Honda CMX 500
8 reviews
Great bike, but a lot of people are posting misinformation so I feel the need to clear things up – This is the 2nd cmx500 I've owned (2021) my previous one was 2017, and though there are differences I'm mostly here to highlight the misinformation posted by others above. But first off... this bike seems to be promoted as many things: A veteran's bike, a beginner's bike, a lady's bike, a short person's bike... but this to me is just marketing,… Read more
other than for experienced/ veteran riders, all the other segments are market opportunities for businesses to expand their market share amongst people who are trying to figure out their bike identity (I.e. am I a sport rider/ cruiser/ naked?). The reality is, that this bike is unique for having a cruiser look, while basically being a naked bike. While it's annoying to me, the effectiveness of this marketing and the popularity of these street fighter/ hybrid-cruisier/ neo-cafe-racer (or whatever marketing spin they're pumping out to create a new sub-genre of bike) makes this bike quite sought after, and the second hand market prices retain better than say a cb500x or cbr500r. What this means is that the bike is a little on the expensive side due to demand, despite being a naked bike with basic components (keep in mind that as of time of writing, global supply chain issues mean the bike is on backorder for several months (in Australia (not speaking for other parts of the world with their own unique supply chain issues)).
Tom, the guy comparing this bike to a cb125 (which I've also owned; excellent bike especially if you want to do all your own maintenance/repairs (truly great learner bike, which I'd recommend for Alex so that he gains the confidence to lift the bike off the stand)), seems to have ridden a modified version of the cmx, as he complains about lean angle (this bike performs much better in this regard than virtually every other cruiser on market), and also the riding position (he claims his feet are splayed forward, which makes me think he must've modified as the cmx500 riding position is upright... ), if he can't lean in an upright position, it's probably a problem with his back/ balance, rather than the motorcycle, as the upright position... is actually probably the easiest for standing on pegs/ balancing left/ right... but obviously the guy must've modified his cmx, as what he's talking about is clearly not the stock model (he also complains about lean angle being too little for a LAMs bike, also suggests he might have lowered the foot peg, as the clearance is not that great, but also not as bad as he claims (on a stock version, obviously not the bike he's reviewing)). Though, the other things he mentions are generally true (i.e. the bike uses pretty basic parts, nothing fancy in terms of spec sheet, and the suspension being subpar, and the wheels being of a high-endurance type rather than a track performance type), he seems generally biased against the bike, so I felt it was important to point out the inaccuracies, particularly in terms of the riding position, which again, he seems to be talking about a different bike.
Also another person mentioned that the suspension travel is only 15mm... that's only 1.5 cm.... so completely false information. A quick look online suggests that pre-2020 this bike's travel suspension is (front: 121mm, and rear: 96mm).. if their suspension travel is truly only 1.5cm... I think that's a warranty issue they should look into that.
Finally, my two cents, is that this is a great urban bike with a cruiser-look, particularly in countries like Australia that allow lane-filtering (riding in between cars at low speeds). The bike is small, narrow, and powerful enough for anything from dense urban to open country. The weight is actually much closer to a supersport than a cruiser bike, and many professional commentators emphasize the excellent lean angle combined with agility that allows for quick, confident, and accurate turns.
The down-side has to be the suspensions. The post-2020 version I have has harder rear suspensions (which improves stability around corners on uneven roads, but the trade-off is that it is a bit jarring over poorly-maintained roads). Pre-2020 the rear suspension felt super-bouncy, which was slightly more comfortable, but a little threatening when you hit a bump during a sharp turn. That's my personal opinion, but according to professional commentators, the brakes are what's apparently subpar. I found it to be sufficient, (I don't ride that hard) but I suppose it could be dangerous if you're expecting a strong bite from the front brakes and you enter a corner hotter than you anticipated.
And one last word about value... as compared to the market value of motorcycles in general (a lot of bike prices have been going up, or holding higher than traditional expectations) this bike is decent value for money. But when considering how profitable this bike is for the company, and how it is very no-frills, I believe they could have priced it even lower. Though the components are all high-quality and Honda-reliable, they aren't anything special or performance. That being said, modern bikes are all generally good to the point that it's very easy to reach illegal speeds if you're not paying attention. As reference, when I go from a stop light, most cars are about 100m behind by the time I reach 60kph (while using very little fuel on my end)
It's a nice bike ruined by poor equipment – I have had my 2020 CMXA for 1000km now, I am around 1.7 M tall and 90 KG, both well within the bikes ratings. In the first week I had removed the binnacle fairing (a CMXA extra) due to wind buffeting, I could not ride it over 90kmh. I also wear tinted glasses while riding, it is Australia after all, forget trying to read the instruments if it's… Read more
sunny, I have put a phone mount on the bars and use my mobile as a GPS speedo. The instruments are brilliant of a night, very clear and easy to use. Suspension, one word woeful, and mine is the improved 2020 model, with my 90 kg on board I have 15mm front and rear travel left before bottom, the bike sags 50mm at front under it's own weight, the constant jarring on rougher roads gets old very fast. Honda offer to help upgrade it at my cost. The seat does get hard after about an hour as well. Now the good, the brakes are brilliant, very strong and user friendly. The engine and gearbox are sweet, the engine is smooth and the gears are precise and easy to use, power is more than enough for getting around. Mirrors work well as does the switch gear, although I did have to roll the handle bars back a bit to get some of the twisting out of my wrists that eventually ended up as shoulder pain after a few hours. Fuel economy is quite amazing for a 500, a larger tank would be nice as 200km to reserve at highway speed in Australia can be getting a bit tight, around town perfectly fine at 240km.
