Smiles per gallon?

An attractive, A2 licence-friendly, do-it-all bike for under six grand on the road? With Honda on the tank? What’s the catch?

- Matt Hull

The £5999 CL500 is Honda’s loose homage to the ‘soft-roader’ concept it had in the Sixties and Seventies. Bikes like the CL72, CL350 and CL450 were very successful on the west coast of America and based on its 305, 350 and 450cc road bikes, but given larger front wheels and longer travel suspension, wide handlebars, flat bench seats and a signature high-level exhaust to behave better on the large number of ‘unpaved’ roads, as well as give that minimalist Baja desert vibe. All looks and little substance they may have been, but younger riders loved them and they sold a shedload to wannabe SteveMcQueens. I still have one…

Honda’s new CL500 follows the same ethos, partly to engage with those new riders again; partly because that care-free look is en vogue presently; and partly to make a great do-it-all bike. It’s based on Honda’s trusted 500 Rebel platform, using the 500cc parallel twin-cylinder engine, mated to a slick, six-speed gearbox. It gives 47bhp and 32lb-ft torque, the maximum amount of power allowed on an A2 licence (that’s for if you’re 19 or older), but with a punch of the robust twin and an overall wet weight (fuel, oil and water on board – how the hell do some manufacturers still get away with quoting a dry weight?) of just 192kg, the CL doesn’t feel a slouch. And spoiler alert: it’s a smile-inducer – Royal Enfield, I’d watch out.

Technicals