Brixton May Have An Answer To The Honda CB500F

Austria-based Brixton Motorcycles may soon launch another 500cc bike similar to the Crossfire 500X. In fact, Gaokin, the Chinese brand that develops motorcycles for Brixton, has already begun working on the bike, internally being called the ‘GK500-2’.

The GK500-2 uses a 486cc, liquid-cooled parallel-twin motor producing 50.3PS. It draws inspiration from Honda’s engine powering the 500cc series but uses a larger bore and a slightly longer stroke to achieve more cubic capacity. Of course, the engine casing is different to ensure that it doesn’t look anything like the Japanese brand’s powermill. Interestingly, Gaokin isn’t the only one to do so. We have already seen something similar in the newly launched Voge 500DS.

The hardware is slightly different. While the Crossfire came equipped with radially mounted J.Juan calipers, the GK500-2 seems to be using an axial caliper. Like with most Chinese motorcycles of this class, the suspension could be sourced from Kayaba.

Unlike the Crossfire, the new model is an out-and-out modern naked motorcycle. The vertically stacked LED headlight does look similar to that of the 2021 Suzuki GSX-S1000. However, considering that this motorcycle was already under development, this could be a pure coincidence.

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That said, some elements on the bike stick out like a sore thumb. The ‘aluminum’ frame cover is in, fact, a plastic cladding to hide the tubular steel frame underneath. Even the bash plate is a faux metal unit.

Brixton hasn’t revealed whether this motorcycle will make its Europe debut anytime soon. If and when launched, the bike will take on the Honda CB500F, Benelli Leoncino 500, and Voge Brivido 500R. While the brand may not have Honda's reputation or reliability, it does make up for all that with its competitive pricing, much like we have seen on the Crossfire 500X.