Honda CX500 a - Between the Hedges

This Honda CX 500(a) was bought new on 15th Feb '79. It is hard to believe that when Honda launched the notably old fashioned CB500T in '75 they were already working on the designs for this bike. The two are like chalk and cheese, seemingly generations apart in terms of design, engineering and aesthetics. In fact when the CX500 first appeared on the scene you could easily have been forgiven for not realising it was a Honda.

The CX was a complete departure from house style. Having a liquid-cooled engine and shaft drive, some pundits quickly labelled it as a mini GoldWing. They weren't far wrong in gauging Honda's thoughts because only a year later a fully faired GoldWing lookalike version of the CX500 appeared - called... the "Silver Wing"!

Technically, this motorcycle was very innovative indeed. The "Vee" was set to 80°, not 90° which would have been easy. This allowed for a slightly narrower engine. In addition, the cylinders were inclined inwards to the rear by 22° so as to tuck the carbs away from the rider's legs. The clutch, which doubled up as a flywheel was geared to counter-rotate the engine, thus effectively eliminating torque reaction (famous on early BMW's - an effect which moved the bike sideways when the throttle was blipped). The clutch was also positioned right at the front of the engine beside the oil filter.. very handy for home mechanics! The camshaft which nestled at the base of the Vee also drove the water pump at the rear and the fan at the front and the four-valve heads were actuated by - would you believe pushrods? Yes - a pushrod engine from Honda. Yet they managed to get that engine to rev to 10,000rpm without valve bounce problems. This was also the first Honda, I believe, to have electronic ignition fitted as standard (am I right or did the earlier 250/400 "Dreams" have it?) Another unusual move was to do away with the lower half of the frame and sling the engine into a spine. The engine, which was strengthened, acted as the main stress-bearing member in the frame design.

This move towards the midrange "tourer" proposition in their portfolio had to be something of a gamble for Honda. The CX was introduced in an era when the other Japanese producers were largely preoccupied with turning out sports middleweights with the main objective of going as fast as possible. Yamaha had experimented a couple of years earlier with their shaft driven 750 triple which had done poorly on the sales floor. Every now and then however the Honda "customer prediction unit" gets it spot on and this gamble paid off very well indeed. The CX was continued for many years in various guises - (even as the rather rare 650 Turbo) - and huge numbers were sold. It became the 'Ford Escort' of motorcycling you might say.

It did get off to a shaky start just after launch when the motorcycle press discovered a small problem with the cam-chain tensioner - a bugbear that had raised its head on quite a few other Hondas. The problem was fairly minor but the press just wouldn't let go about it (imagine that!). Honda responded swiftly and correctly though by arranging for every new bike to have a modification done during the first service. I know for a fact that my bike didn't get its 'mod', yet I put 40,000 miles on it without any problems. Many of these bikes are still being thrashed around major cities today by despatch riders who love them for their comfort and reliability. Great testimony for a very fine piece of manufacturing, whether you like the bike or not.

What was particularly attractive about the CX500 was that it represented very good value for money. It sold in '79 for £1250 which gave you a lot of technology for your cash.. (A BMW R45 cost £800 more!) The CX offered the obvious advantages of the BMW and Moto Guzzi concept but with the refinement of Japanese precision engineering that Honda was renowned for.

I loved this bike. Whilst the big Honda fours were the greyhounds of the pack, this was the Labrador. It had virtues that could appeal to a broad range of bikers. It was a first class middleweight touring machine and could easily cruise at 70-80mph all day if you could stay awake that long. Rider comfort was not a problem and it could carry as much luggage as you could attach to it and handled very well indeed in my opinion. It could also be hurried to some extent.. whilst not pretending to be a sporty bike it could give reasonable account of itself on twisty country roads where it could maintain respectable speeds. The motor definitely had two personalities. It could bubble along in traffic at a walking pace or it could be revved hard through the gears on the open road. At the higher revs it produced a lovely "twinny" buzz that enticed the rider up to the red line (which I think was about 9000). I toured both the Scottish Highlands and the Lake District on my CX500 and to be honest couldn't have asked for more from a bike.

All in all I'd give it five stars - a bike that's still being worked hard after twenty years has to be good. Did you have one of these? Perhaps you still do... email me!