FS: Honda CB500

M reg Black CB500, new tyres, chain & sprockets. Fitted with Motad chrome
exhaust & Givi handlebar screen (new and not yet fitted).

New MOT, Road tax until end May 2005.

Excellent runner, hardly used since last year (missus not got her confidence
back since being knocked from her Beemer 850 a few years ago).

Service history and only 3 owners since new (including us).

A nice clean bike that runs very well. Average mileage of 81k, and the
engine still sounds like new.

£995 OVNO

Money required for fixing fairing & bits for my VFR800 (and to subsidise
diving).

 

Forgot to say:

Located in West Sussex, near East Sussex & Kent border, 15min from Crawley /
Gatwick area.

 

You what? 81000 miles is far from average. It's not a car you know.

 

he didn't say how old it was...

 

M-reg, at a guess?

 

M reg.

 

d'oh.

 

Which doesn't actually put an age on it, given that from the rest of
the description it's entirely possible that it's a 1973 500/4...

 

It could be a clue though...

 

After enquiring myself, it's a 94 machine.


Si

 

Yes I did, the 1st line of my post was M reg (that's August 1st 1994 to July
31st 1995). As it happens this is an October 1994 model.

81K miles on a well looked after CB500, which is mainly aimed at commuters,
is not high mileage. And as it's primarily sold as a commuter bike, maybe
you should treat the mileage as if it's a car. Why should bikes,
especially those not sold as Hyper / Ultra/ Mega sports bikes, be expected
to be less reliable (especially Hondas) than a car for the same purpose?

When I spoke to a techie at Honda UK (just before we bough this one about
two years ago) I asked him 'What would you consider a high mileage for this
bike, and at what point would you expect major engine work to be needed'.
Their answer was (paraphrased) "If its well looked after, especially oil
changes and it sounds OK, then it should do at least twice around the clock
before anything should go wrong".

This one has a full service history and sounds very nice.

The main previous owner was a bloke who did the same regular commute to work
every day, not the little 2 mile one that simply builds up the crap in the
system, but a proper 30 mile each way. That's why its got this amount of
miles (about 14K miles per year) and stil sounds great.

I hope that clears up some of the questions.

Regards

TonyH

 

Yes it is.

How many bikes do you see with that kind of mileage?

I had one bike that had done that kind of mileage, and it took me _ages_
to shift it on.

 

Perhaps not, as they're not really built to last in the same way, but
whatever, it's still _way_ above 'average'.

Because they are? Sure, maybe we _should_ be able to expect similar
longevity, but in practice it just ain't so. Get real.

The _engine_, maybe, but the rest of the bike will need much more
coddling to last that long.

There weren't any questions,

 

Bloke who works here has a ZZR600 with 95k on the clock. Mind you it
probably wouldn't sell.