I LOVE mine and agree 100% with your assessment of it's strengths and weaknesses. When people ask me what the 500x is like, I say it is a Vstrom 650 that is 100-ish pounds lighter. I bought mine in May 2023 and it has proved itself WAY more capable that I had anticipated. Mine has been on the IDBDR French Creek switchbacks, sections 5 & 6 of the COBDR, on a 4200 mile tour of montana, idaho, oregon, and northern california on mostly secondary and paved mountain trails with a few gravel roads sprinkled in. It went from Delta, CO back to eastern SD in 2 days on pavement of course. It will run 70mph easily with power to pass at elevations of 3000-5000ft. Above 5000ft you can notice the elevation affecting the power, similar to how it affected my Strom 650, and you have to plan your passes well in advance and/or enjoy the scenery b/c you not going to be able to pass. It's a great bike and the one I'd likely keep if I could only have one bike. Mine is a 2014 CB500X with a Rally Raid kit and at 6'2" it is the first bike that is borderline on the tall side for me. I ran mine with R80's loaded with camping gear and it worked well off road with that setup. Of course you have to ride like your on a 400# plus bike which means slow down for whoops and such but it'll do it and do it at 50-80mpg. If I had it to do over again i'd try to find a 2019-2021 model with the stock 19" front wheel and ride it like that for a year before adding anything other than protection (handguards, skid plate, tipover bar).
Bought my 23 mid June. Don't take it off road...although I've equipped it with the Rally Raid skid plate and Bark Busters. The plan was to explore some gravel roads down here in the south Utah desert...just haven't so far. Around town and some trips up the highway to the north I have yet to get less than 81.8 mpg. I raised the wind screen to top setting and at 5'6" I get absolutely no buffeting at highway speeds. It's a great bike and a joy to ride. It's sort of a complete new experience coming off several dual sports like DR650, CRF 250L, and WR250R. Find myself actually riding tons more than I used to and grinning more when I do.
Great review. Real life experience. I've considered the current version of the CB500x before I bought a 22 KLR last year. I'm happy with it but miss the 6th gear. But I love the torque and suspension travel + ground clearance. Pick your battles. I think there will be a CB 500 in my future.
I drive an 25 year old Honda CB500 (pc32) and i am looking for a good allrounder upgrade. For me 500cc has proven to be enough HP and due to the high fuel costs, i love the milage on this bike. All and all, i think i have found the right bike for me 😊Great review! Thank you
The CBx is not a dirt bike, agreed. However, good technique makes a huge difference. I can ride my 2023 CBx surprisingly quick off road, doing twin track and single track.
I'm also 6'-3"and my 2022 CB500X is just big enough for somewhat comfortable touring. I haven't changed the stock seat yet, but a $50 sheepskin rug definitely helps. When touring, I can tolerate 2 hours at a time. I will eventually get a Transalp or a V-Strom 800DE in a few years. Meanwhile, I've had a lot of fun on my bike!
Not familiar with the oil drainage issue with the CB and center stand. But, I can say that on other bikes I have found that using some heavy duty aluminum foil allows one to easily "custom mold" a "chute" to direct oil into a drain pan rather than all over the floor. I normally tear off a piece large enough to allow folding it a few times to make a 3 or 4 layer thick sheet, then use that to mold around things and direct the oil wherever I want. Enjoyed your honest, actual ownership perspective of the bike, BTW. Considering picking up one of these and selling a couple of my KTMs. I love my 390s for a fun small, lightweight exploration bike. But as I near retirement and thinking of a longer term long distance retirement bike with potentially more durability/reliability than the KTMs, the Honda seems like a logical choice.
