Got a new bike...CB500X

[rob-houston]

finally after 11 years! Honda CB500X with ABS!

First pic: In front of 1915 family home (1st cousins)!

Guest house next door:

Lake Bistineau with low water:

Bodcau Dam:

Taylortown:

Highway to Taylortown:

Did 255 miles breaking the bike in and got 70.8 MPG!

 

[Hail]

Re: Got a new bike...

Congrats! That is one sharp looking bike.

 

[Snoopster]

Re: Got a new bike...

Congrats on the new bike. Great pics and incredible gas mileage.

 

[TwoSmokeDS]

Re: Got a new bike...

got 70.8 MPG!

Must be really lean.

 

[SwampFox]

Re: Got a new bike...

Congrats on the new bike, Rob. I see you've been riding around our neck of the woods up here. Unfortunately, salvinia choked Bistineau looks more like a golf course than a lake.

 

[rob-houston]

Re: Got a new bike...

Congrats on the new bike. Great pics and incredible gas mileage.

That didn't last long!

The ride up Robert's Cemetery Rd, 362, 3090 etc to Yankee's:

brought the mileage down to 58.7 mpg! But I really got the tires scrubbed in almost to the edge!

 

[rob-houston]

Re: Got a new bike...

Congrats on the new bike, Rob. I see you've been riding around our neck of the woods up here. Unfortunately, salvinia choked Bistineau looks more like a golf course than a lake.

I grew up there! Got a really good deal on an ABS model from G&C. Bought all of my previous Honda's (and Penton) from Bob Goodacre!

I'm a occasional caretaker for my '98 year old uncle! So I'm there for 8-10 days once or twice a month.
I do his garden!

104 tomatoes (Chelsea cherry, argentine,roma,merced,big boy, better boy,purple and black)
71 pepper (Habanero,jalapeno,poblano,banana,green bell, yellow bell)
16 cucumber(burpless,straight 8) etc.

 

[cdc]

Re: Got a new bike...

Very nice bike and good pictures.
Congratulations.

 

[tshelfer]

Re: Got a new bike...

So - We can all quit speculating about the CB500X, and you can give us the REAL skinny. We'll be looking forward to hearing more.

 

[kickstand~prophet]

Re: Got a new bike...

I have just this month looked into the CB500X and it was a really nice bike in person. I fit on it and it seemed comfortable sitting on at the dealer. Did you get any of the optional equipment ordered with the bike? Like Tim says we are interested in any info you have on the bike since it is a new model. We here at TWT starve for new intel from owners of the newest motorcycles on the market. Drew

 

[rob-houston]

Re: Got a new bike...

Don't get too excited about a new inexpensive dual sport bike! It's essentially an adventure styled street bike. The only differences besides style is 1 inch more travel at the front and 1 inch more ground clearance. 1/2 gal larger tank. There is no place to put a skid plate and the oil pan bottom is very vulnerable to rocks or a curb!

I got a rear hugger and a centerstand with the bike that I installed myself.

I bought it to be a longer distance tourer (than a Ninja 250 ) with room for luggage and space to move around while traveling. It is a low powered bike, 35KW/47HP, to meet the European A2 License requirements. It's essentially a Japanese Honda 400 stroked to 471cc! Hence the good mileage.

255 miles 3.6 gals = 70.8 mpg
237 miles 3.4 gals = 68.3 mpg
236 miles 3.8 gals = 62.1 mpg
215 miles 3.7 gals = 58.7 mpg

 

[kickstand~prophet]

Re: Got a new bike...

Don't get too excited about a new inexpensive dual sport bike! It's essentially an adventure styled street bike. The only differences besides style is 1 inch more travel at the front and 1 inch more ground clearance. 1/2 gal larger tank. There is no place to put a skid plate and the oil pan bottom is very vulnerable to rocks or a curb!

I got a rear hugger and a centerstand with the bike that I installed myself.

