Up Close & Personal With Honda’s New ADV

Better late than never, Honda has finally launched the CB500X here in India. But the steep asking price might have put some prospective buyers off this motorcycle. If you’re among them, you can still get up close and personal with the X in this image gallery.

It’s hard to make adventure bikes look good but Honda’s designers have done a fantastic job with the CB500X’s design. The end result is a handsome and well-proportioned motorcycle that strikes a great aesthetic balance, looking aggressive yet elegant.

The large front screen gives the X a decent presence, and the crisp LED headlight helps it look thoroughly modern.

The rear is pretty neat and tidy too, and features this smart looking LED tail-lamp. Turn indicators are also LED units all around.

Powering this baby is a 471cc parallel-twin motor that does service in Honda’s entire 500cc lineup, including the Rebel 500 cruiser and CBR500R sportsbike. Output stands at 47.5PS and 43Nm, which isn’t fantastically high but isn’t miserable either.

Giving the CB500X its adventure credibility is this 19-inch/17-inch alloy wheel combo, which helps give it a healthy 181mm of ground clearance. That being said, the X is definitely more of a soft-roader than a hardcore off-roader.

Holding everything together is a diamond-type frame suspended on a conventional telescopic fork and 9-step preload-adjustable monoshock.

Further upping the premiumness quotient is the crisp, fully-digital instrumentation on the CB500X, which includes a gear position indicator and fuel-consumption related data.

Aside from ABS, this little Honda gets no real rider aids, so the switchgear is a pretty straightforward affair. The CB500X gets an engine kill switch and a hazard light switch.