Honda CX500. How much!

[bongtom]

About five years ago I had a hankering for a trusty CX500 as my dad had one from new.
Back then you could get a nice unrestored roadworthy one for about £500 with 12 months MOT and 6 months tax.

Just checked Ebay, Gumtree etc and the cheapest is £1000 with many asking £2 or £3k!
They’re not even turbo!

Damn. I new I should have taken the plunge. Lovely old smooth bike.

Damn you bikers and your reminiscing!

[Atlas 12v]

It’s the moustached checked shirt hipsters you need to blame.

They’re all being “bike shedded”

[Donbot]

bongtom said:

Damn. I new I should have taken the plunge. Lovely old smooth bike.

Damn you bikers and your reminiscing!

But you are doing exactly the same thing

[AceOfHearts]

I sold mine about 6 years ago for £700.

It was a great bike and like you wish i could get another, but i wont pay thousands for one. The problem is in the last few years they have become popular to turn into cafe racers and bobbers

[Private Pile]

Here's my bad boy. As said, they are very popular just now for cafe / bobber conversions.

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

I used to have one - good bike that was. It had a big Corbin 'King & Queen' seat which was super comfortable!

[black-k1]

I loved the CX500s. I had 2 back in the '80s. Rode my first one to Malta and back in the summer of '81. Even 2 up with luggage it still managed the toe of Italy to Suffolk in two days - 1700 miles!

I would love one now but want a proper "original" one (not cafe'd or bob'd) and I'm not willing to pay the silly money they attract at the moment.

[Mr2Mike]

Bloody hell, the rose tinted specs are out in force today.

[Plinth]

I have always liked the later versions.
(Not sure you need a ladder to get on them - not that big, surely?)

[Pat H]

My wife fancies a CX500 Custom to replace her XBR500, but they are bonkers money for a really nice one.

[Wacky Racer]

I bought a brand new CX500 Eurosport in 1983 from "Action Honda" in Leicester for £1200, nice posh showroom etc.

The shop went bust a few months later.....

[Biker's Nemesis]

Mr2Mike said:

Bloody hell, the rose tinted specs are out in force today.

I was just thinking that.

[crofty1984]

Plinth said:

I have always liked the later versions.
(Not sure you need a ladder to get on them - not that big, surely?)

I had the euro sport too. Smashing wee thing.

It's a pretty standard cycle, they get bought to do up because they're cheap, then a combination of more people wanting them and less unmolested ones being available the price goes up.

[Mr Dendrite]

Owned one from 1981 to 1984: Yes it was a good solid comfy bike that took me all over the country, but it was pretty much universally derided by everyone else. Mark Williams raved about it in his original review but the plastic maggot haters were in a majority.
Lot of fond memories but it was no oil painting, had a recall for new chain and tensioner (mind you what Honda of that period didn’t!). Easy to ride, handling ok-ish, really really wanted a CX500 turbo back then. It was Replaced by a Suzuki GSX1100, now that was an evil handling heavy beast...

Edit. Photo of original CX500 cam chain. Why on earth do I
a) Still have that
And
b) Can find it straight away when I can’t find my car keys!

Edited by Mr Dendrite on Wednesday 4th July 14:36

[black-k1]

Biker's Nemesis said:

Mr2Mike said:

Bloody hell, the rose tinted specs are out in force today.

I was just thinking that.

Not really! While they had their "haters", most of whom never owned one and for many, never even rode one, they also had a very large loyal following. For many years after Honda discontinued them they were still the weapon of choice for dispatch riders as they were easy to ride, comfortable, reliable and had respectable (though not stunning) performance.

While I would love to own another one, I'm under no illusions that they were (performance wise) nothing special for the late 70's so will be completely out classed today. Their looks were either OK or totally awful, depending on who you were, and their handling was, at best, placid. That said, they were very easy to live with, never promised very much but never failed to deliver on those promises.

[Biker's Nemesis]

black-k1 said:

Not really! While they had their "haters", most of whom never owned one and for many, never even rode one, they also had a very large loyal following. For many years after Honda discontinued them they were still the weapon of choice for dispatch riders as they were easy to ride, comfortable, reliable and had respectable (though not stunning) performance.

While I would love to own another one, I'm under no illusions that they were (performance wise) nothing special for the late 70's so will be completely out classed today. Their looks were either OK or totally awful, depending on who you were, and their handling was, at best, placid. That said, they were very easy to live with, never promised very much but never failed to deliver on those promises.

Anything that stops, starts, doesn't breakdown, does decent MPG can be classed as a great bike.

On the other hand it can still be described as "ste".

[bongtom]

Spoke to my dad over a cuppa.
“Dad. Do you remember your CX500?”
“Sure”
“I’m after one, have you see...”
“fking piece of crap that was!”
“Eh, I thought you loved it. That’s what you said to us the other week?”
“Yeah. That’s because your mum was listening and she fking hated that bike!”

Ha!
He told me to by a CBX or Katana 750, Which are quite similar.

[black-k1]

bongtom said:

Spoke to my dad over a cuppa.
“Dad. Do you remember your CX500?”
“Sure”
“I’m after one, have you see...”
“fking piece of crap that was!”
“Eh, I thought you loved it. That’s what you said to us the other week?”
“Yeah. That’s because your mum was listening and she fking hated that bike!”

Ha!
He told me to by a CBX or Katana 750, Which are quite similar.

Quite similar? To what? Certainly not a CX500 or each other (unless you're simply counting the number of wheels)

[Mr Dendrite]

bongtom said:

Spoke to my dad over a cuppa.
“Dad. Do you remember your CX500?”
“Sure”
“I’m after one, have you see...”
“fking piece of crap that was!”
“Eh, I thought you loved it. That’s what you said to us the other week?”
“Yeah. That’s because your mum was listening and she fking hated that bike!”

Ha!
He told me to by a CBX or Katana 750, Which are quite similar.

He’s just reflecting the age old quandary. Do you buy the bike you had, full on nostalgia, probably be a money pit and ultimately disappointing as realise your once pride and joy was just another UJM or do you buy the bike you dreamed of owning back then, CBX, Jota, 900SS, Katana, Z1000 or what ever, which will cost a lot more up front, will probably be a money pit and ultimately disapointing as it can’t live up to the expection you put on it and is in reality a rather dated, slow, bad handling pain.
Sod that I’d have the lot like a shot if I had the money plus all the new shiny toys

[Fire99]

Mr Dendrite said:

b) Can find it straight away when I can’t find my car keys!

Simple solution. Use it as a keyring for your car keys..