Honda CB500F: 5 Things To Know

The 500cc naked is coming to India soon. Here’s all you need to know about the upcoming motorcycle

Honda plans to get its entire 500cc range to India and among the lineup is the CB500F naked motorcycle. The new motorcycle is expected to be one of the first motorcycles to come to India and could most likely be launched here by the end of the year. Here’s all you need to know about the CB500F in five concise points. 

It has a parallel twin motor:

Honda’s 500cc platform uses a liquid-cooled parallel-twin motor. This fuel-injected 471cc parallel-twin unit delivers 47.58PS at 8500rpm and 43Nm at 7000rpm. The motor has been tuned to deliver better low to mid-range grunt with most of the torque available between 3,000rpm and 7,000rpm. Honda claims a fuel efficiency of 28.6kmpl for the CB500F. A lot of work has gone into improving refinement as well. The 6-speed gearbox is a close-ratio unit and gets a slip and assist clutch for lighter clutch actuation and smoother clutchless downshifts. 

Also read: Honda Rebel 500: All You Need To Know

It gets simple underpinnings:

The Honda CB500F gets a tubular diamond type frame and suspension in the form of preload-adjustable forks and preload-adjustable Pro link monoshock setup. However, Honda might skip the front preload adjustment for the front forks in the India spec model to keep costs low. It gets 17-inch cast aluminium wheels with 120/70-ZR17 front and 60/60-ZR17 rear radial tyres. Braking is via a single 320mm disc and 240mm rear disc with dual-channel ABS. 

Also read: Honda CBR500R: Picture Gallery

It gets premium features:

The Honda CB500F get an LED headlamp, LED tail lamp and LED turn indicators. Its blue backlit digital instrument console includes the speedometer, tachometer, dual trip meters, fuel gauge, average fuel consumption, digital clock and gear position indicator. Like Honda’s other big bikes, the CB500F too gets an engine immobiliser. 

It is a lightweight motorcycle:

By 500cc standards that is. The Honda CB500F has a kerb weight of 189kg. For reference, the Benelli Leoncino has a kerb weight of 207kg. Another interesting aspect is the low 785mm seat height that makes the CB500F accessible to even shorter riders. Ground clearance is 145mm while the fuel tank capacity is a generous 17.1 litres. 

It could cost below Rs 5 lakh:

We expect Honda to initially bring the CB500F to India via the CKD route. That means the naked motorcycle could be priced around Rs 4.8 lakh (ex-showroom). Honda does plan to manufacture the motorcycle here using locally sourced components. Once that happens we can expcect the prices to drastically drop to Rs 3.7 to 4 lakh rupee mark.