Two fundamental questions:

1. Is any of this series coming to India ?
2. I remember reading that the US version will have 54 bhp as opposed to the European version with 47 bhp. Which of these flavours (if any) would make it here ?

Would like to see the source of this info. Pls put up the link here. Tks

While to us performance starved people this sounds like god sent, but really **** all bikes. Will have average suspension, brakes and average engines. Which are good for average rider but really money wasted for anyone who has spent more time in control than, let's say, Manmohan Singh. They are just reaping the benefits of having good bikes like 1000RR in their line up. A KTM 390, is a much, much better product. These are just mediocrity in drag. Please don't encourage them, unless you don't understand bikes and need twin cylinder to get chicks in the pub, which is another myth by the way. No, honestly this is just pathetic. Coming from Honda that is. I am sure it will do well, but not really something that you could come home on, look in the mirror and feel good about yourself. This might just be very good at going from point A to B, but there too it will be second to Splendor. So what's the point?

Who said the were "India" specific bikes ?

At this point of time we don't even know if its coming to our shores, so Honda could have made it for any of the performance starved folks of US/EU markets.

Did anyone notice that these latest 500cc Hondas aren't really 500cc?

67mm bore, 66.8mm stroke, 2 cylinders (abra ka dabra) = 471cc (235.5cc / cyl)

The bore x stroke characteristics of these 3 new Hondas is *almost* identical to the Karizma / ZMR.

The Honda CB500's came out in the 70's much before the CRF series came to light in early 2000.

If there is any similarity, the Karizma engine was born out of the CB 500

Very good analysis..Exactly what i was thinking....

I think that applies to the fully faired bike also.
Whatever our expectations might be. Honda surely has downsized performance. That is again according to what one considers as performance.

New times, new definitions.

I said to us it might seem, referring to the hordes of people getting excited about them. And the EU and US are not performance starved, just economically starved right now. The trouble for bike makers there is the shrinking base of new riders. The older ones are still buying the expensive stuff. So these bikes are classic Honda tactics, freeze development of better products, just strap existing engines to shoddier chassis and try getting good bottom lines. Now i know, i am being unfair to Honda this much criticism. But it was not me who devised the line "sapney sach kar dengey" or "the power of dreams." Especially when we have been waiting this long.

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Umm hello? The Bike is being imported to the US and not manufactured there. US has their own taxes for imported bikes and maybe that 55000 difference is just that... taxes! There is no news of 500 series being produced alongside the 250R in India or whether Honda is even interested to bring this into our market. So let us not have big hopes, atleast until 2013



On another note, its hilarious that when the 250R came out, people on this forum kept saying "A twin is always better than a single". And now that the tables have turned, the very same people are defending the single cylinder

Gosh people cannot make up their mind can they?

And yes there are speculations going around that the US market will get the unrestricted 52(or was it 54)hp 500R while the European market will be restricted to 47hp.

It is a recent trend to round figure the cc to some good looking number.
For eg: the Duke 390 is at 373.2cc, same with this Honda.


I dont think you get the point here. I suggest you go watch their ad on Youtube where they explain why theyve built the 500R and to whom it will cater. There are 3 versions of the same bike for 3 different group of riders. And the 500R is also meant to be relatively easy on the pocket.
Again watch their promo before you conclude anything. Theyre not referring to the bikes as track bikes or Race Replicas. The RR's are meant for that purpose.

So you mean to say Honda might now force-feed more 70s vehicles to Indians? Weren't Hero Moto Corp doing enough?

@forty6 Agreed totally. @Praful Bhai, Sorry to say but mediocrity no longer excites me. If it can't offer better equipment than the only modern 200 in the country today, what does it have to offer?

To fit A2 licensing norms, the power output has to be capped at 47bhp. But with 194kg Kerb weight, 242 bhp/ton its much lower than the lower displacement, lower powered but better equipped 286 bhp/ton KTM we have been discussing on the other thread.

Unlike Honda, KTM was gentlemen enough to mention this ALONGWITH the unveil.

When you start a video of insipid bike with the most exciting ones in your range, it is cheating. But i should know. Am in advertising. The golden rule is, if the sound of VO sounds too excited about the product in the promotional video, it is crap.

And they might be good bikes, but this is just regressive.

The line "Sapnay Sach kar dengey" still holds good. Because not everyone in this country can afford an RR at home. It is catering to the masses instead with budget models like the 250R, for people who cannot afford to buy or maintain the expensive alternatives. Dream Yuga is on a roll lately in the rural market. 250Rs have(maybe still are) seen their share of light.. the 150Rs may be damp(but slowly picking up) and anyway this 500 trio isnt announced for Indian markets yet.


How do you judge suspension, brakes and other mechanicals before you even get your hands on one anyway?

I think you understood the logic wrong, it was an explanation for what came before what. The CB500 twins are a much evolved version of the 70's 500 which btw was a full 499cc.

Its not about mediocrity, I think Honda is trying to do something different here by merging two different segments. All they are trying to do is bring better performance with reach of more people. And I think its a welcome move, considering that the RR's that everyone here is still craving for would still be too expensive, too powerful in the Indian context.

I agree these bikes are not "exciting", but then they weren't meant to be that!!

Word! exactly what i have been trying to convey. They are not pulling a Ferrari or a Ducati move here. They are not looking for an "Exclusive customer" market anymore. The 600RR market has plummeted in the last 3 years. They are now bringing performance to the masses and being practical at the same time. On the bright side, there is a 600RR for the real enthusiasts but it wont make it to the Indian market anytime soon(or ever) and even if it does it will be hovering around the 8-10 lakh mark which will again be criticized by the so called "Performance enthusiasts" as "Overpriced" and "Totally not worth it".