I have exactly the same bike and I agree with all of your observations. I've had somewhere between 55 and 60 bikes so plenty to compare, my favourite all time bike my Africa Twin, but I'm getting too old for a heavy bike off road. I rode the X down to the Alps last summer to do some trail riding including single track and if you exclude my TT250R (that I trailered down) it will do everything any other bike I've ever ridden down there will do provided you ride within its limits. For me it's about the exploring and the views, not the speed. The biggest bonus was that after years of coming back to the UK and getting speeding tickets through the post from France, I decided to make a real effort to keep to the speed limits. I wasn't trying to go slow, just keep to the speed limits (and I was using back roads, so mainly around 50mph up to 70mph on linking main roads) and over 1800 miles the bike achieved 84mpg (UK gallons) which astounded me and made a real difference to the cost of my trip.
I got mine in February and I have 16k on it. I do gravel but nothing crazy with it. I changed out the rear shock with the rally raid equipped with the fat guy spring. I’m 240lbs and I have Givi panniers mounted to it. The front shocks have been fine. I installed a Givi touring windscreen and lowering mounts for the foot pegs. Acerbis handguards with the levers cut like yours. Running Dunlop Raids on it now. Honda heated grips and Denali aux lights and that’s what I’ve got. I have zero issues cranking 80mph on the highway. Yes I get some vibes but it’s just over 6k rpm and well within the rev range. I didn’t love the seat when I first got the bike. I came off a 2017 Africa twin so the softer seat on the CB500X felt a bit too soft on my tailbone. I also had a Tuareg 660 and that seat was awesome. I’ve since acclimated and don’t have any issues with it. I did a backroads ride from Eastern Pa to Nashville, down into Alabama and back home. No major issues with stamina. I do have bad knees and a lot of titanium in my legs from a previous accident: the pegs were too high for my comfort. The lowering brackets are perfect for me.
I'm between a couple adv bikes but I mainly want to have a lightweight bike to slide around in the dirt and still run 70mph comfortably. What do you think between the CRF300L Rally, CB500X, NX500, and BMW G650 X bikes? The BMW G650 Xcountry is 53hp and 350lb wet which I think would be a sweet base for an adv bike but I'd have to fix the small fuel tank.
None of those are "lightweight". Anything over 300 lbs in dirt is heavy, unless you mean lightweight compared to a Goldwing or something. Cb500x and the nx500 are basically the same thing. Different body panels and I think NX might have traction control, but I haven't looked into it. They are not dirt bikes. They don't have the suspension to do anything serious, but I do plenty of trails with mine. You could take a CRF300L around the world on any road other than the interstate. 70 will be a struggle to maintain. I miss my CRF250L but I wouldn't want it as my only bike. It's too small to do long 500+ mile days on.
LOL! Not too many take their 4x4 off road either. I reckon I've taken my 2005 Subaru Outback far more places than most wanna be 4x4 ers. I bought a new CB500X the day before yesterday. Can't wait to pick it up and ride. We have a massive area for off road where I live.
Hi Kory I have a 2022 CB500 x, with 14,000 miles on it, I solved the problem with the seat, I took it to the upholstery shop and the redone my seat by having more foam layers and new skin, it cost $200, but the the seat is amazingly comfortable now and I can ride my bike for hours and I don't feel tired. I recommended that if you want to keep your bike, that investment is worthy %100.
I’ve got the same bike it’s just rolled over 27000 mile and had no problems it is a bit bouncy if you start trying to go fast on the road it’s been and is a great little bike 👍and I reckon it’ll go over a 100k my old cbf500 has got over 126 thousand miles and runs fine ✌️
Thaks for the video. nce you ride offroad, have you considered different sprocket combos to see if at all you can get an even better balance for on and off road.....
Going up two teeth in the rear would help a lot off-road so you're not revved out in first or really low in second gear, but it would make highway riding pretty miserable. I just go a little slower off-road, which is fine because the suspension can't really handle it anyway
2:12 you did not finish sentence, why have you put stock seat for the winter :)? is custom one too cold or... I agree, biggest problem is the seat, I did custom seat straight away, and now I am fine, did even 12+ hours of riding in one go no problem, on stock I had tailbone pain after 1h and it was slippery when braking... Also handlebar risers help a bit, that is all. Next I will do shorter gears with 44T rear sprocket. Amazing bike...
