CB500 suitable for my commute?

Hi all,

New to the forum and don't actually own a CB500 yet! Though in the past I've had a CCM, firestorm, Varadero and an RSV Mille R, as well as a few crossers.

Currently I'm commuting 5 days a week from London to Cambridge by train, which is beginning to do my head in. I'd like to do this by bike and a CB500 seems the best choice for MPG and reliability (not to mention the cheap as chips insurance).

My question is would it handle the 600 miles a week? I'd probably do the commute by train over the 4/5 winter months the bike the rest of the time, so potentially could be doing up to 20,000 miles a year. I realise it'll need new tyres, C&S, plugs and filters very regularly though even factoring the cost of this in, it's still cheaper than my season ticket.

Am I mad to consider this??

Cheers
Craig

Reckon the CB will handle that. Problem with commuting on a bike is if you're in a high traffic area the rail is far faster (had to travel to Edinburgh a while back, and even filtering it could be a nightmare) plus bad weather.
As you say, wintertime could be very interesting if it's anything like the last one. I couldn't even get the bike up the driveway.....

It'll certainly do it but it may be worth getting the half faired CB500S or at least bikini fairing.
I had a customer up in Papworth Everard so I know the journey well! The bike makes a lovely noise in the Hatfield tunnel

Edit: I forgot to say welcome to the club! So, er, welcome!

You're not mad to consider it, but if you're used to those extremely powerful bikes, the CB500 might end up driving you mad by being much slower

It's not a slow-coach by any account (it does shift very strongly), but there's only so much that can be done with 57bhp.

+1 to getting the half-faired version for such distances.

It's a well known courier/riding-school bike. Honda tested the engine to 250K miles and it still had wear left in it. What i'm trying to say, is that the bike itself is more than up to it! (not that distance matters so badly, i used to do 170 mile motorway journies on a CG125 from time to time and it still runs, so in contrast, you can do anything on the CB )

Excellent, thanks guys... that's pretty much exactly what i wanted to hear! TBH I sort of knew the CB could handle the miles if treated properly, what I'm worried about is that I'll be spending every weekend in the garage tending to it (not a bad thing?!).

And I wouldn't worry about thinking the CB would be slow, the most fun bikes I've ever had have been low power/low tech... anyway my licence can't take any more fast bikes!

Cheers
Craig

Hi craig, and welcome

as has been said there is no doubt the bike can handle it, but, at 600 miles a week its probably a question of whether the bike is suitable to you from a comfort point of view and only you can answer that. You need to try before you buy in this instance..if at all possible.

I work in Cambridge, luckily I don't have to commute from London.

One of my colleagues commutes from London on a motorcycle (not a CB500 - he uses a suzuki) - he manages to do it cheaper than the train and he's pretty sure it is faster than the car.

Given that you would get stuck in traffic in London and in Cambridge (the traffic here is awful) if you used a car, a CB500 would seem like a positivly good idea!

I think I would say you needed to think about the following:

* An aftermarket screen on a naked bike, or get the CB500S with a faring

* A chain oiler - doesn't matter which one as long as it is effective, if working this should reduce the chain wear a lot.

* Heated grips or bar muffs - even if you don't use it in the winter, there will be days you are thankfull for either (or both!) of these.

* Buying some good quality bike clothing with the money you save on the train fare - this will make the commute much better.

Have you budgeted for tyre wear? My avon roadriders just cost me 130 quid - I suspect they will last around 5000-6000 miles (if I am lucky), if you are doing 600 miles a week that isn't too many weeks.....

Anyway, don't let us put you off :) commuting by bike is almost always a good thing.

CraigT82 wrote: what I'm worried about is that I'll be spending every weekend in the garage tending to it (not a bad thing?!).

As long as the Front Forks / Rear Shocks are done in addition to the previously mentioned C+S and general service - there is no real need to do too much with the CB at weekends...

Front / Rear Brakes need a good strip and clean as they have a tendancy to gunk up with road crud - but this is a quick 1hr job and only needs doing occasionally...

Tyre-wise, I am running on Michelins Pilot Activ... These are a dual compound rubber, so they are harder in the center of the tyre to fend off squaring and gives more mileage life to the rubber... The only minor thing (and it is VERY minor) is that they take a few extra miles to run in than normal tyres (say BT45's) due to the harder compund... And while running in, just be a tad carfull in damp conditions...
However, I can say that it was teaming with rain yesterday and the bike handles just fine. I've done about 2k iles on these and they still look like new!!!

G-T

Excellent replies and advice... thanks!

I'm 100% sure that commuting on a CB from London to Cambridge would be cheaper and quicker than the train, even factoring in the relatively high cost of regular tyres and C&S (good tip about the scottoiler, thanks e-t), and I've already got decent wet weather gear (I used to commute year round on a Varadero... fun bike!) so it's just a case of getting myself a bike.

There's a CB500S at a dealer near me, 22k with FSH for £1250, might go take a look tomorrow morning


Craig

Thats a bit pricey - I paid £1100 for mine with 17k which was over the odds - but I couldn't find much else out there at the time... however, have a look on eBay as there are a few CB500's advertised and one is in Oxford, so not a millionmils away - looked quite a decent bike too...
£850-£1000 seems the norm for a private sale...

Don't be sold about "Warranty" as they mean didly squat as most items are classed as "Expendable / Wearable" and the CB's won't blow up as long as there is oil in it!!!

G-T