions and then changed to Pirrelli MT60's which I really like, all in all I have been really happy with the bike and in my opinion it's just about the perfect bike for Thailand and certainly fast enough and good in traffic

My experience with Big Wing in Pattaya has been very positive and compared to the Kawasaki shop across the road which the wife used to use for her Ninja they are streets ahead, I have not bothered with the Versys which I like the look of partly for that reason

I would love a new toy and had a test ride on a CB650F and a Benneli 600 problem is I am still very happy with the CBX and I cant really justify an upgrade plus I would probably get my self in trouble with the extra horses, the speed on the 650 is a big step up from my 500 and the Benneli was also a nice ride but I reckon overpriced and lacking ABS

Edited December 31, 2014 by mark131v

[Gweiloman]

Almost a year on from the last post...how many of us 500X riders are left?

Just an update for the last 16 months of ownership. It seems the bike averages about 24 km/l for mixed mode riding. I tried my best to see the maximum range, and sticking to 3000 RPM with very few bursts up to 4000 I managed to make it 502 km! I was impressed, the old lady wasn't as it had just started to rain as I ran out and we were 2 km past the last petrol station. She just doesn't understand how to do things simply to know the answer.

The GT1 windscreen has been great, but is starting to show its age. The frame guards have been worth their cost; a standing still drop didn't even chip the paint. The Givi Trekker panniers and top box have been nice to have; they're also very sturdy being capable of tearing the front end off a Honda Nova who stupidly pulled out without looking.

The stock Pirelli Scorpion tyres were replaced at 12,000 km. I had a pair of Rosso Corsas spooned on because I didn't want to wait for the Scorpions to come back in stock and I didn't want to pay Big Wing's price for what they had. Was a good choice as I have done much less non-paved riding.

I discovered that the rear mudguard/license plate holder either has weak plastic or overly sized holes as my license plate nuts pulled through it and the plate itself was lost somewhere north of Phitsanulok.

Needed to adjust the clutch about 16,000km as there was an unacceptable amount of play in the take up; nearly 3cm!

I'm easy on my brakes preferring to utilise engine braking and choosing a more of a steady style of riding rather than the hurry up and brake that some riders prefer (yes ll2, I'm talking about you!) so they're still good.

I've finally worn the chain down to the red replace marks on the swing arm. Going to probably get a new set of sprockets while I am at it; want to go with a little shorter gearing for city use as come August I'll be retiring the 500X from touring duties.

The seat still looks good, but the last ~6,000 km has seen a lot of use with Airhawk seat pads. Those pads are a great investment if you ride a long ways.

Barkbusters were also a good idea; they've protected my hands a couple of times I got pissed off enough to let a car run/scrape into them.

My high beam Denali D2 lights went out; trouble-shooting the problem seems to indicate that it's an issue with the relay. I'll still try to unplug/replug all the connections, but that's a pain.

Finally cranked up the preload on the rear shock. WOW! Wish I wasn't so lazy and had done this earlier. Without the pillion it really makes the bike more taut and fully loaded with pillion and full boxes gets back to about what the stock setting feels like with just me...i.e. plush enough I don't get complaints. It really is a pain to do as the left side rear set is in the way. I don't know how many I cranked it up (3?), but just went till I couldn't access the ring any more. If someone were to ask how to do it, I definitely recommend either getting it up on a centre stand and or other way to get the rear tyre fully down and DEFINITELY remove the left rear set.

i still believe, it is one of the best bikes in thailand in terms of value, fun and economy and prefer it to versys anytime.

great report dave! yep i use my brakes a lot as i like to accelerate so changing them every 5000 km and weak rear brake also does not help it - also track days.

hard to find a second hand cb500x so it looks like owners are very pleased and still bigwing sell a lot of them. i see lots of new owners riding them out of bigwing eveytime.

wondering about the new model cb500 x which i am sure will be around like two years. it will be sure better bike with an extra 5 hp.

note: sometime thinking on trading my beloved cbr650f with a cbr1000rr and getting a clean second hand cb500x for my city rides as roads are getting worse in bangkok and lots of construction sites. extra suspension travel helps, it is cheap to run and service. parts cost nothing too and it is nimble, comfy and fast enough.