I bought it to be a longer distance tourer (than a Ninja 250 ) with room for luggage and space to move around while traveling. It is a low powered bike, 35KW/47HP, to meet the European A2 License requirements. It's essentially a Japanese Honda 400 stroked to 471cc! Hence the good mileage.

255 miles 3.6 gals = 70.8 mpg
237 miles 3.4 gals = 68.3 mpg
236 miles 3.8 gals = 62.1 mpg
215 miles 3.7 gals = 58.7 mpg

Thanks for the heads up on no skid plate mounting. Guess a custom one would be the only answer. Still a neat bike keep us up to date on the likes and dislikes. Drew

 

[Desmo]

Re: Got a new bike...

Congrats on the new ride, Rob. I know you about wore out that Ninja. If you were on Roberts Cemetary Road you passed right by my house. Let me know next time you are in the 'hood and we can do a ride together.

Steve

 

[rob-houston]

Re: Got a new bike...

Congrats on the new ride, Rob. I know you about wore out that Ninja. If you were on Roberts Cemetary Road you passed right by my house. Let me know next time you are in the 'hood and we can do a ride together.

Steve

We go by your house every time we go to Yankee's! Like the hamburgers with Jalapeno buns. Always glad to have another rider! More the merrier!!

kickstand~prophet
Forgot to mention the x comes with Pirelli Scorpions instead of the Honda version of the Dunlop Roadsmarts!

No rear rack.
No handle bar brace.
Whimpy horn (having trouble getting used to new button placement)
Has emergency flashers.
Hits rev-limiter too quick!
Handles great with radial tires!!

More than happy so far!

 

[Ben Eberle]

Congratulations on the new bike. I came very close to getting one myself but settled for the Ninja 300 instead, mostly because I like the local Kawasaki dealer and he made me a good deal.

Most people get a progression of bigger and bigger bikes, I just went the other way, from a Kawasaki ZRX1200R to this. Why? Because a 540 pound bike that only gets about 45 mpg kind of misses the whole point of a motorcycle. An economical alternative to a car.
On a 55 mph farm to market road, there's no other bike I'd rather be on.

Must be really lean.

Not necessarily, there's more to good gas mileage than a lean mixture, in fact, a stoichiometric mixture usually gets better mpg than an overly lean mixture does.
But a stupid-rich mixture will kill mpg.

 

[SwampFox]

...I'm a occasional caretaker for my '98 year old uncle! So I'm there for 8-10 days once or twice a month.
I do his garden! ....

Look at that bounty! I often pass thru the area on a summertime Saturday morning ride:

... Most people get a progression of bigger and bigger bikes, I just went the other way.....

I too have migrated from RT's & Goldwing's to mid-size bikes like the R850R, but now, when I'm not venturing out on the sidecar rig, prefer to ride the 250cc on the smaller roads -- not too far down from some of the above pics:

 

[Mudclod]

Nice bike Rob, those will sell well!

 

[tshelfer]

Nice bike Rob, those will sell well!

I think so. With gas prices inching toward $4 even in Texas, more Americans are going to get more & more fuel conscious. As I've said on some other threads, I just can't see the point of having a bike that gets about the same mileage as my RSX. Honda is betting a lot on the theory that midsized bikes with small fuel appetites will only grow in popularity as gas prices continue to rise. I say bring it on.

 

[Ben Eberle]

I think so. With gas prices inching toward $4 even in Texas, more Americans are going to get more & more fuel conscious. As I've said on some other threads, I just can't see the point of having a bike that gets about the same mileage as my RSX. Honda is betting a lot on the theory that midsized bikes with small fuel appetites will only grow in popularity as gas prices continue to rise. I say bring it on.

Not just the re-emergence of mid sized bikes but also the re-emergence of standards or normal motorcycles. You notice that Honda offers this bike in three configurations, none of those configurations is a cruiser.

