Honda CB500X

The Honda CB500X stands tall on the stance and this is what gives the riders a commanding position along with superior ergonomics. However, despite this, the seat height has been kept at 810 mm, which wouldn’t make it very difficult for the people who aren’t tall.

The motorcycle features an attractive design that sees amazingly sculpted at the front and contrastingly plush rear end. It rides on 17-inch wheels at both ends and the stability thus offered is immense, especially while touring on the open highways.

The information console is a full-digital unit that shows a plethora of handy aspects. The seat is a single unit instead of dual stepped, which offers more comfort for the pillion on long rides.

Riding a Honda CB500X is just like what you would expect from a dual-purpose adventure tourer motorcycle. It has the high saddle and long windshield to make for the perfect appearance to hit the highways in style.

The motorcycle is a delight on the medium distance tours and offers a stable performance. The seats are pretty soft and long enough to allow the riders to get into a comfortable position while cruising. It remains stable on the sharp turns too, including the times when you lean at high speeds. And for this, the 120 mm front and 160 mm rear tyres should be given the credit.

Apart from just the tyres, the suspension also plays a part in the leaning and cornering. The front forks have a long 140 mm travel while the preload monoshock at the rear is 120 mm.

The Honda CB500X is powered by a healthy engine in the half-litre segment and is capable of making a good amount of power. There is a 471 cc twin-cylinder engine which gets liquid cooling and a six-speed manual gearbox. This setup is capable of sending down 49.6 hp power at 8,500 rpm along with a peak torque of 44 Nm, which comes at just 7,000 rpm.

The chain final drive and wet multi-plate clutch are well tuned to make the long tours very smooth. Also most of the vibrations are kept at bay.

As expected, the Japanese company offers disc brakes for both the wheels of the CB500X. The front has a 320 mm hydraulic disc rotor with a two-piston caliper while the rear gets a single-piston caliper for the 240 mm rotor. And with the introduction of the 2018 model, the company has added the benefits of ABS as well, albeit as an option.

Apart from this, the bike is built to be an exceptional model when it comes to stability. The tyres are thick, no doubt, and are very grippy too. Hence, sudden braking would not get you off your seat.

The Honda CB500X is an inevitable addition by the company in the Malaysian market in the yesteryears. The fact then, there weren’t many bikes from the company in the genre which makes it even more special.

The bike manages to take on the Benelli TRK 502 in the similar displacement segment and Kawasaki Versys (which is over 150 cc bigger). However, considering the price of the ABS variant, the Honda CB500X makes for a very expensive offering and is given a similar tag as the Versys 650.