All Tests – CB500F Test: Honda sharpens its little roadster – MNC tests the CB500F in 600 turns

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CB500F test: Honda sharpens its little roadster

All Tests - CB500F Test: Honda sharpens its little roadster - MNC tests the CB500F in 600 turns

Three years after relaunching its famous CB500F, Honda performs a meticulous update of its roadster: aesthetic boost, improvements to some practical aspects and conservation of most of its mechanics. Decortic site…

MNC tests the CB500F in 600 turns

The absence of a gear indicator on the CB500F is less of a problem than on other motorcycles of smaller displacement. As the Honda Europe Marketing Manager pointed out: "our bike is a real 500, not a 125 with a 300 cc engine".

In use, this translates into the possibility of running on torque, around 5,000 rpm. It is even possible to arouse without necessarily hitting the twin cylinder: it is at 7000 rpm, ie 2500 rpm before the red zone, that the "Cebe" reaches its maximum torque..

Always excessively linear, the engine of the CB500F is unlikely to surprise its pilot, which can be both good and disappointing … The watermill has a comfortable range of current use from 4500 to 9500 rev / min. Too bad he is not a little more angry in the last third of the counter.

Compared to its small direct competitors "the CB500F is heavier", readily admits our interlocutor, "but it is suddenly more stable and gives more confidence, like a real average displacement".

This skilful argument, Site was able to validate it by attacking happily in the small virolos and large curves of the natural park of the "Sierra Norte de Sevilla". Effectively more agile than the 600 (650, 750 or 800!), The CB500F remains a little more stable than the 300 (or 390).

The Honda therefore allows novice bikers to make the glove on a machine which reacts more like a motorcycle of average displacement, than like a "big 125 cc". A good point for this machine which is aimed primarily at A2 license holders !

With its low saddle and flat, high and wide handlebars, the CB500F greatly facilitates low speed evolutions. The smallest sizes will praise his excellent balance while the older ones will praise the good reception reserved for their legs and sitting..

The controls are always so pleasant, even a little more since "for 2016, the shape of the selection drum as well as the setting of the return spring have been modified for easier and smoother gear changes", specifies Honda.

The manufacturer also announces a slightly more frank engine response thanks to the modification of the intake of the airbox and that of its filter. So far, Site has not felt the slightest difference. In addition, the PGM-FI injection and the transmission continue to perform well..

Le Journal moto du net is more circumspect regarding the new supposed short exhaust "deliver a more exciting sound". A bit more present – especially when you are next to it – the sound of the CB500F remains very discreet … which is not bad for an urban vehicle !

From a dynamic point of view, the contribution of the lighter pot is imperceptible. The fact that the front fork is now adjustable in preload – to point out, the top caps are anodized in blue! – was not used either Site which has kept the satisfactory factory setting.

Surprising for a motorcycle in this category, the very good balance between rigor and comfort of the suspensions makes it possible to cross the retarders without ever suffering, to accelerate out of a curve without shuddering and to brake on the angle without slackening. The chassis of the CB500F is a success: you can drive at an impressive pace, even scary for a beginner !

The moderate bite of the two pistons of the single front caliper – different in appearance but technically identical – is very appreciable when driving in the city, especially on cobbled streets with more than uncertain grip. By insisting a little on the right lever, we can then effectively slow down the bike.

By insisting heavily, we even end up taking the wrong grip – in the dry anyway – Dunlop D222 originally mounted. The ABS then activates quickly but does not extend the braking distance too much. The rear brake (240 mm disc) shines with its progressiveness and allows finely assisting the front 320 disc.

In addition to the docility of its mechanics and its very natural driving position, the CB500F ensures remarkable driving pleasure by filtering the vast majority of the vibrations of the twin via its counterbalance shaft, its frame and the thick rubber. which covers the driver’s footrests.

It is hardly past the 6000 rpm that the crackling is invited at the level of the seat. To isolate himself from it, the rider simply has to make sure that his buttocks are not in contact with the passenger seat. Stalled on sixth gear, the "Cebe" reached 130 km / h just before the phenomenon appeared.

No inconvenience is therefore to be expected on the motorway … if we obviously exclude the protection against the wind, non-existent but inherent in this category of motorcycle. To go on the fast track, it will be better to invest in a CBR500R.

Financial question precisely, the CB500F has the good taste to keep the price of its predecessor: displayed at 5599 €, the 2016 model is aligned with the "promo" price (on 11/19/2015) indicated on the French site of Honda and is based on the price of the 2013 version when it was released.

Thus, the "five-cents" from Tokyo only exceeds the price of two "three-cents" from Akashi (with ABS) and Iwata by € 400, and that of the "three ninety" by Mattighofen: more torquey but less sparkling, a little more table and barely less agile, the Honda is in the aspiration of Kawasaki, Yamaha and KTM in terms of price…

Unfortunately for the CB500F, the battle between these same manufacturers in the higher category (the MT-07 and ER-6n in particular costs only € 1000 more) limits the attractiveness of such a machine … in Europe from less !

According to Honda, in fact, of the 90,000 CB500s (F, X and R) produced in Honda’s Thai plant over the past three years, only a third have been sold on the old continent … How, we do not would be more at the center of the world (of the motorcycle) ?

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