Honda CB500X: Long test ride review

I have always said that the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 is my perfect do-it-all single bike to have in my garage. Now, I would add the Honda CB500X as a worthy alternate.

BHPian neil.jericho recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Earlier this year, I had shared a couple of posts on this thread over here and later, here, that covered my thoughts on the Honda CB500X. Since I have been closely following the bike for years, I know what a lot of veteran riders from international markets have said after covering tens of thousands of kilometers, what quality levels to expect, and so on.

I finally got a long test ride of the Honda CB500X and it reinforced everything that I have seen and heard about the bike. After an hour and a half, I grudgingly returned the keys to the dealership folks because I really enjoyed my time with the bike. This is yet another over-engineered gem of a bike from the fine folks at Honda!

In summary

• Don't let the 47.5 HP number fool you into thinking that this is a boring Honda. I had a lot of fun with the motorcycle!
• If you want one bike to manage peak rush hour traffic every day, Friday night coffee meetings with friends, Saturday grocery trips to buy veggies, Sunday morning breakfast rides, quarterly rides to a nearby hill station and the once a year ten-day road trip, then this is the perfect bike for you.
• This bike gives you all the advantages of a big bike (looks, power, effortless highway cruising, easy overtakes) without any of the usually associated disadvantages (cumbersome weight at low speeds, heavy clutch, engine heat, unusable power). It really is the best of both worlds.
• In recent years, I've test ridden the Africa Twin (first gen DCT), CBR650F, CB650R and I've really liked most of them. I thought that I had found the perfect bike with the CB650R but after riding the CB500X over a considerable distance, I had to re-evaluate my choices. If a boffin from HMSI woke up in a generous mood and asked me to pick the keys to any bike from their test fleet for me to ride for a month, I would take the CB500X. It's a no brainer.
• I have always maintained that the Interceptor 650 is my perfect do-it-all single bike to have in my garage. Now, I would add the Honda CB500X as a worthy alternate. Both are excellent motorcycles.
• There has been a lot of recent chatter about the Tiger Sport 660 and how it is going to be a better option than the CB500X. MCN suggested that the bike is a sports touring version of the Street Triple 675. That tells me everything that I need to know about the new Triumph. If I can summarize the Honda and the Triumph, I will say that the CB500X is a big small bike and the Tiger Sport 660 is a small big bike.

Money no bar, if I could buy one motorcycle to add to my garage tomorrow, it would be the Honda CB500X. Yes, even over new and preowned options like the Tiger 900/800, Versys 650/1000, VStrom 650, Ninja 1000, ZX10R, Street Triple RS 765 and every other big bike across segments. As a product, the CB500X is the perfect bike for my kind of all round riding.

Unfortunately, the CB500X is overpriced by at least a couple of lakhs and Honda needs to consider offering the same no road tax, no insurance cost deals for the CB500X, that it provided for some of its bigger motorcycles. Or something better. Only then can riders like me think about heading to the nearest Big Wing dealership with a chequebook in hand.

Here's what BHPian Rachit.K.Dogra had to say about the matter:

I cannot share how much I am itching to get this bike. I can pay a premium for a finely engineered product as well. But if the Premium is 3 lakhs, unfortunately, it is out of my affordability league.

True to what you said. If I want to add 1 bike in my garage today of all the big ADVs or whatnot, this is it.

Hopefully will be test riding the BMW G 310 GS soon.

Please, Honda, launch this bike at a fair price. Everybody loves this bike, but the price has just been a shocker!

Here's what BHPian SoumenD had to say about the matter:

Well, I guess we don’t have anyone in this forum or elsewhere in India who thinks otherwise. Since the 500X was launched everyone has maintained the same stand. Other than the exorbitant sticker price, 500X is just the perfect bike for Indian conditions. Personally, I will wait for used examples as I don’t think the Honda folks are in any mood to amend the pricing.

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