Honda 499

Honda cx500 v twin was the workhorse for despatch riders during the 1980s & capable of milages up & beyond 80k if mantained properly. Reliable & useable in all weathers with a shaft drive, topheavy & topspeed about 105mph. Not the prettiest bike but compensates on reliability & durability known as the (plastic maggot). Eurosport version better looking & 650cc model more poke. Tough as old boots these bikes were & some still running & some nice examples for sale. Vt500e replaced the cx & was nicer looking. Bloody good old bike if you dont mind the style & i would still ride one today if i had one.

The Honda CX 500 was one of the most popular bikes on the road in the 1980's.

The motorcycling public were stunned when the CX 500 was introduced in 1978 it broke all the rules it was big and ugly top heavy no fun to ride and the acceleration was very slow. It also had the shaft drive from a car and was water cooled like a car but as this was a boom time for motorcycling it sold by the ship load. It sold to the type of people who have since deserted the motorcycle market and now drive cars.

I first drove one in the late eighties as a motorcycle courier as it was the cheapest bike I could rent but at £65 a week it was still very expensive as that equals £3350 a year. I had sold a CX 500 Euro sport I had owned for about £1000 in 1987 and that was about the most you could pay for one of them then.

Honda introduced a Turbo charged CX 500 with twice the power before upgrading the bike to 650. The boom was over by then and the CX 650 never attracted the sales of the CX 500.

I was looking for a bike recently and while on eBay there was one going which looked nice so I bid up to £500 for it and got it for £460. When I went to pick it up it looked quite a state. The back end was not bad it was the front end as in the radiator which was covered in rust and the exhaust was also rusty.

I took it down the road and noticed it had a terrible front brake, it hardly worked at all. The rear brake worked very well so that was what I used to drive it home. The tachometer was not working either. Apart from that it seemed ok. It always started on the button the mileage of only 40,000 seemed about right.

It was very slow however first gear is good for about 25 second 35 and so on 70 seemed a struggle in top on the motorway as the temperature gauge was by then nearly in the red so I did not want to push it any further. On trying to top the radiator expansion tank up the coolant came straight out there was a crack in it. I would have to live with the engine running hot or an expensive repair would be needed.

After a few months of owner ship I pushed it up to 90 mph but slowed down straight away as it seemed to fast for such a old machine even if by then the front brake was working well as it had bedded in all by itself.

I had taken the bike to three different garages to have the brakes looked at but all refused. One mechanic checked the brake fluid and said it was ok he also checked the pads and said they were ok. Another mechanic told me it was a design fault and he could get not parts. But looking on eBay the parts were all available.

Overall then I had bought a rusty heap which was no fun to drive and so I put it back on eBay and sold it at a loss of £110 that is the end of my CX saga.

Good Points

Stops well, electric start ,reliable.

Bad Points

Very poor finish, fuel consumption, running cost & amount of servicing & spares needed.

General Comments

This review is for a 2007 model CBF 500 ABS. This is the latest one with the two disk brakes (ABS), electric start and the larger fuel tank.

The Good points: -

My last bike was a CG 125 and this bike stops better and has better handling.

It has a very good electric start and it starts every time, first(ish) push of the button.

The Bad points: -

The build quality is terrible and my bike is pitted and rusty after only 2 years.

It costs a fortune to service, the last service was £714.00 for a 12k service it also needed new sprockets/chain, headrace bearing and a front tyre. Compaired to a car the running costs are dreadful. It needs a service at least every 6 months and they are very costly. Most cars only need a service every two years and they a much cheaper.

In 15,000 miles it has used a front & rear tyre (£105 & £170) they are paticular tyres for this bike... Two chains & spockets, a head race bearing, two sets of break pads, a new battery. And 3 services...

The fuel consumption is very poor compared to a car.

I think Honda need to have a good think about the ownership cost of Motorbikes as I can't see how they can continue to sell motorbikes that cost so much to run and service.

Conclusion: - On balance as a daily commuter the CBF 500 is very expensive and you should think about getting somthing smaller and cheaper, if you can find something...