CB500 Review
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- A short review of my 1997 Honda CB500V, I have used this as my daily rider over the last year and share some of my experiences with it. The bike was purchased as a garage find, you can see the story of the bike in the playlist.
Fantastic motorcycle, very fast, very reliable, easy to ride, easy on the pockets, easy maintenance, cheap insurance , you can race them, you can love them 😊
I have a cb 500 s 02 one also in central Scotland amd it is a fantastic all round bike. Had a K100 LT as I thought I wanted a big touring bike, did not like the weight at all , kept it a year and thank goodness still had the Honda. I use it to commute, tour and day trips and it is all the bike I need , 6 speed box is great and eceonomy is similar to yours. I find if I really want to row it along it goes like stink and mates with more powerful bikes are often surprised and they never look like they are having as much fun as me.
Agree, I keep thinking about getting a bigger bike and then when I ride the Honda I just feel content! It's fast enough for our roads, and as you say, great fun when it's wound up!
I had one when I was 22 years old. I loved it. It had beautiful "whisle" engine sound. Everything on it was just amazing and gave you the feel of quality.
It holds a lot for being an unassuming bike
Just purchased one of these today, I’m so happy.
Took it for test ride last week and loved it
One of the best bikes Honda ever made.
I've had mine for 23 years i bought it new i have now covered 140,000 miles ,yes you heard right 140,000 miles still going strong. I have now retired and have three motorcycles so she is used more sparingly.
That's fantastic and proves just how good these bikes are, I am only up to 7K miles, good to know it will go the distance!
Great review. I have one, bought in Stonehaven in 2009 just before I passed my test. I've still got it! Such a nice bike, and I also have a Nonfango rack. I like the panniers, they are slim but quite long. I worry slightly about replacement lenses for the indicators at the back, so I've secured mine with some tape - just in case.
@johnlesax Hi John, seeming many people have kept this bike long term, it's easy to see why after riding it for a while! Great to hear you still have your bike and enjoy it. On a nite of the rear nonfango lenses, mine were missing, I made up some crude ones that never really worked as I just could not get replacements. Eventually I modified the bracket to take small Oxford units, these look pretty good and work really well. Thanks for watching the video
I have had my for 8 years, 55000 on the clock and it runs like new love it.
The bike grows on me the more I use it!
Great bike !! The " Half Fireblade " I had two from brand new and put over 500,000 miles on one of them . I was a dispatch rider in Dublin . They really fly when you give 'em the berries lol !
Brilliant to hear! You prove the reliability point in these bikes. I would imagine it being ideal for courier work
@@johndocbikerestorations831 Bulletproof !
Half a million miles!! Blarney.
@@ekspatriat No , Dublin . Blarney is in the countryside .
I've had too many bikes to mention here but l now only have one and that is a 2002 honda cb 500s, probably one of the Best motorcycles ever made.
This motorcycle is extremely powerful over 6k revs and will put a smile on the face of any advanced rider.
Mine has the half fairing and will sit comfortably at 85mph all day.
Top speed is 120 mph but I'm happy at 70.😊
It's so easy to ride and being a Honda it's totally reliable in every way, mechanically and performance wise.
The 500cc enjine is perfect for UK and Ireland and suits are roads perfectly.
I had one of these in the mid 2000s, and apart from not being very pretty, the bike was awesome.. nothing like the modern detuned counterparts !
It does seem a pity the modern incarnations have less power than these do
Nice to see a review on older Hondas. Thanks. I've got a 2005 CBF500 and a 2023 CB500X.
Enjoy them both. I didn't realise the older 500 had a seat height of 82.3 inches!!.. and I thought my CB500X had a high seat! 😂.👍
Lol, my mistake centimetres!
@@johndocbikerestorations831 Damn this new fangled metric system!! Enjoy the Honda. 😁👍
I had one as my third bike back in 1998, and it was actually the bike I passed my direct access on, I bought it from my instructor.
Thereafter ,I had it for a couple of years and even dispatched on it in London for a year and it was amazing, agile, comfy and handled really well.
