All Tests – CBR500R test: new look for the little sports car Honda – Straight from the roadster to the sports car!

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CBR500R test: new air for the sporty Honda

All Tests - CBR500R test: new look for the little sports car Honda - Straight from the roadster to the sports car!

Like the CB500F roadster previously tested by Site, the CBR500R benefited in 2016 from subtle touch-ups, mainly cosmetic. The small sporty Honda cut for A2 licenses (47.5 hp, no more) sets out for a ride. Test.

Straight from the roadster to the sports car !

In 2016 as in, the CBR500R is a common platform with the other two CB500s, "F" and "X". Honda therefore logically chose to present the sports car at the same time as its roadster, but unfortunately without the trail – economies of scale are not only valid in factories. !

After spending the morning on the CB500F (read our), Site takes control at the beginning of the afternoon of the CBR500R in order to continue its pleasant journey in the heart of the Sierra Norte natural park (north of Seville, in Spain) in which wave the "road of 600 curves"… and 0 straight line !

CBR500R: availability, colors and prices

  • Availability: immediate in the

  • Colors: Tricolor, Black / Orange or Red

  • Price: € 6,149

A true motorcyclist’s paradise where the tarmac, clean and dry, never ceases to meander from left to right and porpoise from bottom to top. The small Honda are clearly in their element: no need of 200 horses – quite the contrary – to intoxicate the pilot, a good part cycle is enough! And justly…

Basic, the cycle part of the CB500F allowed MNC to have a lot of fun – figuratively speaking, of course – in the most winding portions of the course. Thanks to its tall and wide handlebars, the roadster allowed us to twirl from one turn to another with disconcerting ease and appreciable serenity..

Decked out with slightly tighter half-handlebars and placed lower (49 mm according to Honda), the CBR500R is necessarily a hint less agile than the. But the little sportswoman retains the intuitive and obvious character of any "Cebe" worthy of the name. !

In a few turns, Site regains a rapid pace and realizes that the front end of the CBR is both a little more physical and more calm than that of the CB. At the first photo stop, opinions differ: some testers prefer the – even – lighter side of the roadster, while MNC and others appreciate the best feeling of the sports car..

The driving position plays a major role in this feeling: leaning more, the pilot weighs more on the front wheel and better captures his movements in return. We note in passing that the pilot is not necessarily broken in two on his machine: a good point, especially on a daily basis !

Unlike the "F" which has shrunk by 2 kg in three years, the "R" does not lose the slightest gram compared to its previous version (still 194 kg, see the technical sheet on the last page). Engine off, maneuvers are still just as easy. Engine on, the new CBR500R changes a bit…

The weight distribution, on the other hand, is changing very slightly: the less bulky 2016 pot lightens the rear "of 2 kg"according to Honda engineers, while the new more enveloping fairing loads the front … by 2 kg according to the clever calculations of MNC !

Undoubtedly minimal compared to the old R, this difference accentuates the more posed side of the R vis-a-vis the F. The same goes for the aerodynamic support provided at high speed by the fairing of the "CB sport". Site did not hesitate to test the motorcycle’s handling, at high speed and in turns !

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