So the mice don't eat my good seat while it's in storage. And unless you're going to do a bunch of trail rides, shorter gears are really not that necessary. It has pretty short ratios to begin with
@@KorysRides I see 🙂. Stock seat does look good, but it is terrible. As for gearing, I put 150/70-17 rear tyre, and that slightly makes gear longer, which is opposite of what I like.
Have a 23 cb500x and I am loving it so far. What do you recommend for security. Some of the places I stay, I don't really feel good about leaving it outside.
Either stay in better places or get a bike cover. Any old cover will do, and lock it onto the bike. Mine goes down over the bike and covers all but the bottom quarter of the tires, and I use one of my luggage locks underneath the bike, through a hole in this kid plate, and to the other side of the cover.
@@stevebledsoe9436leave it dirty too and the older the bike cover the better - like Korey says bike covers make bikes disappear so get and old dirty looking one
I'll get back here once I have mine... Thank you for this comprehensive and straight to the point review man, I really appreciate it! Much love from Philippines!
G'day, just came across your channel because I saw the Russel Day Long seat in the splash screen. I have a 2021 CB500X that I bought at auction (they made me an offer I couldn't refuse). It came fully kitted out but still has the stock seat. I am 6.2 and 230 pound and find that the seat is killing me. Its EXACTY as you say, I slide forward and its too narrow in the front with not enough real estate for mafatass :) How much did that seat cost and is it one size fits all or do they custom make it for you ? I live in Oz so would have no chance of swinging by the factory to get it custom fitted.
Around $1200 with shipping both ways, but that was only 1/2 way across the US and not half way around the world. They custom fit it to your height and weight, and you can pick color, stitching, etc. The backrest was around $300 and is optional. I have a video in my CB500X playlist on how to order one.
Heya, I just bought a China skid plate, and one of the mounting points goes on the gear shifter, just like yours do. Did you face any issues with it? I'm kinda concerned with that tbh. I wont be doing trails (not that we have those in Singapore), just roads but i dont like that the exhaust pipe is exposed.
just bought a 2020 CB500X... 1st year of 19" front wheel here in Brazil... riding 18 miles to work I'm already having lower back pain I was thinking if my handlebar should be rised but now I'll pay attention to my sitting position... maybe that's because my hips are tilted frontwards
It's really hard to lift the bars because of the limited hose/cable/wire. You can do it, but you have to put everything behind the triple clamps instead of in front of it.
@@KorysRides thanks for your thoughts... the cable length was already my concern I wouldn't try it without seeing it working on another CB500X from the same generation... a positive side effect rising the bar would be have my mirrors a little higher but for my back, I'll start softening both suspensions and maybe applying a gel pad on the saddle, modifying the slope
Greetings, As always another brilliant detailed video 🇺🇸🍾🎉🇺🇸 Would you provide me with the brand name of foot peg and front sprocket cover. Thank you so much for assisting me and keep producing more videos about the CB. One more thing, did you have any mechanical problems so far?
No mechanical problems so far. It's an OEM sprocket cover that I made little windows in with a Dremel. Foot pegs are Motion Factory Racing. Videos for all of that in my CB500X playlist
The CB500X is a very good bike for everything with the exception of maybe highway use. It's not quite the bike your former Kawasaki Concours 14 was on the interstate...Lol
Id prefer a ducati twin, they really need to produce a 500 / 600 multistrada type bike ive no idea why theybdont go for it. Honda have pretty much got this segment to themselves
@@pickledturnip-weseeu I put that on in the winter so my 1300 dollar custom seat doesn't get eaten by rodents while in storage. It's pretty rare that I ride more than 150 miles when it's less than 40°, so I don't mind the stock seat for that length of time
Perfect review. I have the same bike a now I love this bike, but after seat modification. Original seat was terrible for me (I´m 190cm tall), after 50km i was tired and damaged. Can you show me your new seat? Thanks, Karel (Charlie) from Czech Republic.
I bought one of these in march and changed almost everything you have done so it can be improved to the way you ride. I found 1st gear too short and found myself setting off in second gear so have changed the front sprocket 15 tooth OEM to a16 tooth which has made a great difference.
