Jump to content

Honda CBR500R 2015


Pbassred
 Share

Recommended Posts

December 2018 £3199 690 Miles


Good points:- Very smooth and stable. Its so polite. A comment from my friend on his 1000cc Yamaha "Didn't expect it to be that fast". It handles well although after 300 miles I haven't got to grips with it yet


Bad point:- Rev limited to 8500 and its a hard ignition cut that stutters the bike. Since the only reason you go at that pace is for hard acceleration, its the wrong time to unsettle you. The screen is too low, but we knew that. You find out at speed when you put your head down and get low frequency helmet noise.


Would you get another - its exactly the bike I want /need right now.


Other comments ..... its ... Ok.. a beginner bike, but it could easily be a forever bike. Its not powerful that its going to buck and get you killed, but fast enough that you wont get bored. Sure, I could have put my full "A" license a$$ on any size bike, but how far above the speed limit do you want to go? Last Sunday I was chasing the litre bike on a single carriage way road blasting past traffic, up hill towards a hard left band at 95 and I thought "this is not about skill. Its about loosing your license." So it will do it. I've have had it past 100MPH and it was worryingly not scary.


A thought about that rev-limiter. The bike is limited to 47HP by design ( I think the Aussie version is a little more pokey), so if its making that at 8500 RPM there is no reason to go higher. What it does for you is to stop you blowing up the engine prematurely, Remember the point about the Honda brand is:- "bomb proof".


It doesn't have a really aggressive riding position, so its not a race bike and its not twitchy, so what else is it? Comfortable! I rode it for 3 hours on Saturday and 4 on Sunday with a couple of stops for coffee. I could ride all day. I put a small top box on it to make it a commuter and its small enough for urban lane splitting. It could take more luggage. You could tour on it to too. I really don't know what the benefit of a larger engine could be. I'm getting 75MPG (actual) after aggressive riding. After 80 miles the Yamaha was looking for fuel!

 

1154629470_CBR500Rat3weekscomp.thumb.jpg.2db9da9c341e7288f9e890d528c7996a.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Post bike review -


At the end of a year and 13,000 miles I decided to change bike so I thought it was time to write a longer term review using my new to me bike - VFR800 Vtec as a reference.

Since writing the initial review I changed my job and the focus of riding. Whereas riding to work had been a joy, the new location through London made it a requirement. As such it was clocking up milage at a rate that might make selling it later a difficult task. That said, I had no mechanical issues. not even a missed start.

The bike has no vices. The cornering is so controlled an my journey from upright commuter to chicken stripless corner slayer was achieved prograssivly. I never dropped it. Power wise it gets up there but 80MPH needs 6000RPM from a bike with a rev limit of 8500. It will cruise all day at 60 - 70MPH and I did fit it with pannier racks. So its a 75MPG sports tourer. Seriously, for distance, why not? It could use a slightly taller screen with the VFR's trick of air flow from under the screen to reduce buffeting.

My last 8000 miles were commuting through London. It does lane splitting at 10 - 40 MPH in traffic very well, which the VFR does not with the exception that the high wing mirrors seem to be at everyone elses wing mirror height, which reduces your usable width. Scooters handle better of course because of their low C of G. Powerful sports bikes rip away from the lights better, but not much - if thats your thing.


Actually the VFR doesn't cool at 20 without the fan. The VFR is heavier in every respect. I can't imagine it on rough terain where as the CBR's brother the CB500X is exactly the same bike with different fairings and tires! I can't inagine picking a VFR up by myself either.


The bike I WOULD have liked to own would be exactly the same spec with a parrallel twin bored out to 600CC. Yeah, A viceless 58HP bike. I could live with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Welcome to The Motorbike Forum.

    Sign in or register an account to join in.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use Privacy Policy Guidelines We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Please Sign In or Sign Up