Quick question for those that went to the MCN show at the weekend… Was the new CB500 displayed on the Honda stand, and if so what’s your opinion of it? Similar to the old one, better, worse?
Would have gone for a look myself but missed it for a job interview.
Thanks 
It was parked next to the Repsol CBR250R so looked a little bland by comparison but it was fine really- just a little bland. Well put together but a bit bland.
Did I mention it was a bit bland looking?
…but it’s probably fine.
someone commented about the fuel efficiency… that tells you it won’t turn any heads. It looks fine but nothing fantastic about it. I guess you could describe it as… bland? 
You may be right with “bland” comment as I don’t recall this bike from memory.
R
That’s a little harsh, ‘bland’ in comparison to what?
Horses for courses, if I had to ride a motorcycle everyday I’d be giving Honda’s CB500F some serious consideration. It does exactly what Honda designed it to do, everything you’d expect from an every day ride. Add to that the cheap insurance, good fuel economy, tank range etc and you’d be hard pressed to fault it. It looks to be an almost perfect daily ride, first big bike or comfortable commuter.
Three new models for 2013CB500F NakedCBR500R Super SportCB500X Adventure SportThe CB500F and CBR500R will be in the dealerships from March, the CB500X from May
I had a look at the CB500X not bad. You also have to remember that these bikes are targeted at the A2/Commuter market. They all produced less than 50bhp and are built to a price.
But I would consider another CB500 as a foul weather ride.
Once you’le looked at the KTM stand, a lot of things will look bland
Isn’t this line of bikes going to be quite popular when it is released, what with the new bollocks licence restrictions coming into effect etc?
Corrected the keyboard malfunctions for you 
Aren’t those Laws already effective and isn’t it simple a question of limiting these 500cc machines to <46.6 bhp (or <47 bhp - not sure which) to satisfy the new requirements for the A2 Standard Motorcycle License?
I’m assuming of course they are similar to the older CB500 that are about 55 bhp.
I had an NC700 as a courtesy bike at the weekend. People say that’s bland but as a practical motorcycle it’s excellent. The storage is phenominal.
The Triumphs do look good value for money compared to pretty much everything else. One of the interesting things about seeing all these new bikes in one place is you can compare the price and quality… as well as making your personal judgements about style.
The Honda CB 500s look like decent straight-forward bikes and in my personal opinion the power ‘cap’ is not that important if you are after this sort of bike. You don’t see many of the old courier CB’s being left behind at the lights. The first thing I noticed about the new CB 500 is that it is clearly built down to a price…not in itself a bad thing as it means it is quite minimalist…which I like. The quality actually looks ok. The colour scheme is nice too. But it does look bland to me.
In terms of the ‘sense’ of quality I thought Ducati had it nailed. All their models dripped style and substance- lovely.
Triumph, KTM, MV Augusta, BMW and Yamaha all had the quality but you could see that some short-cuts are being made to keep them to a price.
Honda I’m afraid looked like they’d gone too far with the economising…but they are a very conservative brand…and that’s only my opinion…
Kawasaki seem to be a law unto themselves and cover their bikes with so much plastic they start to look insubstantial. Don’t like them.
Purely subjective of course.
Thanks for the opinions. Sounds like the CB500 is a bit of a beast then… a proper fandango magnet 
Just crossed my mind that it would be a useful daily ride, and with the number of stolen bike posts on here today, it’s one bike that I would be reasonably comfortable leaving parked up.
Maybe I’ll stick to the old dual-sports or look at the Duke 390… a few bhp less but a few £ cheaper, sexier and more fun?
The Duke 390 was at the show too. It is small and slender- just like the 125 and 200… Still, looking forward to trying it back to back with the 690 when it arrives in the Spring.
390 44hp £4.5k
690 67hp £6.5k
690R 69hp £8.5k
The law of diminishing returns…
you’re concerned about having a bike nicked and yet you’re considering a KTM? I wouldn’t.