I am looking at getting the newer version of this that just got released called the nx 500. I have a question on the aux light mount . Did you buy this off the shelf and if yes, where can i get it and more importantly, will it fit the nx 500 ?
It was the first motorcycle I tried after a 30-year break. And in the first seconds I felt that... the engine was too weak. That the first gear has too high rpm. If this engine was really 500cc or 550cc it would be perfect.
I had a 15 year break kids then cancer had sports bikes and a 650 dominator single back in the day and that bike had similar horsepower as the cb 500 which I now have and the power and torque is all you need ,hitting 50 year old now a don’t need warp speed a want reliable comfortable bike that can do a bit of everything and that bike is CB 500 X ❤
What is cringey is that a lot of companies do it. And if they aren't doing that, SRC Moto and SW motec use the flimsiest little brackets. They're a gravel guard at best, for sure not skid plates
I'm also 6'3. First time rider here... Leaning towards this bike however I've read that the handle bards are a little low for taller guys while standing. Do you find that to be the case?
@@brandonmcmullen1553 The pegs are a much bigger problem when standing. If you're in the correct position to be standing while riding off-road or in difficult terrain, you should be leaned forward and bent over so the handlebars I find to be okay. The factory foot pegs are completely wrong for standing on. They are way too narrow. I got motion factory racing pegs that have studs in them to grab your boots and they are a little over an inch wider and they're almost three times the surface area.
Did you buy it? If so, what do you think? How does it fit you? (I’m also 6’3” and considering the CB500x. But I’m concerned that my knees will hate it.)
Im new to adventure riding and was looking to buy a 23 cb500x for next season. Just looking to enjoy some light mn trails and longer distance riding. Is the cb500x enough or does it leave you wanting more like the transalp 750?
For trail riding smaller and lighter is better. I've done single track in Huntersville, wrote all the way across the trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail, and I've ridden just about every gravel road in West Central Minnesota. The 500x will do the speed limit easily anywhere in the United States other than maybe South Dakota and Texas interstates. I have no desire to accelerate slightly faster and ride 80 mph slightly easier at the cost of adding weight. Even if they cost the same amount of money, which they don't, I would still take the 500x.
I own a 2022 CB500X and I am considering the Transalp. It's basically a slightly larger, more powerful, more off pavement capable version of the CB500X. It only weighs a few pounds more than a CB500X, so that's not really a differentiator. I think I will wait two or three years before upgrading to a Transalp, as hopefully Honda refines it, as they have the CB500X.
Ive got the exact bike you have and was curious why did you go with the T-rex plate instead of the Rally Raid? I've been looking at both. Nice review and I agree with you. Thanks
@@KorysRides Oh ok thanks for the clarification. I heard you talk about the plate and center stand in the video. It just didn't click for some reason. Thanks again fir the info.
Nope. The 500x will do everything that one will, but use more fuel and be heavier. It's not worth the slightly faster acceleration and slightly higher top speed.
@@KorysRidesI see another inconvenience in the translap: the low height of its carter./ Engine in relation to the ground.. The only two bikes on my list today are the CB500x and the VStrom 650, this one more out of passion than real reason
@@ighost2605 There are no problems with hills. I maintained 85mph uphill with luggage against a headwind on my Iowa trip. Not great for overtaking compared to . . .an R1? A Hayabusa? I have no trouble passing people driving at 60-70 mph. 43hp, 30 ftlb torque. It's more than enough for most people.
I was excited about teh 2023 CB 500 X until I sat on one. It seemed somewhat bulky( to me) but the real deal breaker was the Dashboard display and the shift lever. I could barely read the display and I could not get my boot easily under the lever. I', 5'10 and 160 lbs. I got on a Honda Scrambler 500 SCL and although that display is just as bad the shift lever was not an issue. After riding an FZ07 for 7 year I was spoiled. Looks Like its either going to Be the Scrambler wth an after-market display or A tenere with that incredible FZ/MT o7 engine.
