the colder and wetter it gets. the more sense the 500 makes

Today was a bike day - cloudless skies, bright sun, autumnal shenanigans afoot everywhere. Yesterday was insane - so much flooding (me and a mate drove all afternoon on some ace roads around Coxwold, Kilburn, Thirsk - we saw a big stag w/ awesome antlers, it just sauntered across the lane in front of us - between Outsead and Kilburn). Relentless rain - at one point near Thirkleby I had to do a 3-point turn because my mate didn't want me to drive his mini through 50 yards of knee deep flood. Fair dos. Didn't fancy it much myself tbh.

But today was undoubtedly bike day - roads dry by afternoon, and having not been on two wheels for a few days I was keen to get out. Cold, mind you. Probably not that many notches north of five degrees. Lanes so dry have to be enjoyed though. I did wonder about taking the 900 ninja out - but nah. Not where I was going. So then I thought maybe the cbr600 would cope well. It probably would've too - but honestly, the best bike for the planned route was the 500.

I went to Malton on the Buttercrambe road (a fantastic, c-class road but with markings), then out to Amotherby, on to Great Barugh, then right onto the main Pickering road until I could head off left to Cropton and Rosedale Abbey. Two Discos were in front of me but were making decent progress so I held back, content to keep it around 50. These may be marked roads - but they're narrow, muddy and with plenty of weird and sometimes dramatic elevation changes, i.e. the road to Rosedale.

Once at Rosedale it was time for the intensely steep climb up Chimney Bank - one Disco still in front. Then over to Hutton le Hole and back down to the main road. I came by the Land Rover outside Hutton and then went left to Pickering, and back to Old Malton, Malton making good progress on the main road there.

The 500 was in its element tbh. I wasn't hanging around anywhere - and on the last leg from Malton to Pocklington back down the Buttercrambe road in the twilight, I was getting passed everything. Between 50 and 70, maybe 80, it's almost as good as anything - certainly better than 90% of anything four wheeled. Still not quite thawed out yet though - but it was a really good 80 mile blast, and I was so glad I'd plumped for the 500. There's no stress with this bike - the prospect of a pile of shit, a flooded stretch or a sheep wandering out from the verge all seems so eminently manageable and drama-free, whereas on bigger, heavier bikes there's less forgiveness. And so you're not always enjoying it as much. Great bike for this time of year.

Awesome, I loved reading this. It has inspired me to get the front tyre changed on my CB (current one is illegal) and get out on the back roads instead of using the VTR.

I do love how slim those storms feel as soon as you sit on them. One cylinder fore, the second aft - and the cockpit/bars/instruments all add to the slimline vibe as well. Wished I'd pulled the trigger on the one I test rode last year now. Am tempted to go hunting for one next year.

But yeah - my front's not getting any younger.

What tyre will you get? I have to admit to loving those michelin pilot activs - not saying they're long lasting, but they always feel grippy - even at this time of year.

Had to do an observed ride today - all town work through Hull at midday, about an hour of it. What an ace bike the 500 is for that kind of shit. It's in its element, filtering and nosing its way through grid lock.

The tyres that came with my new (68 reg)cb500f came with Dunlop Speedmax, I have found them pretty good for roadholding etc. I do not scrape the footrests when cornering but do seem to be a good alround tyre.

Fwiw the only others I've had on a cb500 were Avon Road Riders - which because they last forever, don't always feel as grippy imo. But others like e.g. Badseeds rated them as good or as bad as any other. He's a bloody good rider mind you.

Pilot Activs are what I have on the bike now and also what I'm about to replace the front one with! They're great. In the eleven years I've owned CB500s I've used these (most recently), before that I tried Avon Roadriders and found them useless in the wet, especially on greasy roundabouts (on a journey home to Chester from Oxford the rear span up exiting almost every roundabout!), and prior to that, for years, BT45s. I did a couple of trackdays on the latter during which I completely ground away the hero blobs on the footpegs, and also an edge of my silencer (see my avatar)! So they don't lack for grip, but I find the Michelins just as good but (a) cheaper by a few quid and (b) don't square off as much on the rear.

Get a Firestorm! Owning one has not only made me realise what proper missile-like acceleration on a bike feels like (even though it'd feel a lot slower than modern sporty big bikes, I'm sure), but also intensified my appreciation for the CB. It made me realise that partly why the 500 is so enjoyable is that the acceleration (at legal speeds) is at the perfect balance between being quick enough to be enjoyable but not so quick that it's just all over before you've had time to enjoy it, which occasionally is a feeling I even get on the Firestorm...but very rarely, because that is also a SUPER enjoyable engine to use. Mine's on 97k miles and counting... It's also nice to have a change from averaging 35 mpg on the VTR to about 50 mpg on the CB! However, a sporty semi-faired chassis with a well-tuned, carburetted 996 cc V-twin with slightly open exhausts is, these days, a pretty special experience.

But...back to the original topic...I must get my CB's front tyre done so I can enjoy some of this clear early winter weather on it. I've ridden both bikes all through the last couple of winters, but managed to drop the Storm on ice last year and cracked the f ing fairing. There's much less to worry about on the CB. That said, I have to ride down to London and back (400-mile round trip) this Saturday and was going to do so on the 500 to save money on petrol and to top up the miles on the CB which is lagging behind the VTR (and I've done that journey so many times (A41, A5) on both bikes and both are of course fun in their different ways) but don't think I'll have time to get the tyre done this week. So "damn"...I'll have to put up with twice as much horsepower for those 400 miles 

Hi Trevor, really enjoyed the pics! I come from Guisborough and used to ride over the moors a lot, then about 35 years ago (35yrs bloody hell!) I worked as a linesman around the moors and up the coast. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be but I must get back for a visit although it'll probably be on the BM K75 the Honda would be ideal once there but it's the getting there from France that's the fly in the ointment! Thanks again, Dave.

motofan wrote:Hi Trevor, really enjoyed the pics! I come from Guisborough and used to ride over the moors a lot, then about 35 years ago (35yrs bloody hell!) I worked as a linesman around the moors and up the coast. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be but I must get back for a visit although it'll probably be on the BM K75 the Honda would be ideal once there but it's the getting there from France that's the fly in the ointment! Thanks again, Dave.

I imagine Guisborough would be an excellent place to live, roads-wise. There's the infamous Stokesley / Helmesley B1257 (the north yorks TT). And you'd be within striking distance of Richmond, Leyburn and Masham - not to mention the whole of the North Pennines!

Yup! And westward via Swaledale to The Lakes a jolly ride out!