Honda CB500X 1 year 11,000 Mile Review

2022 HONDA CB500X

[phlatlander]

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).

[christophepoteaux]

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.

[username]

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

[mikefarnden]

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.

[jeffferguson]

Great to see someone actually adv ride one of these. not to many people actually ride these bikes off road.

[zyonsdream]

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.

[sleuth]

I just bought mine today and am planning on 50/50 off-roading and regular road use. Good to know I will need a skid plate and some new pegs for the harder off-roading use. Thanks for the useful video!

[alozborne]

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!

[artwallace]

Good information about the skid plates! Not currently a 500X owner but it's on my radar.

[KeepItSimpleSailor]

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.

[michaelc]

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.

[YannyKo]

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!

[blader]

Great review, basically covered everything I needed to know. Like most here, I have owned bigger adv bikes and now a inline 4, but always want to come back to an all around adv bike. Had a DR650 for awhile and now miss it, but wanted something with FI.. I ended up with a big adv bike and regretted it. Seems like this bike from 2019 up has more positives than negatives for daily use. There are alot of them on the mkt since people want more power, but there is a big tradeoff to weight.

[nelsdude]

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.

[anthonyeugene]

I went from a KLR650 to this bike because the KLR was way too tall and I wanted a small adv bike in the 500cc range. I’ve put 36K on it without doing the valves or sprockets, just doing oil changes, tires, and chains: and it still runs like a top.

[Chriswilliams-lxmx]

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 ✌️

[rezaizadkhah]

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.

[slein]

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.

[jerrykearns]

Very informative, you should have a lot more subscribers.

[CarlosCorrea-mk]

Great review on the bike straight to the important points you need to know if you buy this bike and intend to use it off-road
Thanks