It depends ll2. On the recent ride with taninthai and Matt, we went through some less than perfect roads (gravelly bits, potholes etc) and both taninthai and I merely stood up on the pegs and blew through these sections. Matt on the other hand had to slow right down as the CB is not built for these rough bits of road (ergonomically speaking that is).

[dave_boo]

Cool report dave_boo, it looks like it's been a good bike for you and you ridden it a lot.

How many km total?

I'm 100km short of the big 20K! Not too shabby considering that in the last 16 months I've been overseas for almost 12 of them.

i still believe, it is one of the best bikes in thailand in terms of value, fun and economy and prefer it to versys anytime.

great report dave! yep i use my brakes a lot as i like to accelerate so changing them every 5000 km and weak rear brake also does not help it - also track days.

hard to find a second hand cb500x so it looks like owners are very pleased and still bigwing sell a lot of them. i see lots of new owners riding them out of bigwing eveytime.

wondering about the new model cb500 x which i am sure will be around like two years. it will be sure better bike with an extra 5 hp.

note: sometime thinking on trading my beloved cbr650f with a cbr1000rr and getting a clean second hand cb500x for my city rides as roads are getting worse in bangkok and lots of construction sites. extra suspension travel helps, it is cheap to run and service. parts cost nothing too and it is nimble, comfy and fast enough.

Would be surprised that Honda is going to up the HP; I thought that the 500 series was right at the limit as far as the A2 license was concerned.

Have to agree with Dave Boo and LL2 on this, mine has nearly 17000K on it now and never had any issues. I got to about 13000 on the Scorpions and then changed to Pirrelli MT60's which I really like, all in all I have been really happy with the bike and in my opinion it's just about the perfect bike for Thailand and certainly fast enough and good in traffic

My experience with Big Wing in Pattaya has been very positive and compared to the Kawasaki shop across the road which the wife used to use for her Ninja they are streets ahead, I have not bothered with the Versys which I like the look of partly for that reason

I would love a new toy and had a test ride on a CB650F and a Benneli 600 problem is I am still very happy with the CBX and I cant really justify an upgrade plus I would probably get my self in trouble with the extra horses, the speed on the 650 is a big step up from my 500 and the Benneli was also a nice ride but I reckon overpriced and lacking ABS

I was pleasantly surprised at the BKK Big Wing. I had gone in there to have the left passenger foot rest replaced due to the breakage when my pillion struck that bird that pulled out on me. They said about an hour, so I hoofed it down to the Lotus and got some food. Apparently they pulled the old lady's phone number and called her, because she rang me and told me that it was ready a bit early. Was was interesting is that the bike was purchased at Big Wing Pattaya and at that point my plates hadn't arrived. Means they pulled the engine/frame number, looked up who owned it in the national database, and called up the owner. Pretty cool.

It depends ll2. On the recent ride with taninthai and Matt, we went through some less than perfect roads (gravelly bits, potholes etc) and both taninthai and I merely stood up on the pegs and blew through these sections. Matt on the other hand had to slow right down as the CB is not built for these rough bits of road (ergonomically speaking that is).

It really is a standard bike gussied up to look adventure-y. Not the real deal. I know that the bike can handle a lot, and it is just a machine, so I'm not hesitant to blast through a lot of areas that others would slow down for.

[Gweiloman]

It depends ll2. On the recent ride with taninthai and Matt, we went through some less than perfect roads (gravelly bits, potholes etc) and both taninthai and I merely stood up on the pegs and blew through these sections. Matt on the other hand had to slow right down as the CB is not built for these rough bits of road (ergonomically speaking that is).

It really is a standard bike gussied up to look adventure-y. Not the real deal. I know that the bike can handle a lot, and it is just a machine, so I'm not hesitant to blast through a lot of areas that others would slow down for.

No, of course it's not the real deal but then at around 300 k, one can't expect too much.

