Honda CB500X motorcycle | Honda CB500X bike for all riders

You’ll have perhaps noticed that we often manage to get our hands onto some impressive pre-owned machines for our pages. The fact is that there are more pre-loved motorcycles available to us than new ones.

We wandered onto the Bikeshop Rivonia floor on Coffee break Tuesday and found this perfect Honda CB500X looking for a ride.

Don’t scoff at smaller:

Who rides smaller bikes?

Well, usually youngsters, people learning to ride and many of the ladies who prefer less intimidating machines. Ah yes, then there are the older riders who no longer wish to wrestle with a bike that weighs as much as their house. Especially when they hit the dirt. And then, of course there are those peeps who are looking for a cost effective, economical set of wheels.

But – and we’ll tell you this for free – even seasoned riders who usually ride much bigger machines have a smaller bike at home just for poking about.

We hopped on at the store and hit the road with a few stops all over the place to call on friends, before hitting the freeway back to our offices one chilly winter evening.

Immediate impressions. Small, light, Maneuverable.

A pleasure through traffic with a commanding view thanks to the upright ergonomics. Comfortable, narrow. Ok we are gushing now, but especially in manic traffic like we often have in JHB, a smaller bike is just a more sensible option for skieting around.

Power you ask?

Well this is a 500cc parallel twin, so it doesn’t really stretch your arms, but it’s more than nippy enough to get you ahead of the traffic and to overtake that fool on his cell phone.

During a stop in at a buddies house for a cuppa Java and a chinwag, said friend’s wife, who owns a Harley and a Ducati Multistrada, arrived home, looked at the little Honda and seemed to fall in love.

“It’s really pretty, and small,” She said after climbing aboard just to feel the weight. It’s a lot smaller and lighter than her bikes for sure! We bet that there was much discussion about the merits of a smaller bike making its way into the garage. We hope that she rides one soon

By now it’s dark when we hit the freeway. The little Honda pulls willingly up to the legal speed limit and well beyond up to the 150KPH mark.

Cruising speed: 140, all day long.

The LED lights cut a swathe the whole way home, so you can see and you’ll be seen.

When the tar ends… The fun continues…

Day 2 was a mixup of suburban streets and – of course a bit of dirt – that’s why you buy a bike like this. Not So?

We’ll bet that we are not the only ADV riders who have often wished for a smaller bike at some time or other out there. C’mon, Admit it!

The Honda is small, feels light and narrow and it’s easy to get your feet to the ground. It’s also torquey enough without getting silly and quick enough to keep up with your mates on their bigger bikes on the fast gravel roads.

In trickier terrain, the ground clearance with the smaller front wheel may be a slight limitation, but getting your feet onto the ground is an awful lot easier.

Where the tar ends…

So we extol the virtues of the bike – it really is a lot of fun, and a Honda after all. But nothing is really that perfect is it?

Bigger riders will need to pay a bit of attention to the suspension – if the plan is to spend a lot of time in the dirt. The Showa units are fine for everything, but a bigger rider might just want to set them up a bit stiffer. We can’t see a smaller (Read lighter) rider having any complaints.

There you go – some food for thought.

Smaller, lighter, more manageable… What’s not to like?

Did we mention that the bike runs on the sniff of an oil rag (we saw almost 30 KM’s to a litre) and over the years, this Honda has proved to be as reliable as an anvil.

Just ask anyone who owns one.