Honda Planning A 500cc ADV, And It’s NOT A CB500X Update

Will we see a light, nimble, off-road focused 500cc twin-cylinder ADV from Honda?  I mean, why not? Honda has the platform ready with the CB500X, its road-biased adventure bike. But as per the Japanese bikemaker’s new trademark filings in Europe and New Zealand, Honda’s legendary ‘NX’ moniker could make a comeback.

Now it may seem simple on the surface; Swap out the CB500X’ alloys for wire-spoke wheels, tinker with the gearing a bit, slap on a neo-retro look. And voila – a perfectly capable dual-sport bike is born!

See, here’s a little history lesson from the world of adventure bikes. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, a new crop of lightweight, adventure-focused bikes were emerging out of Japan. They were crushing it at rallies like the Dakar (which wasn’t as mainstream as it is today) but like any good cinema ahead of its time, though their opening commercial performances were poor, they went on to become pop-culture icons.

Hence, while the adventure bike market is ripe and laden with options, dual-sport bikes are still a niche. The masses demand off-road capable road bikes, jacked-up dirt bikes, not so much. And this is the case with most mature motorcycling markets too.

However, if Honda does intend on resurrecting the NX series using the CB500X’ 471cc twin-cylinder liquid-cooled engine, you can expect it to produce roughly 47.5PS and 43.2Nm which, in our opinion, is a very good proposition, especially considering how the old Honda NX650 Dominator produced roughly 44PS and 53Nm. Imagine a refined, more capable adventure motorcycle that  can actually do it all(unlike the KTM 390 Adventure). It would be a dream, wouldn’t it?

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ADV on your mind? Have a look at the Kawasaki Versys 650, Benelli TRK 502 and Triumph Tiger Sport 660.