What I meant is ergonomically speaking, you can stand up on the V for hours and miles on end and be very comfortable and in complete control of the bike, due to the position of it's handlebars, pegs and ground clearance. You can also almost squeeze the fuel tank with your knees for better control.

On the CB, I think standing up on it for long periods would not be as comfortable.

[dave_boo]

It depends ll2. On the recent ride with taninthai and Matt, we went through some less than perfect roads (gravelly bits, potholes etc) and both taninthai and I merely stood up on the pegs and blew through these sections. Matt on the other hand had to slow right down as the CB is not built for these rough bits of road (ergonomically speaking that is).

It really is a standard bike gussied up to look adventure-y. Not the real deal. I know that the bike can handle a lot, and it is just a machine, so I'm not hesitant to blast through a lot of areas that others would slow down for.

No, of course it's not the real deal but then at around 300 k, one can't expect too much.

What I meant is ergonomically speaking, you can stand up on the V for hours and miles on end and be very comfortable and in complete control of the bike, due to the position of it's handlebars, pegs and ground clearance. You can also almost squeeze the fuel tank with your knees for better control.

On the CB, I think standing up on it for long periods would not be as comfortable.

Was agreeing with you mate.

And the 500X is only 215K...unless I misunderstood you and you meant to talk about the Versys's price.

[Briggsy]

Just hit the 20,000 km mark today. Still on the original tyres, brake pads and very durable chain. I go over a lot of potholed roads and for a bike of that weight it handles well and puts up with the abuse. Another design, production and QC success from Honda. I was going to get rid of it but I can't justify selling it at the moment. I might have to have 3 bikes.

[dave_boo]

Just hit the 20,000 km mark today. Still on the original tyres, brake pads and very durable chain. I go over a lot of potholed roads and for a bike of that weight it handles well and puts up with the abuse. Another design, production and QC success from Honda. I was going to get rid of it but I can't justify selling it at the moment. I might have to have 3 bikes.

Congrats.

Don't know how you made it that far on the OEM tyres...but well done.

I suppose if I was more diligent about keeping the chain nice and oiled it would probably still be ok also.

[nikster]

Just hit the 20,000 km mark today. Still on the original tyres, brake pads and very durable chain. I go over a lot of potholed roads and for a bike of that weight it handles well and puts up with the abuse. Another design, production and QC success from Honda. I was going to get rid of it but I can't justify selling it at the moment. I might have to have 3 bikes.

Good to hear the 500 lives up to Honda expectations.

Just heard from an owner of the CB300 who's had lots of issues - bad workmanship and bad service.

[Sirpia]

Just heard from an owner of the CB300 who's had lots of issues - bad workmanship and bad service.

That's always been my experience of Honda (dealership owners, staff and mechanics) here.

I wouldn't recommend one of them.

[JonnyF]

Just hit the 20,000 km mark today. Still on the original tyres, brake pads and very durable chain. I go over a lot of potholed roads and for a bike of that weight it handles well and puts up with the abuse. Another design, production and QC success from Honda. I was going to get rid of it but I can't justify selling it at the moment. I might have to have 3 bikes.

Good to hear the 500 lives up to Honda expectations.

Just heard from an owner of the CB300 who's had lots of issues - bad workmanship and bad service.

I'd have thought they'd have sorted that out after all the issues with the 250? Not heard too many issues with the 500's (other than riders dying of boredom).

[ll2]

Almost a year on from the last post...how many of us 500X riders are left?

Just an update for the last 16 months of ownership. It seems the bike averages about 24 km/l for mixed mode riding. I tried my best to see the maximum range, and sticking to 3000 RPM with very few bursts up to 4000 I managed to make it 502 km! I was impressed, the old lady wasn't as it had just started to rain as I ran out and we were 2 km past the last petrol station. She just doesn't understand how to do things simply to know the answer.

The GT1 windscreen has been great, but is starting to show its age. The frame guards have been worth their cost; a standing still drop didn't even chip the paint. The Givi Trekker panniers and top box have been nice to have; they're also very sturdy being capable of tearing the front end off a Honda Nova who stupidly pulled out without looking.

