Either that, or you leave home with new tyres, and carry an extra set with you, and hope that´ll get you far enough, where you can find suitable tyres again. Doing some research should point you to a tyre, that´ll have long enough mileage (.....in fact the mileage of some new tyres, like 15-25 k kms from a rear, might mean that you don´t even have to think about carrying spares any more).

So, is carrying spare tyres needed in the first place, is another good question, and that depends on many things, but at least it is possible on most bikes. I´ve personally carried a whole set for about 30 thousand kms, while travelling two-up.

I suppose this depends on the type and size of the tyre you wish to ride on. Carrying a spare set around the sorts of distances you described I would imagine is not ideal, but if you were not convinced you could get any more rubber en route, then your choice is made for you. Travelling two up will of course decrease the mileage you are likely to get out of (A rear at least) a set of rubber, so that would be a consideration. I suppose in an ideal world, having a "Full test", i.e. riding fully loaded on your chosen rubber until they require changing will give you vital info about tyre wear and life span. I accept however this is an unlikely proposition for most though.

Hi tigershel

This is quite interesting. I wasn't aware that the CRF250L was selling in such markets. The reason I perhaps discounted this bike was for four reasons as follows:

1. (And I may have misunderstood this so please correct me if so) It only has a 250cc engine, so it would be hard work (Physically) for both me and the machine to complete such a long trip.

2. I have not ridden one myself, but I have heard that they are not particularly comfortable. Can this be overcome?

3. There doesn't appear to be much space to carry equipment and supplies.

4. Although the mpg is very good 85-90mpg, it only has a 7.7L tank which will give only a 150 mile tank range. An issue when petrol stations become sparse.

All that as it is, I have heard they are relatively easy to work on and extremely reliable? And as you say, if this is selling into many markets worldwide, parts should not be an issue.

Plenty of stories out there of folks who are riding Honda Cub style bikes and 125s around the world, let alone 'big' the bikes like a 250...
I've toured 2-up around parts of SE Asia on my Yamaha 125 and a Chinese 200, and would have no hesitation RTWing either bike solo.

The space and load capacity consumed by a 50kg passenger should be more than enough for the usual spares, tools, additional clothing, camping equipment and so on, when added to the 60 liters of luggage I was already carrying (tank and Ortlieb saddlebags). My passenger also carried a small backpack.

When going on a smaller bike, it's counterproductive to load it up too much. The biggest joy of small bike touring is the ease with which you can go almost anywhere. Pack as light as you can, and you will retain most of that.

I see folks posting here about how a small bike won't make it in the mountains: they should see how much stuff the locals here haul into some pretty rugged territory on 125 to 155 cc bikes. It's more a matter of getting the gearing and tuning right, and being prepared to ride within the bike's limits.

In general, the question of big enough depends on where and how you ride.
In lots of SE Asia and many other 3rd world countries, a 250 is as big as you want, and much bigger than the locals ride.
I've started asking the opposite question: is it small enough? Some of the best trips I've been on in the last 2 years have been to areas where anything much bigger than the 200 would have been very difficult or impossible to go.

Folks take rented Enfield 350s and 500s up into the Himalayas all the time : I'd much prefer to use the CRF.

Most of the traffic in the 3rd world moves along at 40 to 50 mph, going much faster raises the risk level a lot.


2. Comfort: bit of an issue, but there is a good aftermarket developing and a custom saddle should be a first step. If you are iron-butting 1000 mile days, it's the wrong bike, though.
On my previous dualsport, I had a custom saddle, heated grips, handguards, electric vest outlet and a windshield, and that made all the difference.
I find the dualsport riding position to be the most comfortable for me, others may disagree.

3. Load: see above, but you should have no problem fitting saddlebags, a decent-sized duffel and more. There is a CRF250L thread over on Advrider, along with 250 touring and minimalist touring threads that should give you plenty of ideas.
I'd consider adding some bracing to the subframe and so on, but that is something done to many of the most popular RTW bikes.

4. Range: I'm pretty sure there are already aftermarket tanks available, probably around 4 gallons. My Husky TE610 was about the same physical size and weight (but much taller), and I had a 5 gallon tank on that.
Maybe I should persuade you to ride something like my YBR125G : that comes stock with 12 liters which takes it easily 400km. The stock saddle isn't too bad and long enough for 3 people, we've loaded the stock rack with 40kg of clothing, and it's gone everywhere. River crossings, rocky single track, mud over the axles, steep climbs in the mountains and more. Just about all of that 2 up...