Not only has there been a dearth of small to midsized bikes on the showrooms for the last couple of decades, there also has been a dearth of bikes that weren't either chrome laden feet forward cruisers or extreme sport bikes. If you wanted a standard, you dang near had to buy a dirt bike and put street tires on it.

 

[rob-houston]

Look at that bounty! I often pass thru the area on a summertime Saturday morning ride:

I too have migrated from RT's & Goldwing's to mid-size bikes like the R850R, but now, when I'm not venturing out on the sidecar rig, prefer to ride the 250cc on the smaller roads -- not too far down from some of the above pics:

I know the Hutchinson, Frierson's, uncle's Robson and my grandfather's brick stores well! Took a picture of the Hutchinson and Frierson stores and the camera didn't take (I hate buggy digital products!).

Have lots of fond memories of stories told to me by o' Jim Harvey about my father getting his father's Packard stuck in the snow and my maternal grandfather (who played minor league) passing the World Series play down the telegraph when there was nothing else to transmit!

 

[rob-houston]

I think so. With gas prices inching toward $4 even in Texas, more Americans are going to get more & more fuel conscious. As I've said on some other threads, I just can't see the point of having a bike that gets about the same mileage as my RSX. Honda is betting a lot on the theory that midsized bikes with small fuel appetites will only grow in popularity as gas prices continue to rise. I say bring it on.

You should see how thrilled the Brit riders are about hitting 90 mpg (Imp) during run in!

This is the best website I've found: http://www.cbr500riders.com/

 

[tshelfer]

That too, Ben. If you want a cruiser, there are nearly 100 new models available, just looking through the new-model pages of the various manufacturers. I wouldn't exactly say they've been overbuilt, but there may be a reason why CL is littered with cruisers for sale. Hmm, so maybe I WOULD say they're overbuilt. Ditto sport bikes, both on the new models and on the backlogs of used ones for sale. If you've wanted a standard, you've pretty much had to buy an adventure bike.

I'm looking into the future thinking, once again, you're going to meet the nicest people on a Honda. Green, Yellow and Blue - wake up, fellows.

 

[kickstand~prophet]

That too, Ben. If you want a cruiser, there are nearly 100 new models available, just looking through the new-model pages of the various manufacturers. I wouldn't exactly say they've been overbuilt, but there may be a reason why CL is littered with cruisers for sale. Hmm, so maybe I WOULD say they're overbuilt. Ditto sport bikes, both on the new models and on the backlogs of used ones for sale. If you've wanted a standard, you've pretty much had to buy an adventure bike.

I'm looking into the future thinking, once again, you're going to meet the nicest people on a Honda. Green, Yellow and Blue - wake up, fellows.

Seems like after the tariff on Japanese motorcycles the market was flooded with cruisers. Sort of a way to get back at Harley and take away some market share.

It is true that there is difficulty finding a standard motorcycle until recently. A nice tubular handle bar and upright riding position is really nice for us older/seasoned riders.

With all the horse power wars the mpg has plummeted. Plus tiny tanks get limited distances. Which with clip-ons that is most likely the plan anyhow.

The CB500 X is a step in the right direction. Still not crazy about all the weird angles almost all the new style bikes have but I guess I need to adapt. Drew

 

[tshelfer]

Yeah, you need to adapt, Drew. Join the '90s.

For me, the perfect bike would have all the modern stuff, but basically look and sit like a late 70s Honda or Yahama.................. Yeah, I know - join the '90s, right?

 

[kickstand~prophet]

Yeah, you need to adapt, Drew. Join the '90s.

For me, the perfect bike would have all the modern stuff, but basically look and sit like a late 70s Honda or Yahama.................. Yeah, I know - join the '90s, right?

Still stuck in the 70-80s. FI and factory bags are sure nice to have,I still like the lines of a CB750F or a old GPZ. The angled body work still has not stuck with me yet.

I did like the CB when I looked at it in person. I still am not 100% on what my next bike will be. Leaning towards a DP bike. Drew