Honda Rebel 500, CB500X Adventure Tourer, CBR500R And CB500F India-bound!

Honda plans to launch the entire 500cc lineup in India by the end of 2020

• The Honda Rebel 500 is a cruiser whereas the CBR500R and CB500F belong to the supersport and naked categories respectively.
• The CB500X will be Honda’s most affordable adventure tourer, whereas the Rebel 500 will be Honda’s first cruiser in India.
• The 500cc range is built on a common platform that’s designed to spawn different bikes across genres.
• It will also launch the CBR1000RR-R litre-class supersport in the Indian market this year.

Along the sidelines of the Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin Adventure Sports ADV launch, the company officials have revealed its plans of hoping to launch its entire international 500cc lineup over the course of 2020. This includes the Honda Rebel 500 cruiser, the Honda CBR500R faired bike, the Honda CB500F naked and the CB500X road-biased adventure tourer.

In addition to these, the Japanese brand will also launch the 2020 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade litre-class track tamer this year. This motorcycle was unveiled at the 2019 EICMA in Milan, Italy. As for the 500cc bikes, they are built on one common platform that is designed to be versatile enough to spawn different motorcycles catering to diverse genres. Expect Honda to bring all these motorcycles as CKD first (with slightly premium pricing) and then, based on the sales response, heavily localise one or more motorcycles here. This will help in keeping the costs competitive. 

The Rebel 500 will be Honda’s first small-capacity cruiser for the Indian market. It is likely to be priced at around Rs 4.5 lakh (ex-showroom) when it enters our shores via the CKD route. The 471cc parallel-twin liquid-cooled motor churns out 45.5PS at 8500rpm and 44.6Nm at 6000rpm. It comes with a claimed mileage of 26kmpl. It will slot between the affordable Royal Enfield 650 twins and the more premium Harley-Davidson Street 750 and the Kawasaki Vulcan S.

The CBR500R is a sporty tourer whereas the CB500F is a streetfighter. The 471cc parallel-twin motor is tweaked to produce 47.5PS at 8600rpm and 43Nm at 6500rpm in both the bikes (UK-spec). The claimed mileage of the two motorcycles is 28.6kmpl. Expect Honda to price the CBR500R at Rs 5 lakh and the CB500F at Rs 4.8 lakh, ex-showroom.  

The Honda CB500X will be the Japanese brand’s most affordable adventure tourer in the country, with an expected price of Rs 5.5 lakh (ex-showroom). It isn’t a hardcore adventure tourer like the Royal Enfield Himalayan. Thanks to the 19-inch front and 17-inch rear alloy wheels, the bike is more of a road-biased tourer like the KTM 390 Adventure. It offers the same mileage and the same amount of power and torque as the CBR500R and the CB500F. 

Currently, there’s no premium offering between the Honda CB300R and the CBR650R. So with all these motorcycles, Honda will be able to fill that void rather effectively. It will also help Honda to exploit the burgeoning 400-500cc market, which is sparsely populated at the moment.