Sent from my A898 Duo using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Hi Scott (great name!), i own a CB500X having done around 7500kms on it so far. I've researched the nobbly tyres option and there is very little for the size wheels that the 500X runs. For matching dual sport tyres front and back, the only brand/model i have found are the Pirelli Mt60's.

As mentioned, there is now a mod for spoked rims; ADVrider - View Single Post - Rally-Raid Products Honda CB500X

Cheers,

Scott.

Pics of my bike;



Mods done;

- Touring windscreen
- Adjustable levers
- Handguards
- Spongey grips
- centre stand
- Airhawk seat cushion
- Wolfman tank bang and dry duffel
- 12v/5v power supply
- Two Brothers Sports Exhaust

I agree with Gary's assessment and have made a few mods for comfort. The buffeting can get to be a bit much, plus the seat becomes rock hard after a few hours of riding.

That's a cool looking bike!
Must say, in the top pic things look out of balance with that huge
Wolfman Dry bag on there. Bit out of scale to rest of bike, IMHO.

If you keep the bike and do more touring, perhaps try a set of small to medium sized side panniers? Could allow you to go with a smaller, more in scale dry bag up top. Just a thought.

Might give a more balanced look, and better weight distribution as well with side panniers. (weight low and forward is best)

There are just a few knobby tires out now for 17" rims. I believe both Continental (TKC80) and Kenda (Big Block) may be making such tires in larger 17" sizes now? Check it out. Not cheap but I thing you may find something. TKC's are EXCELLENT and last pretty well too! Kenda's suck.
(just the Big Block, not ALL Kenda's)

BTW, a Pirelli MT60 is NOT a knobby tire, not even a 50/50. What the MT60 really is, is a Race Wet. (for wet roadracing) Good tire but not much good in anything more severe than a simple dirt road, great on wet paved roads. They wear out quick with heavy bike. (I've run a couple of them)

One thing to be aware of ... if you ever ride in serious Mud ... your front mud guard (Fender in Yankee speak) can CLOG up with mud and slow or stop wheel rotation. This happened on my former V-Strom. Had to REMOVE the fender (a major PITA), strap onto bike and get mud in my face for a few hours.

One other option to consider is flying out to one of the areas where you think you would like to ride and hire a local motorcycle.
In places like the Philippines or Vietnam you can have a blast on something like a 125 and rental and running costs are very low, as is accommodation and food if you stay away from the tourist hangouts.

I did that and it totally changed the kind of bikes I rode as well as the places and type of riding I enjoy.

Anything that you want to know about Philippines, drop me a PM.

Sent from my A898 Duo using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Chris, many good points about the CRF versus CB500X.
I read your report in the CRF250L some time ago, and my take is that you couldn't have picked an area less suited to a 250. It's like me pushing an R12GS through the jungles of Vietnam, or island hopping it across the Philippines and then declaring it to be totally unsuitable for RTW purposes.

Plus, I still think the CRF you were on probably wasn't set up for the conditions, as most running at altitude put in a 13T sprocket, and some go to a bigger rear sprocket as well. I also suspect that the fueling module made the bike run richer than stock, which kills power at altitude.

Dealer parts availability for ANY bike in the USA is pretty poor, the dealers all run very low inventories. I get better much better parts availability for my Yamaha in large Filipino dealers than I have had for any US bike, other than a few Husky dealers I used to mail order stuff from.
The point of getting a locally available bike is that at least the parts are available in-country, which saves the hassle of dealing with ordering, shipping, duties, customs, blown schedules and the rest.
Not so bad if you have the time and money to wait around, not great otherwise.

The tire strategy you suggest is very sensible, but doesn't take into consideration that 'stuff happens'.
I ripped the rear sidewall open on my GS riding on the freeway, with only 1K miles on it. That would have ruined plans if I hadn't been able to find another tire quickly, and even in the USA it took the (non-BMW) dealer 2 days to source me another.
Somewhere like the Philippines you would be very lucky to find one outside of Manila, and I can guarantee you that wouldn't be something exotic like a K60.
A dirt worthy tire in CB500X sizes would be impossible to find.

