Whether it’s a first motorcycle, a step-up bike for a 300 rider, or a mount for a returning motorcyclist, the Honda CB500F is an outstanding naked upright sportbike.The slightly undersquare twin has good grunt and is unintimidating. Still, it has enough power and a six-speed transmission to take on local freeways and twisting backroads.
Handling is consistent with the goal of the Honda CB500F, so it favors stability over outright agility. Regardless, the 414-pound weight (add another five pounds for ABS) means you can throw the bike around when dodging traffic, and make whatever line changes you require while working your way through canyons.2017 Honda CB500FComfort is outstanding, and the 4.4-gallon fuel tank capacity means you can take long rides without stopping for gas.Read our Honda CB500F Review.Visit our Motorcycle Buyer’s Guide.
2017 Honda CB500F Specs:
ENGINE
Type: Parallel twin
Displacement: 471cc
Bore x stroke: 67.0 x 66.8mm
Compression ratio: 10.7:1
Cooling: Liquid
Valve train: DOHC, 4vpc
Induction: PGM-FI w/ 34mm throttle body
Ignition: Digital transistorized w/ electronic advance
Transmission: 6-speed
Final drive: Chain
CHASSIS
Front suspension: 41mm fork; 4.3 inches of travel
Rear suspension: Linkage-assisted spring-preload adjustable shock; 4.7 inches of travel
Hello everyone and welcome once again to the Ultimate Motorcycling podcast—Motos and Friends. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
Motos and Friends is brought to you by the Yamaha YZF-R7—Yamaha’s awesome supersport machine that is as capable on the racetrack as it is on the street. …and it’s comfortable too! Check it out at at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com.
In this week’s first segment, Senior Editor Nic de Sena rides the BMW K 1600 GT. This is the sporty bagger version of BMW’s K series of machines, those are the models with the awesome 6-cylinder engine. The GT has been given a little makeover for 2023, and Nic gives us his take.
In the second segment, I chat with one of my all time heroes—three-time World Champion racer ‘fast’ Freddie Spencer. I’ll do my best not to come off as too much of a fanboy here, but frankly it’ll be tough!
In my humble opinion, Spencer is a contender for the GOAT—greatest of all time. Sure, his career was a little shorter than some, and his number of championships falls behind the likes of Lawson, Doohan, Rossi, and of course Marquez. But at the time, Freddie literally changed the way motorcycles were ridden. 30 years before Marc Marquez, Freddie was able to push the front wheel into a slide, corner after corner, lap after lap in order to get the bike turned faster than anyone else. Freddie took completely different lines and was able to get on the throttle so early he could out accelerate anyone off a corner.
In the modern era, of course Freddie is the chairman of the FIM MotoGP Stewards panel. This is the panel of referees for all three classes of Grand prix racing. I talked to Freddie about his task there, and although for contractual reasons with Dorna and the FIM he cannot talk about specific riders, teams, or events, nevertheless his explanation of the job makes for interesting listening. It’s a tough job, and frankly I wouldn’t want to do it!
At any rate, Freddie’s new book ‘Feel’ is available on Amazon—I’d highly recommend you reading it whether you’re a fan of Freddie or not, even whether you’re into racing or not; every rider has something to learn from his mental approach.
Actually—Ultimate Motorcycling is giving away five copies of the book—signed by Freddie himself—to the first five listeners who contact us with the correct answer to the question: How many national AMA championships did Freddie win, and which years were they?
Please email your answers to producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and we will contact the winners and send you a signed copy of Feel. Those five winners will be announced on a future episode. Unfortunately for legal reasons this offer is ONLY open to US residents.
So, from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
