First bike?!?! Honda CBR500R?!?!

Hi guy, so I should be passing my A2 test soon, and I’ve been looking at bikes and came to the decision that I think I want a Honda CBR500R... do you know what this bike is like? Will I have fun on it? I want quite a powerful bike but I do a lot of long distance travelling too, so I want the fun when I can but also be able to do long distance. Thanks.

its more than capable of long distances.. a few years ago a young chap came to Germany with us on a restricted CBR500R. the return journey for him was a little under 600 miles, from our base near the border with luxembourg to the tunnel and on to his home near Exeter. and the bike took it all in its stride.

Cb500 s have always been good bikes. I haven't ridden one of the new ones, but based on owner reviews it looks like Honda took all the good bits of the old one and brought it up to date.

Go and sit on one - make sure it fits you, then with your full licence try to get a test ride long enough to be sure the bike suits you and your needs.

I would avoid buying brand new though - most people I know don't keep their first big bike very long and depreciation is a kick in the wallet on any new new bike.

Most bikes have good reliability these days and Honda is a good advert for that. The only thing that you need to find out is, how comfortable it is for you on long journeys. A test ride should establish that.

I took a serious look at the CB500 range when replacing my commuter. Generally excellent bikes, reliable and easy to live with. Two criticisms, they need a valve clearance check very early on which is expensive, so the advice to buy used makes more sense. Just make it's been done.

Secondly, the finish is good but not as bulletproof as Honda's older stuff. In the end I went for a 2006 CBF500 simply because they cope with winter salt so much better. But if you look after it and use something like ACF50 it will be fine. They just lose that showroom finish in hard to reach spots sooner than they used to.

A lad at work bought one as his second bike after passing his test on a CBR 125 and he loves it . He reckons that it's still very fast despite being restricted and easily goes over 100 mph . In my opinion there's an awful lot of plastic to damage if you drop it so get the best crash bungs available which is usually R&G,s .

I had a CBR500R for 9 months or so.

Nimble and fast, but you do feel it is small-ish on the motorway. So went for a CBR650F. A lot more power, BUT I think the 500R has slightly more torques down the revs. I stalled the 650 more often than the 500.

On the 500R you have to lean more over the tank. On slightly longer journeys on the 500 I was feeling a bit of pain in the wrists.

As an all-rounder, there is very little wrong with CBR500R. Fairly fast, economical, good looking and not very expensive - what's not to like?

Ditto the above although I don't think it feels small (when I buy a 1000cc I might change that opinion).

On the 500R you have to lean more over the tank. On slightly longer journeys on the 500 I was feeling a bit of pain in the wrists.

There' not much point in comparing it to a larger bike if you only have an A2 licence. Its as big as you can get. One thing about torque - Its the same engine as they fit to the Rebel (different gearing).