On my 200 running standard sized dirt bike tires, not an issue. Nearly every tire shop has something in stock.

As for punting a 500 with road or 80/20 tires across the tracks that the locals run on 125s, it can be done, but it isn't a whole lot of fun for many reasons.
Most of those 125s weigh half of a CB500X (or less), many have dirt tires fitted, and the riders have likely been riding those roads since they were kids and have far better skills than I will ever have.
Local knowledge also counts. Earlier this year we took what looked like a main road on the map as part of an island tour, only to end up riding 20 km of road construction, including several stretches with mud up over the axles.
This was after a big overnight rainstorm, so conditions were worse than usual.

We realized afterwards that the bikes we'd been seeing (none on the really bad sections) were mostly going to small villages towards the beginning or end.
All the through traffic had gone a much longer way round, as they knew the conditions.
That kind of thing happens pretty regularly out here, even on some of the highways.

We were 2 up on my 125 dualsport which is light and low with 18" knobbies, so didn't have too many problems apart from having to reverse the bike a few times to free up rocks and mud trapped between the tire and fender.
On a less suitable bike we'd probably have turned around, or dropped it a few times, or my girlfriend would have ended up walking.
Not necessary with the 125, and we got to see some beaches, mangrove forests and other things sights we probably wouldn't have otherwise.

I actually enjoy riding the 125 as much as the 200, even though the 200 makes way more power, and has proper sized wheels, a decent dualsport riding position, monoshock and upside down forks. The smaller, lighter bike is just so easy to ride. Very little traffic runs faster than 80 km/h, so we keep ahead of most as long as I'm prepared to spin the motor a bit.

Different perspective to the whole thing: as I said a few posts ago, it very much depends on where you will ride. For the trip you did, there was nowhere that the advantages of a small bike could be used. Where I live, a big bike is next to useless.

Sent from my A898 Duo using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Thanks but I don't believe there were any. My recent ride was just cited to help make a couple of points.

There are many threads on the HUBB debating the pros and cons of overlanding on small bikes. In certain environments, such as dirt roads in SWUSA/Morocco, and in particular yours in SE Asia I can see their benefit.

But here please let's stick to the OP's topic:
'Honda CB500X - Serious consideration for a RTW machine?'

That is what interests me and others.
Addressing a post's specific query makes the masses of info on the HUBB more useable.

Ch

Why not?

__________________
Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

Can you switch the ABS off? I can see that being an issue on rough roads

__________________
https://fernsforays.wordpress.com/

I know I've quoted an old post, but feel it is worth mentioning in this thread...

My experience with the CB500X ABS has been nothing short of outstanding in off-road conditions - seriously, it works VERY VERY well on the dirt and loose gravel, and even wet grassy slopes - none of the giving up and running away with you that plagued early BMW ABS systems - it just simple hauls you up regardless of the surface.

What is perhaps most surprising is how well it works for what is ostensibly such a simple system - it is a basic single channel system (ie. it doesn't have a separate rear channel that can be switched off, like the new Africa Twin for example) - and is another example of how Honda have made this simple and straightforward bike, that does exactly what you want it to!

As I say, I would have no qualms about riding the ABS equipped CB500X anywhere off-road, but for those old-schoolers of a nervous disposition, you might also be pleased to hear that Rally-Raid have developed a simple by-pass switch, that allows you to disengage and reengage the ABS at will, even on the fly. Perhaps best of all, it won't reset itself to default on when you cut the ignition (the potential source of so many woes for BMW owners I understand ;o)

That way, you always have the choice whether to have ABS available or not.

Hope that gives some food for thought...

Jenny x

See it as a road bike which is what it is. My mate has one and loves it however just because Honda give it a beak and list it as a 'trendy' adventure bike it is still a road bike with road tyres small wheels and low ground clearance. There is a lot of pretty plastic in there too.
Im not going to suggest alternatives because it may be the perfect RTW bike for you. As always it comes down to what suits your own personal criteria and the biggest thing on my personal list is you've simply gotta really like the bike

__________________
have fun with your helmet!

There are a couple of pictures of the rally raid adaptation of this particular bike in the site linked below (which also has feedback from some other riders/owners of the CB500).

http://www.adventurebikerider.com/fo...it=10&start=20

As posted by "that postie".

__________________
Dave