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Honda’s Heavily Anticipated Retro-Styled Motorcycle Finally Breaks Cover in Stunning Fashion

After seemingly endless rumors (and even ripoffs), the CB500SF gets its big reveal. Can it live up to the hype?

Rear section of a motorcycle featuring a black seat with detailed stitching, a blue and silver tail fairing, a rear tire, and an exhaust pipe. The model designation "CB500F" is visible on the black panel below the seat.Honda
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By Steve Mazzucchi

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Good things come to those who wait, right? 

That’s what I kept repeating to myself as rumors continued to swirl about Honda’s follow-up to the (discontinued) CB400SF, a super-approachable retro standard four-banger.

Silver and black Honda motorcycle with blue accents, featuring a round headlight, dual front disc brakes, and a large exhaust pipe on the left side. The bike has a sporty design with a black seat and visible engine components.
The new CB500SF boasts classic good looks and modern shift-easing tech.
Honda

Honda waited so long, in fact, that upstart brand ZXMoto jumped the gun, revealing its own preemptive dupe earlier this month.

Over the weekend at Chongqing, China’s CIMAMotor show, the red brand finally raised the curtains on its bike and as expected, the new CB500 Super Four is very good indeed. 

Details are a bit scant at the moment, but here’s what we know.

Throwback thrills

Stepping up from its predecessor on the power front, the new CB500SF boasts a 502cc inline four-cylinder engine claiming about 80 horsepower. (The CB400SF, for the record, topped out in the mid-50s.)

Other notable features include a diamond-shaped steel frame, upside-down forks. and an aluminum swingarm attached to a monoshock with Honda’s tried-and-true ProLink.

Close-up of a motorcycle engine and exhaust system, featuring a black engine casing with the Honda logo, silver engine components, and a polished chrome exhaust pipe with four headers merging into a single pipe. The motorcycle frame is black with a blue and silver fuel tank above, and the model designation "CB500" is visible on the side panel.
The 502cc engine offers significantly more grunt than its 399cc forebear.
Honda

Brakes wise, the bike gets dual radial-mount Nissin four-piston calipers up front and a two-piston sliding caliper at the back.

Looks-wise, it carries similar ’70s Universal Japanese Motorcycle vibes to the perhaps even more agonizingly teased CB1000SF Concept.  

Rear wheel and exhaust system of a black motorcycle, featuring a large, shiny chrome exhaust pipe, a disc brake, and a black tire with visible tread. The motorcycle frame and footrest are also visible in silver and black.
A beautifully chromed-out exhaust pipe is always welcome in my book.
Honda

In the showcased variant, the silver tank and tail get light and dark blue accents, while the header pipes snake down to the right before meeting at a glorious chromed exhaust pipe.

Unlike the similarly spec-ed CB500R sport bike that was unveiled alongside it, the CB500SF signals its street-ready intentions by going streaking, er, naked.

Modern tech

Classic looks notwithstanding, the CB500SF does include five ride modes and an innovation Honda has been rolling out on more and more bikes: E-Clutch.

Now in its second generation, this system eases the shifting process by essentially automating the clutch. 

Close-up of a Honda motorcycle engine featuring a black component labeled "Honda E-Clutch," surrounded by various bolts and mechanical parts.
Honda doesn’t hide the fact this bike offers a modern convenience you might not expect from its overall aesthetic.
Honda

The moment your foot touches the gear level, the system electronically pulls in the clutch, shifts and releases. 

While curmudgeons may scoff, this tech certainly welcomes newer riders — and eases commuting through traffic, which typically requires plenty of clutch feathering. 

Silver and blue Honda CB500F motorcycle with black accents, featuring a sporty design, exposed engine, dual rear exhaust, and black alloy wheels.
Unlike ZXMoto’s dupe, which has round mirrors and analog gauges, the CB500SF gets more contemporary angular mirrors and a digital display.
Honda

What’s kind of cool here is that if you prefer to be more engaged with the shifting process, you can be. 

You can manually override the system with your own inputs (reminiscent of the paddle shifters in some sports cars) — and even shut it off entirely for total old-school control.

Availability and pricing

Details on pricing and availability should surface at EICMA in November or one of the Japanese moto shows next year. It will definitely be released in Japan, possibly in China and other parts of Asia. As for America, we can only cross our fingers.

About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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