Honda CB500x

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Impressions now? Still like it? Hows it do on tight 2 lane roads and in the serious hills?

Looking for a bike strictly for the mountains - serious hills, usually paved roads that are narrow and very winding.
Considering mostly single cylinder bikes for the low end grunt - BMW G650 (excellent deal on a 2014), KLR 650, DR650.

BMW scares me on maintenance costs (owned 2 and found dealer service necessary) plus will they continue with a single cylinder?
KLR logical choice - swiss army knife of bikes with millions (?) sold, parts and accessories out the wazoo.
Suzuki DR650 intrigues me, lighter and more narrow than KLR, excellent reputation
Honda - excellent history with the company plus faith in their engineering. Single cylinder 650 Honda doesn't do anything for me.

I won't be riding interstate or long travels. Will explore the back roads that sometimes aren't fully paved. NO serious or even semi-serious off roading. No two up.

Still love it. It's lightweight, it's flickable, it's fits me perfectly, and it's just plain fun - not Ducati-at-full-throttle-fun, but just simple fun.
It handles great. The 17" wheels front and rear no doubt contribute to that, but so does the lack of weight, and what feels like a MUCH lower cg than the CB1100. It could probably use stickier tires if you really wanted to do some serious corner carving, but being that's not really what it was designed for, it does that very well. That's really all the riding I do on it - local canyons and mountain roads. Now, I have to say that I'm not pushing it very hard, either. But at a "spirited" pace at most, shall we call it, it feels quite planted, and very easy to flick around. Like a light sportbike, really, though without anything like the power of say, a 600cc supersport to go with it. I'd have to call it literally like a 500cc sportbike. And I can't imagine there's a lot of difference in the feel of the CB500 triplets on the road.
Freeways are NOT its forte. It is way too high in the rev range at those speeds. It's max comfortable speed (to me) is 60-65mph.
I would also not recommend a passenger - it just doesn't have the power, and I would think it would destroy the dynamics of the light feel and handling.
Suspension is definitely made to a price point, though it rides very nicely most of the time - right up until you get to nasty, high frequency stuff, and then you'll feel every jolt. My impression is that most of the problem is in the fork, not the shock, but that's a just seat-of-the-pants guess after only a few hundred miles so far.
And please don't mistake this for a Ducati Supermotard or something; the power is quite modest. But it also feels quite snappy for what you're working with, and seems completely adequate (never thought I'd be saying anything like that) for what it's made to do.
"Dream bike"? No, but lots of fun, and does pretty much what I wanted it to.
I hope that helps!

Lots of great tires available for this bike; sizes are ideal for canyon carving. You sold me. I gotta have one. Will be trading the FZ8.

The power, weight, dimensions, and geometry are perfect. Maybe fork springs and thicker fork oil, revalve the rear shock. Reminds me of the Hawk GT, same power, same weight, similar geometry. The new one really has the look and ergos down.

As far as a Honda 500cc sportbike...this was the last great one of that displacement:
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