Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/133062
VOL. 50 ISSUE 21 MAY 29, 2013 1 4 consumption readout. Throttle response from the well-mapped PGM-FI fuel injection system's twin throttle bodies, each with a single injector, is crisp without being intimidating, and hustling the Honda CBR500R around the Parcmotor circuit showed it was more than lively enough to please. This pleasingly potent engine is rigidly mounted via four frame hangers to form a fully-stressed integral component of the opencradle chassis made from 35mmdiameter steel tubing in delivering reassuring handling. The box-section swingarm carries a chain guard styled to appear as if it's braced (it isn't!), and operates the rear Showa monoshock that's nine-way adjustable for preload only - via a progressive-rate link. The non-adjustable 41mm Showa fork is set at a 25.5-degree rake with 101.9mm of trail 2 1. Both bikes get a fairly basic 320mm front wave disc up front. 2. Both Honda's use the new parallel-twin, eight-valve motor that produces smooth power that won't be intimidating to newbies but won't get boring to more experienced riders. 3. The dash has all the basics. 4. The nose of the CBF500 doesn't provide as much wind protection as the CBR500R. 5. The CBR500R looks pretty racy. to give confidence-inspiring handling stability via the 55.5inch wheelbase. Chucking the CBR500R into a fast fourth-gear sweeper at Parcmotor didn't faze the chassis, which also didn't try to tie itself in knots while braking hard into a downhill second-gear hairpin. The Metzeler Roadace rubber (the U.S. models get Dunlops) – a ubiquitous 120/70-17 front, and 160/60-17 rear mounted on a 4.50-inch wide version of the good-looking cast-alloy wheels – gripped well once hot, but took ages to warm up on a cool day. But the rear suspension in particular was unexpectedly compliant in ironing out the worst of the bumps in mountain roads whose surfaces had been ravaged by frost. Ride quality is really high for P69 3 5 budget suspension, though a remote preload adjustment would have been nice - to encourage young owners to experiment with adjustment. It's likely that cost issues prevented that, but given the spacious passenger space by middleweight standards, it would have been a useful benefit. ABS is fitted standard on both bikes sold in Europe and will be an option in the U.S. market to provide reassurance, but while the single 320mm front wave disc and its twin-pot caliper work okay in normal use, you have to also use the rear 240mm disc hard to get these bikes to stop quickly from any sort of speed. Perhaps Honda should have left a mount on the left fork leg to add an aftermarket second disc for those who wish to do so – some undoubtedly will. In terms of the target audience, I guess it's all good - except that as riders of the R-model in particular