Three series five series M3 M5 maybe ?beer

I just picked up, late last year, my travel bike. Honda CB500X, full suspension kit and more farkles on the way.

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Went to the Helsinki Motor Show this weekend, sat on a bunch of bikes including the Tenere 700, the 790 Adventure R, and the 1250 GS.

The one I was most excited to see up close, though, was the 2019 CB500X. Loved it. The right size, the right feel, 19-inch front wheel, better dash with the nav-holder loop above it.

To be honest, it's the first ever vehicle that I am seriously considering buying new from the dealer.

I've had my CB500f for 11 months now. The CB500X should make you smile.

Andy

The 2019 X has a ton of little updates that make it a fantastic bike. If I didn't have to pay the massive taxes here in Honduras for a new bike I would have held out for one.

The X is turning out to be a great bike. I'm setting it up for my ergos and getting it ready for travel. Been trying to get the windscreen right. Then it's on to lighting and auxiliary toolbox.

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Unless you are the Snap-on/Harbour Freight rep or your mates all ride shaft drive twins, this seems a little superfluous :innocent: :rofl:

Andy

I love the looks of the Honda Cb500X and it was my first choice when shopping for a bike last year, but with the luxury tax in China it was just so much more expensive (almost double the price) than the Benelli TRK502X I eventually bought.

Done 6,000km now on my Benelli and what a great bike. A bit heavy, but quick to get used to, economical, and the parallel twin is so willing, with lots of low end torque. Performance specs almost identical to the Honda, but to be honest the Honda felt a bit small and cramped to me.

Another CB500X owner here. Bought it April 2018, and have run up around 32,000 miles since then. A 1/3rd of that was a 6 week, 11,000 mile trip across the US following the TAT.

The bike never let me down or gave me any issues.


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That's a good looking bike!

The reply before this has come up continuously in "latest posts" for several weeks.
Can an admin stop this happening?

It will be because people are voting on it. Keeping it current.

Another two months and the first votes in the poll are ten years old :rofl:

Anyone still got the bike they voted for?

Rough guess, I think I'm on #5

Should have voted Honda, it'd be closer to the average of the five.

Andy

Yeah, me!

On my second DR650 now. Sold the first one with 70,000 miles...



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and bought another low mileage example.....


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I transfered all my goodies,- suspension, luggage, skidplate, barkbusters, etc to the newer one, and made it into this......

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.......which now has 50,000 miles.

I'm thinking I'm about ready to turn it around again and buy another low mileage one. I'll sell it the older one cheap.....and consider that I've gotten my money's worth.

So far they keep making the DR for the US market, which makes them affordable and easy to find aftermarket parts for.

...........shu

Well played Sir :thumbup1:

More money for petrol and one of the best things you can do for the environment while still motorised.

Andy

Yep
Still got a GS. Sold my 1100 with 180K miles on the clock and bought a 1200TC. Just had it’s 40K mile service - looking forward to the next 140K miles
:D:scooter:

I've been riding my trusted 96 DR650 which I purchased in Germany back in 2010 for 1350 Euros with 10 K on the clock and no major repair has been done on engine except timing chain....first drive chain lasted for 70.000 km. and once needed carb cleaning. Over 180.000 km and regular semi synthetic automotive oil change. Attachment 24349

Actually, I do! Both of them!

I recently added a TDM to the stable but couldn't bring myself to sell the Transalp it was replacing.

There is my Ural in there too that really needs some TLC. It hasn't run in about 5 years! It's all rusted on the frame, despite being garaged! :(

I think the Ural factory purposely chooses the most hydrophilic steel available.

Russian Steel bad - Ukrainian even worse!
 

Bringing the Old School back to life on my '79 KMZ Dnepr; spending more time at the blasters than on the road this year. What we do for Love...

I need to expand my answer - I am now the owner of a Moto Guzzi V85TT and that is probably going to be my travel bike rather than my BMW R80.

Ten years later and my answer is still pretty much the same, the two BMW '91 GS and '83 G/S which have both had quite a few miles and countries put on them since then and my XR125 a couple of models of which I have done some travelling on and hope to do some more.

It took me about 4 years of agonising before I decided on the KTM 790 Adventure. Had it been possible to buy new DR650s I think I might have gone for that. I like the idea of simple adventure bikes, but I didn't want something so simple it was primitive, also I didn't want something that was old, since you can rebuild old bikes and still end up with something that breaks. Neither did I want a repurposed lightweight trail bike - I'll be doing mostly roads so on-road manners are most important. Off road is a plus.

While I was (and still am) a bit nervous about all the electronics on today's machines, I work on the principle that it's impossible to buy any new bike that doesn't have a shedload of electronics on it, and bikes like this have been circulating the world for many years. Modern electronics really are very reliable. On that basis the KTM's credentials as a travel bike made it the obvious choice compared to much heavier and taller rivals like BMW and Honda.

For some reason I’ve got a nagging doubt in the back of my mind about the reliability of KTMs and I’m not really sure why.
Most of my rider friends have GSs - across the range from air heads to 1250s and in my experience they’ve been very reliable. The early 1200s had final drive problems but it was a £300 rebuild at the time and they’ve been fine ever since.

I suspect the doubts originate from those GS owners that also have KTMs that they use off road. At meet ups they’re always talking about the repairs and rebuilds they’re doing. I’m not just talking about the enduro bikes but the 690 adv that they’ve been riding in the Pyrenees or whatever.

Just skimmed back over this thread - funny when you look back.
Plenty of Himalayan’s and small CRFs doing long trips now and the T7 will push up Yamaha’s ranking I suspect.

Lots of early posts slagging Charlie and Ewan but, I believe, that moto travel wouldn’t be as popular as it is now without them and consequently there are lots of travel bikes to choose from - otherwise this thread might have been .....well, a bit boring bier

BMW GSA for road trips locally (< 3000km) Anything with tracks, sand, gravel etc. the RE Himalayan. Had too many instances of dropping a big adv. bike riding solo and only just being able to pickup esp. on the last trip when I did the ribs in!!! Picking up in bull dust with bruised ribs is extremely painful (being polite there...) Also, too many electrics on the BMW, abs sensors failing etc etc . No way to repair just have to hope that the electrics don’t disable riding of the bike. Going back to basics with the RE Himalayan is quite refreshing:-) Enjoy and safe riding @blackdogmototravels


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My new 2023 CB500x was delivered on Friday 2nd Dec
Gradually adding the bits I want, including the panniers rails for my Magadan 2's which I tried for size.
Looking forward to getting some trips in. with and/or without my wife

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Wayne