Honda NX500

With the NX500, Honda has tweaked the design of the previously-available CB500X, by making the overall design bolder and sharper to look at. In the transformation process, the Honda NX500 has received a new fascia and revised fuel tank and side body panels, while retaining the tail section from the CB500X. 

The revised front fascia of the Honda NX500 gets a compact trapezoidal LED headlamp with tapered edges, including LED DRLs. The fascia also includes a tall and transparent windscreen above the headlamp, which now looks larger and is more effective than before. The front cowl, within which the LED headlamp is placed, has been restyled, and so are its side extensions that merge with the fuel tank from the side. 

Coming to the side profile, the Honda NX500 has a newly designed fuel tank, which along with the tank extensions, now sports fresh new graphics. Between the fuel tank and front fascia are the arrowhead-shaped tank extensions, which are finished in a theme of black and wear the Honda badges. The black-themed engine is fully exposed here, with no underbody protection for the engine and exhaust.

The black alloy wheels and exhaust pipe have been retained from the previous CB500X, and so has the rear section with exposed frame members on the sides. At the back, the Honda NX500 looks similar to the previous CB500X, with the motorcycle having a split seat arrangement, integrated pillion grab handles in the rear side body panels, and a triangular LED tail lamp.

The Honda NX500 also comes with slim LED turn indicators and an all-new 5-inch full-TFT instrument console. Featuring an all-new layout, this modern-looking display unit packs in a speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, odometer, trip meters, gear indicator, and clock. The handlebar of the NX500 also receives new switches on either side and as before, the adventure tourer is a typical Honda product with high-quality fit and finish levels.

There are no changes to the suspension, brake, and tyre combination from the previously available CB500X for the new NX500. The middleweight adventure tourer from Honda continues to come with a suspension setup of 41mm upside down separate functioning hydraulic telescopic forks from Showa at the front and pro-link mono-shock with a five-stage pre-load adjuster and steel hollow cross swing-arm at the back. Equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels, the Honda NX500 rolls on 120/70-17 front and 160/60-17 rear tubeless tyres. Braking duties are taken care of by 296mm discs at the front and a single 240mm disc at the rear.

The Honda NX500 retains the predecessor’s CB500X’s four-stroke, liquid-cooled, parallel-twin, 471cc engine, which it shares with the other global 500cc Honda twin-cylinder motorcycles like the CB500X, CBR500R, Rebel 500 and SCL500. This engine is paired with a 6-speed transmission and churns out a maximum power output of 47 bhp and a maximum torque output of 43 Nm. 

While the Honda NX500 continues to come equipped with a dual-channel ABS, Honda has added traction control to the motorcycle, which can also be turned off if one wants to have some sliding fun over gravel or dirt trails during off-roading. 

With the changes to its design, while retaining the highly reliable and capable combination of the performance of the parallel-twin engine and riding dynamics from the previous CB500X, the Honda NX500 has rightfully addressed the shortcomings of its predecessor. The newly added features only make the NX500 more desirable than ever before.