The stock Pirelli Scorpion tyres were replaced at 12,000 km. I had a pair of Rosso Corsas spooned on because I didn't want to wait for the Scorpions to come back in stock and I didn't want to pay Big Wing's price for what they had. Was a good choice as I have done much less non-paved riding.

I discovered that the rear mudguard/license plate holder either has weak plastic or overly sized holes as my license plate nuts pulled through it and the plate itself was lost somewhere north of Phitsanulok.

Needed to adjust the clutch about 16,000km as there was an unacceptable amount of play in the take up; nearly 3cm!

I'm easy on my brakes preferring to utilise engine braking and choosing a more of a steady style of riding rather than the hurry up and brake that some riders prefer (yes ll2, I'm talking about you!) so they're still good.

I've finally worn the chain down to the red replace marks on the swing arm. Going to probably get a new set of sprockets while I am at it; want to go with a little shorter gearing for city use as come August I'll be retiring the 500X from touring duties.

The seat still looks good, but the last ~6,000 km has seen a lot of use with Airhawk seat pads. Those pads are a great investment if you ride a long ways.

Barkbusters were also a good idea; they've protected my hands a couple of times I got pissed off enough to let a car run/scrape into them.

My high beam Denali D2 lights went out; trouble-shooting the problem seems to indicate that it's an issue with the relay. I'll still try to unplug/replug all the connections, but that's a pain.

Finally cranked up the preload on the rear shock. WOW! Wish I wasn't so lazy and had done this earlier. Without the pillion it really makes the bike more taut and fully loaded with pillion and full boxes gets back to about what the stock setting feels like with just me...i.e. plush enough I don't get complaints. It really is a pain to do as the left side rear set is in the way. I don't know how many I cranked it up (3?), but just went till I couldn't access the ring any more. If someone were to ask how to do it, I definitely recommend either getting it up on a centre stand and or other way to get the rear tyre fully down and DEFINITELY remove the left rear set.

i still believe, it is one of the best bikes in thailand in terms of value, fun and economy and prefer it to versys anytime.

great report dave! yep i use my brakes a lot as i like to accelerate so changing them every 5000 km and weak rear brake also does not help it - also track days.

hard to find a second hand cb500x so it looks like owners are very pleased and still bigwing sell a lot of them. i see lots of new owners riding them out of bigwing eveytime.

wondering about the new model cb500 x which i am sure will be around like two years. it will be sure better bike with an extra 5 hp.

note: sometime thinking on trading my beloved cbr650f with a cbr1000rr and getting a clean second hand cb500x for my city rides as roads are getting worse in bangkok and lots of construction sites. extra suspension travel helps, it is cheap to run and service. parts cost nothing too and it is nimble, comfy and fast enough.

It depends ll2. On the recent ride with taninthai and Matt, we went through some less than perfect roads (gravelly bits, potholes etc) and both taninthai and I merely stood up on the pegs and blew through these sections. Matt on the other hand had to slow right down as the CB is not built for these rough bits of road (ergonomically speaking that is).

versys sure is a netter bike but heavier, top heavy lets say larger tham cb500x which is nimble and costs less to run.

and cb500x is also fun to ride. some might get bored but it makes 190 kph at 6th gear redline in an acceptable amount of time which is enough. it is not boring for sure and quite capable.

it is just me though.

Edited January 2, 2015 by ll2

[dave_boo]

I'd have thought they'd have sorted that out after all the issues with the 250? Not heard too many issues with the 500's (other than riders dying of boredom).

I haven't heard any issues either.

Strange to think that a scant 6 years ago the Kingdom didn't even have a 43 hp fully legal factory supported motorcycle. Thank you Kawasaki for busting those gates open!

[fullcave]

Saw one yesterday for the first time and had a good walk around and look. Honestly.... it doesn't look like half the bike the versys is.

I was impressed with the CB version, so-so with the CBR version. But the CBX looked small, weak, fragile and toylike. From the plastic to the frame to the swing arm to the rear sets.

Whatever about the rest of the series in comparison to the Kawa range, the CBX looks like half the bike that the versys is.

I tried the versys and it was just too heavy and thirty otherwise nice bike however can’t imagine taking it off road..

