Wanted: 2 CB500X in France or Germany by June 2019 for RTW.
 

My girlfriend and I, along with our dog, will be starting our RTW in France or Germany and are looking for 2 Honda CB500x. We are from Chicago, both 23 yrs old so our budget is tight and will prefer if both bikes are already outfitted for RTW. I have an aunt in Germany and in France so if we fancy 1 bike in Germany and 1 bike in France, we can just ride 2-up to pick up the other. If you are reading this and would love to help as a finder, we would very much welcome that w/ some beer.
For transparency, we're comfortable at $3500 USD maximum for each bike.
We are also open in considering other bikes but it cannot be anymore than our budget range of $2k-3.5k USD.
Ideally the seller we're looking for is somebody that wants to let go of their bike not just for some X amount of profit but to help and envision the bike their letting go set off to see the world.

so I don't want to be a downer but I think you might have a challenge with your requirements.

I just checked mobile.de and there wasn't a single cb500x listed in your price range, much less one fitted out for RTW. (By that do you mean rally raid kit!? Or just like side racks?)

https://m.mobile.de/motorrad/search....ike&fe!=EXPORT

Now, bikes in Germany don't deprecate that much (the upside being that they tend to be impeccably maintained)

I don't know about the market in France but you might have slightly more luck in the UK, although a lot of them will have been flogged pretty badly as commuter bikes.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-se...DA&model=CB500

If your price is really that inflexible I'd take a look at old TransAlps. You'll find a lot more in your price range

https://m.mobile.de/motorrad/search....1&vc=Motorbike

Agreed - 3,5k USD won't get you a CB500X, and if it does, it won't be in the kind of condition that you would want to take it around the world.

In that price range, I'd look at V-Strom 650s, early Versuses, maybe Transalps.

If you want to have a look at what the french second-hand market have to offer, you can check on this website : https://www.leboncoin.fr/motos/offres/
It's the french equivalent to craigslist.

Be advised that there is a few traps not to fall into, when buying here. If the bike is cheap, it might mean that there is no papers with it, etc...Also, there is no technical control like the TÜV in germany. your bike is supposed to be road legal, but there isn't much control, except if the exhaust is waking up the entire city.

Here is some acronyms we use in the classifieds to help you decode all of this : (we frenchs LOVE acornyms !)
CG = carte grise = Registration (if there is none, you won't be able to get papers later)
A2 = under 35kW category, depends on what you can drive according to your licence
TBE = Très bon état = very good shape
RSV = Réparation supérieur à la valeur = crashed bike, only for sale for scraps there is NO way you can get papers if you're not a dealership

Feel free to PM me if you want me to have a look at an ad, I'm getting good at smelling the bullshit in those :P

Hi there. I noticed the post as I am selling my CB500X in the UK, and bought it dreaming of an adventure like yours...

However, I would echo the advice of the other respondents. My bike is valued at the very top of your budget. On one hand, it has a full service history, three careful owners, useful mods and if I had the money I wouldn't hesitate to take it RTW. On the other hand, mine has 32,000mi and has seen a few British winters, so she isn't showroom fresh and yet is near the top of your budget and still isn't quite outfitted for major expeditions.

The CB500X as a RTW bike is a great choice - the fuel economy, ease to ride, simple engineering and reliability are great attributes - but the other respondents are correct. You will need to pay more in Europe if you have Rally Raid type suspension or protection mods in mind.

If you are looking to buy in France and Germany, I'd suggest looking at Transalps and R1200Rs, that kind of thing, if you want to keep the bike spend down.

You're more than welcome to send me a message about my CB if you like, though, or indeed if you want any advice on CB's as a potential RTW machine. I would prefer mine to go to a good home than yet another pizza delivery guy in South London!

Best of luck with your search & your trip!
David

Oh, btw, try hitting up Pavel if you want advice or some stories! (farandfurther on instagram and facebook). Really nice bloke I met in London who rode his to India and back in 2017/18. Great stories on social media and on the CB500X forum.

Haha small world. I met him in India, then we rode on and off a bunch of the way back. His cb500x was strictly better all around than my DRZ, except for only the very very toughest stiff. And it didn't break down all the time like my bike did....

I think it's a better choice than a TransAlp if you have the money for rally raid, but if not here's some TransAlp inspiration:

https://instagram.com/capitaine_morg...=1rnwgrxbqnw24

https://instagram.com/ichbinich_adve...d=9o40qa0x01ft

Thank you for everybody's input. Since the posting of this thread, I have concluded that we will be using Adventure-spec Magadan soft panniers and a Giant Loop Great Basin. That means a stock CB500x will do, no need for aluminum top box and panniers. Reason for the CB500x is because my girlfriend and I already did a test drive on one and for me, it felt like a toy at 5'6. I'm coming from a Yamaha Royal Star Venture that's top heavy at 900lbs wet on one foot. For her, she acclimated to the CB500x much easier than the Honda Rebel 300. Aside from being completely friendly and flickable from a cruiser rider's standpoint, it's the tubeless tires and miles per tank that we prefer not to compromise. The Transalp unfortunately carry those specs but I really did consider it due to value and have been following Pedro Mota's adventures and his Make Alp Great Again series.
So, V-Strom 650.. have not test ridden it yet but did sit on one. It's the likely contender for the right price.
Something to mention, we do plan on selling the bikes somewhere in Mongolia/Russia and fly out to South America with our Magadan panniers and Giant Loop. Allows us to be more versatile and just throw it on to the next bike.

Seems like I need 3 posts in order to send you a message. First, thank you for being the ideal seller that I mentioned in my post. I will definitely consider your offer. I don't mind the mileage or the obvious wear and tear. If we find 1 in France or Germany we can just ride 2-up and pick yours up. In regards to the pricing for Rally Raid mods, I will be hesitant on spending any more than I should for a bike that runs. A vespa has gone around the world, granted that better suspension would be nice but we're young enough to tolerate the bumps once we venture off-road. Now if the price is right for a nice suspension upgrade, why not.

Hello,

I can't really say much about the price as I bought CB500X '13 new and at that time didn't really thought about RTW. Since then I've added Rally Raid kit second hand which is probably hard to find but it used to be that people bought RR3 and figured out that bike becomes too high... and that way I managed to keep the expense low as I didn't buy the bike for trip which I did 2017/18.

I can only say... For me the CB500X RR3 was perfect choice. It was (still is) my first bike and I'm happy it's not overpowered as I'd probably be dead by now. Also I've done some serious terrain and that excludes Indian & Pakistani Himalaya & Nepal Mustang valley with hsinclai. Bike can go long way, well for me 54000km during the trip and I'm clocking 101500km on the bike now. Economy is brilliant, spare parts (excluding RR kits/bearings) are available and mechanics are able to cope with it.

Apart from maintenance, bearings and repairing what I broke offroading it holds incredibly well. I need to change shims to adjust valve clearances for the first time in 100000km and clutch holds fine as well.

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions or share tips on the CB500X or just talk.

Hello goldfever & hsinclai! ;) I need come back to London for chat & beer, indeed.

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