I sold it and bought a GSX600f , just for the faring and extra engine power, but I have fond memories of this bike 🙂
I got an indicated 120mph out of it too 😛
They were really popular with bike schools then, my brother was an instructor back in the day and he used one and loved it! Amazing these little bikes are still so capable today.
living in usa ive never seen this bike, but it looks perfect to my taste
Yes, I think Honda made a mistake by not exporting it to the USA
I did my direct access licence on one in the late 90's. It was good fun to ride and first since the 70's & 80's 250's. I also rode one of the schools GS500 for half a day, the Honda was noticeably better and good preparation for my ZX-6R waiting at home.
Ahh, loved the good old days of early 250s!
i had one, a 1995 model new. i had it for 28 years. great bike. if you get to 5500tpm then the horsepower kick in.
I gave it to my brother. Now i have a MT07. Also a great bike. The cb500 was a tour bike, the mt07 is a traffic light to traffic light bike.
Agree the CB500 is such a good bike. I look forward to riding the Tracer, the short ride I had on it felt good!
@johndocbikerestorations831 the mt07 (tracer) is a little bit more bike. Uhm little bit more mature and the power is great till 6000tpm. The cb500 is great after 6000tpm.
Both are great bikes
Nice review. I don't believe these were available in the states, but it reminds me of the GS500 (air-cooled) that we could get.
Yes, I believe you are right, it was only exported to the European markets which seems stange!
I have two cb500's , one has 86k miles(I've put 56k on it) other cb500s has 54k miles(put 34k miles on that) they go for ever , but rust away eventually if not regularly cleaned. One best bikes I've owned also have vfr800& Fireblade...cb500 cruises at 80mph on motorway...it's not lacking in power for what it is...
They are great work horses, just get the job done with minimal fuss!
Could not agree more. I sold mine back in the summer, regret it ever since.
Keep thinking of finally selling mine on too and getting something like a Wee-Strom, but then I see comments like this!
@@graememorrison333You'll not go wrong with a V Strom 650. Wish I'd kept mine.
Great review. I'm looking at one of these this week. I love the screen you've got on it. Where did you get it from? Also, do the cam chains ever need to be changed on these?
Steve, the screen is a generic Givi, they are available on eBay. The cam chains don't give any trouble as far as I know, people have done mega miles on these. Join the Facebook page for these and you will get loads of info. Good luck with your bike!
Thanks for the advice.@@johndocbikerestorations831
Bike in lovely condition 👍
Did anyone ever make a fork brace for these? (Can't seem to find one on t'internet...)
I would ask the racing guys on FB, if anyone knows of one it will be them!
What kind of luggage system do you have? Looks very slim!
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, just found your comment. It is a "Nonfango" system, was fitted to the bike when it was new in 1997, works really well, as you say it's pretty slim so better in traffic than some of the wide systems!
Good review. Seasons greetings.
Cheers Frank, Boab and I send you our best
Anything Honda 500 is all you need.
Agree, it will do the job for you
I think anything upward 40hp suffices.
Hi! I bought the bike a few days ago in Bucharest, 1998 cb500s. Btw you know which Givi Tanklock ring fit to the bike? The tank bag I have from previous bike, but I can’t find a ring for this model. Suggest please if you know? Thank you 🙏
Great to hear you have bought one. Sorry I can't help with the ring, I had a look online but can't find information. Try the Honda CB500 Facebook forum, someone on there might know.
@@johndocbikerestorations831 Thank you! I will try 🙏
I’d love to restore a CB175 and turn it into a cafe racer. 😬
Me too, that is a lovely bike!
You see these for a grand on ebay, sat there for weeks unsold. Then a horrible pile of Superdream, cb500s vastly inferior predecessor, snapped up for twice the money.
Funny breed, bikers.
The CB500 will eventually be recognised for the brilliant bike it is! Buy them now for a grand!
@@johndocbikerestorations831 Actually I wish I'd bought a vt500e when still some left. Unbelievable bikes. The ntv 600/650, however, was absolute poo.
@@tombartram7384 Yea, don't see too many Vts these days
@@johndocbikerestorations831 infact, other than the one I owned, Ive never seen one in the flesh. If I were in the market now for a cheap middleweight I'd go for a 650 deauville over the cb5. They're much more nimble than people realise.
@@tombartram7384 I had a 650 a while ago, used it as a winter hack, nice torquey engine, rusted badly around the water pump and exhaust. good weather protection and reliable, got knocked off it and it was written off. I would go for the 700, nicer engine and other improvements.