[dave_boo]

Saw one yesterday for the first time and had a good walk around and look. Honestly.... it doesn't look like half the bike the versys is.

I was impressed with the CB version, so-so with the CBR version. But the CBX looked small, weak, fragile and toylike. From the plastic to the frame to the swing arm to the rear sets.

Whatever about the rest of the series in comparison to the Kawa range, the CBX looks like half the bike that the versys is.

I tried the versys and it was just too heavy and thirty otherwise nice bike however can’t imagine taking it off road..

You know you're replying to a 20 month old post?

[guzzi850m2]

versys sure is a netter bike but heavier, top heavy lets say larger tham cb500x which is nimble and costs less to run.

and cb500x is also fun to ride. some might get bored but it makes 190 kph at 6th gear redline in an acceptable amount of time which is enough. it is not boring for sure and quite capable.

it is just me though.

Holy cow then it's faster than a Versys, I find that very hard to believe.

The Versys is tested to app 185 km/h.

50hp on the cb500 and about 65 on the versys.

I will very likely be booking a versys next week, can hardly wait, love the look of the new one but not so much on the old ones.

[guzzi850m2]

Saw one yesterday for the first time and had a good walk around and look. Honestly.... it doesn't look like half the bike the versys is.

I was impressed with the CB version, so-so with the CBR version. But the CBX looked small, weak, fragile and toylike. From the plastic to the frame to the swing arm to the rear sets.

Whatever about the rest of the series in comparison to the Kawa range, the CBX looks like half the bike that the versys is.

I tried the versys and it was just too heavy and thirty otherwise nice bike however can’t imagine taking it off road..

You know you're replying to a 20 month old post?

Better late than never, eh.

[taninthai]

I found the cbr 500 hard to get past 170kmh, maybe down hill with a tailwind possible ,or change the sprockets so your Speedo is completely out....?

versys sure is a netter bike but heavier, top heavy lets say larger tham cb500x which is nimble and costs less to run.

and cb500x is also fun to ride. some might get bored but it makes 190 kph at 6th gear redline in an acceptable amount of time which is enough. it is not boring for sure and quite capable.

it is just me though.

Holy cow then it's faster than a Versys, I find that very hard to believe.

The Versys is tested to app 185 km/h.

50hp on the cb500 and about 65 on the versys.

I will very likely be booking a versys next week, can hardly wait, love the look of the new one but not so much on the old ones.

[taninthai]

Oh dear quotes mixed up above ,the top paragraph is mine not LL,s

[ll2]

versys sure is a netter bike but heavier, top heavy lets say larger tham cb500x which is nimble and costs less to run.

and cb500x is also fun to ride. some might get bored but it makes 190 kph at 6th gear redline in an acceptable amount of time which is enough. it is not boring for sure and quite capable.

it is just me though.

Holy cow then it's faster than a Versys, I find that very hard to believe.

The Versys is tested to app 185 km/h.

50hp on the cb500 and about 65 on the versys.

I will very likely be booking a versys next week, can hardly wait, love the look of the new one but not so much on the old ones.

versys makes more than 185 kph.

max cb500x can make is 190 kph. but 170 - 180 kph is the way.

all speedo indicated.

your info is not true.

Edited January 3, 2015 by ll2

[Sirpia]

versys makes more then 185 kph.

max cb500x can make is 190 kph. but 170 - 180 kph is the way.

In English please.

Are you trying to say that a CB500X has a higher top-speed than a Versys 650?

A simple yes or no would be clear.

[ll2]

versys makes more then 185 kph.

max cb500x can make is 190 kph. but 170 - 180 kph is the way.

In English please.

Are you trying to say that a CB500X has a higher top-speed than a Versys 650?

A simple yes or no would be clear.

you questioning me?

post is clear, if you did not understand, come back when you have a clear mind and when you have more understanding of english.