Not all that's is all crack up to be – After visiting my local sunstate motorcycle dealership to try out the new honda rebel cmx500 i was rather surprised at just how heavy this bike really is. Sadly i was unable to lift this bike of its side stand. I weigh all of 55kgs and stand all of 145cms tall. This bike is certainly not suited to the smaller rider. If you are heavier in weight… Read more
maybe so but not in my case. Don't get me wrong this bike is a looker and i could see myself on long weekend rides if only i could ride the thing. Be warned the only way one is truly ever going to know is to try before you buy and do your homework.
Brilliant ride great handling – The bike is a brilliant learner bike and I have been very happy with how it performs in all conditions. I had test drove the Harley Street 500 and found it under performed in power and only being a 5 speed it didn't offer what was needed for bigger riders. The Cmx 500 offers that cruiser style traditional to a Harley without the name tag attached.… Read more
I had feedback from a Harley sales person even saying the Cmx 500 is one of the best Lams bike and Harley would have loved to badge it up with Harley on it.
Good cruiser for a new learner – Bought this bike for my son (I have been riding for decades) as his first bike and it is easy to ride and good fun. This is his main transport to uni and part time job. The main complaint is the seat and on long rides this becomes an annoying problem, we are going to change the seat to a better version. I have ridden it as well and I agree with… Read more
the seat problem. My bike has a gel seat which is way better. Spares for this bike are not expensive as it was dropped and dented the tank which was replaced for approx $300.
Good for a cruiser. Mediocre if you want a motorbike – Is that too harsh? Maybe. I wouldn't call it a -bad- bike, and to be fair, it does make a great first impression. It sounds good for a paralell twin, and the 'circular aesthetic' they have going on with the styling is very pleasing and probably quite timeless. Ok, so I've been nice to it. How can I call it mediocre then? Well, the handling,… Read more
engine, and ergonomics package only works on roads that wouldn't challenge a cb125. So you ride it around town, maybe squirt it up to 80 km/h, and it feels pretty impressive. Flick the bars around side to side and the bike responds well. So on a short test ride, perhaps around the back streets near your friendly honda dealer, it all feels fantastic. But the moment you take it off slow, smooth roads, the intrinsic limitations of this class of bike become apparent. There is limited suspension travel available, and the dampers feel pretty budget (bulk purchased with the cb125 perhaps?) so when you hit mid corner bumps the bike gets flustered and untidy. There is limited ground clearance, which means an early, hard limit on lean angle, which always sticks in the back of your mind if you enter an unfamiliar corner a bit too hot. Which is likely to happen given that this is a LAMS bike aimed at new riders. Not good. The tyres are of the rock hard high-miler type: standard fare for cruisers, but it's the type of rubber you'd reluctantly fit to a 50cc scooter because there isn't any other option available. Again, I didn't have any issues with them, but how much grip is really in reserve? For a new rider with perhaps sharper than normal braking and throttle inputs, is it really a good idea to have such limited grip available? The ergonomics, well, you either like cruiser ergonomics or you don't. You can probably guess by now that I don't. It's not a problem unique to this model of bike, but rather this class of bike. Having your legs splayed out in front of you is just crap for controlling a bike. You can't shift your body weight around, you can't lift your seat off the ground to absorb bumps from the crude suspension, and your whole crotch/torso catches the breeze like a parachute. So although you feel like the terminator when you quickly ride this bike around town, at higher speeds the ergonomics are an impediment. A similar theme carries through to the engine, although it's not so bad here. It's very punchy about to about 80-100, beyond that, it's merely providing adequate amounts of grunt. Engine access is pretty good, probably the best out of honda's 500cc family of bikes. And being a honda you won't need to do anything beyond routine maintenance on this machine.
So that's it. As per the title of this review, if you have decided that a cruiser is for you, then this is probably one of the better ones on the market. But if you're just interested in motorbikes in general, well, this is basically a very flashy and expensive city scooter in drag. I would not recommend this bike if you are planning on riding any kind of country roads, or in the wet, or just in general really.
Better value than it's counterpart – I recently test rode one of these at a test day and was impressed by most of it's attributes. To me it is in direct opposition to the Harley Street 500 and if I were a new rider, the Honda would be my choice hands down. It provides more assistance to a new rider in terms of dash information which let's face it, comes in handy when you're… Read more
learning to ride. It took off better and it just felt better to ride.
The downfalls for me, being over 6 foot 3, the mid range pegs don't feel comfortable and I tested it on an extremely windy day and being stock standard (no wind protection) it certainly got knocked around but there are a lot of aftermarket options to help with that.
Being a 500cc you will definitely get your 2 years out of it before really wanting something bigger but I think it is more suited to a shorter person. It is a fantastic LAMS bike as it is more than capable on the open road and is at ease in traffic conditions and is not hard to handle.
I recently did a top 5 cruiser style bikes for beginner riders and I had this one at number 2 (behind the Vulcan), despite it not being a genuine cruiser because of the peg position, the assistance it offers puts it ahead of other options.
AND I THOUGHT THE YAMAHA 250 VIRAGO CRUISER WAS GOOD – This is a great bike, i took the plunge and bought it on its release date in Australia, one of the first in NSW, and i can tell you now what a bike, it won't break any records, but it is a real head turner, everyone asks about it, at the lights, at the car park, it is comfortable and easy to ride, and the grip from the wide front and rear D404… Read more
tyres will give you confidence. It will beat most cars from take off at the lights and the fuel return is amazing 248km commuting on 11 lts, smooth gear changes and great brakes all make for a great bike ride and lots of fun.
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