Edited January 3, 2015 by ll2

[guzzi850m2]

Hmm, In all the tests I seen on the Versys and where they give the top speed, it's app 185 real world km/h, what you get on the speedometer are hardly accurate, they tend to be optimistic.

http://www.versys.co.uk/index.php/topic,18254.0.html

You can see Youtube clips with Honda cbr500 doing 220 km/h and cbr300 doing 180, I buy it when I see GPS readings and not before.

Edited January 3, 2015 by guzzi850m2

[Sirpia]

versys makes more then 185 kph.

max cb500x can make is 190 kph. but 170 - 180 kph is the way.

In English please.

Are you trying to say that a CB500X has a higher top-speed than a Versys 650?

A simple yes or no would be clear.

you questioning me?

Ummmm..... I'm questioning if you are trying to say that a CB500X has a higher top-speed than a Versys 650?

Are you?

post is clear, if you did not understand, come back when you have a clear mind and when you have more understanding of english.

Ummmmm.....

A simple yes or no would suffice.... Not sure where you're going with this to be honest. I gather you're a non-native speaker, sometimes they have problems with their clarity, so it's best go through things clearly with them so there aren't any misunderstandings.

A simple yes or no would be clear to all, and not allow for any misunderstandings or miscommunication. Not sure what the drama is.

[ll2]

Hmm, In all the tests I seen on the Versys and where they give the top speed, it's app 185 real world km/h, what you get on the speedometer are hardly accurate, they tend to be optimistic.

http://www.versys.co.uk/index.php/topic,18254.0.html

You can see Youtube clips with Honda cbr500 doing 220 km/h and cbr300 doing 180, I buy it when I see GPS readings and not before.

all i know, versys can climb a bit more than 210 kph speedo indicated.

so it is like 190 - 195 kph gps speed.

cb500x makes 190 kph max speedo indicated which is around 175 kph gps speed.

Edited January 3, 2015 by ll2

[ll2]

In English please.

Are you trying to say that a CB500X has a higher top-speed than a Versys 650?

A simple yes or no would be clear.

you questioning me?

Ummmm..... I'm questioning if you are trying to say that a CB500X has a higher top-speed than a Versys 650?

Are you?

post is clear, if you did not understand, come back when you have a clear mind and when you have more understanding of english.

Ummmmm.....

A simple yes or no would suffice.... Not sure where you're going with this to be honest. I gather you're a non-native speaker, sometimes they have problems with their clarity, so it's best go through things clearly with them so there aren't any misunderstandings.

A simple yes or no would be clear to all, and not allow for any misunderstandings or miscommunication. Not sure what the drama is.

it sounds more like you have understanding problems than the clarity of my post.

anyway, to please you: versys of course is faster than a cb500x. and it is easy to understand than when you check the specs.

i believe you know the answer but still asking.

[Sirpia]

Clarity.

Thanks for the effort as your original post was muddled.

[guzzi850m2]

Oh sorry, it was a cb500 carburated from 2001 I saw on Youtube, but this guy is going for it and takes no prisoners, lol.

[Sirpia]

That's quite a good visual microcosm.

Hondas from two decades ago kicking ass versus the Hondas of today.

[dave_boo]

That's quite a good visual microcosm.

Hondas from two decades ago kicking ass versus the Hondas of today.

Not hard.

The new 500 series was designed to fit the A2 license scheme. I.E., "Motorcycles of a power not exceeding 35 kW and with a power/weight ratio not exceeding 0,2 kW/kg and not derived from a vehicle of more than double its power.".

And let's look at the price. The bike was released in 1994 at £3655 or £6498 adjusted for inflation. The 500X retails for £5400. £1000 more for an indicated +30km/h isn't that much of an ass kicking.

**edit**

FWIW, that £6498 lines up nicely with what you'd pay for a CB650F now a days. And you get +50% cylinders, +50% HP...etc.

Edited January 3, 2015 by dave_boo

[Sirpia]

That's quite a good visual microcosm.

Hondas from two decades ago kicking ass versus the Hondas of today.

Not hard.

The new 500 series was designed to fit the A2 license scheme.

Absolutely, two different cups of tea serving two different sets of drinkers, and different company direction as a whole.

My first bike was a CBR250RR, now that thing screamed!

Edited January 3, 2015 by Sirpia