Honda’s CMX 500 Rebel: there’s no pigeonhole here

There is a German word ‘gestalt’, meaning “an organised whole that is more than the sum of it’s parts”. Say hello to the CMX500 Rebel.

The Rebel adds a ‘cruiser’ option to Honda’s A2-friendly ‘family’ alongside the CB500F commuter, sporty CBR500F and adventure-styled CB500X. All four bikes share the 471cc parallel twin engine, tweaked here with maximum torque up from 31 to 32ft-lb (coming in earlier in the piece), traded against losing a couple of horses at the top end. The Rebel has a new tubular steel frame plus the lowest seat height (just 690mm) of any ‘big’ bike.

What none of this tells you is just how much fun it is to ride. Sit it up and the lack of weight strikes you. Pulling away it feels nicely balanced, possibly aided by those big tyres, making town work easy.

But the fun begins when you crack the throttle, that parallel twin belying the seeming lack of capacity and punching forward. Overtake? Look, dip, twist and go. It’ll build numbers on the digital speedo respectably until it runs out of puff at the top end (riding into a headwind on the M11, motorway pace became a chore).

I loved the riding position. Starting out quite upright, it didn’t take long before I was leaning into the narrow bars, balls of my feet up on the midplaced footpegs, looking for corners to test the handling. It handles really well. Before I got on the bike I imagined this was going to be a potter round urban roads with a spot of big A-road riding, taking corners at a gentle lean... nah.

At least half the 100 miles I shared with the Rebel were spent on ‘country’ roads. And it was grin-inducing fun, being easy to chuck around the corners, that little engine enjoying being worked. This was where the suspension showed its limitations however, with the little Honda shaking its head at times.

The brakes are spot on. Friendly enough for the first big bike riders the Rebel will attract, they have bags of feel, confidence-inducing ABS and enough power to stop the little Honda with ease. The simple single digital clock gives great ‘at a glance’ feedback (though the grey display was faint in tunnels).

There was a surprise. My wife Laura is 5ft ½in tall with 25in legs. Ideal Rebel market? She felt cramped and the peg placement meant she had to put her feet behind them when stopping, leaving her leg less than an inch from the exhaust heat shield. At 10in taller, with four more inches of inside leg? I found the Rebel roomy. After 100 miles (stopping to put some petrol in the tank plus photos), I felt fresh and invigorated.

I’d say drop any ‘cruiser’ references. The Rebel really is more of a – if you want to put it in a category ‘box’ – ‘roadster’. It is light, friendly, far more flickable than those big balloon tyres suggest with an engine that – until you reach its limits – is perky, responsive and punchy. Ignore the spec sheets, ride and be surprised just how big a grin it plasters across your face. It is definitely more than the numbers suggest... oh look, ‘gestalt’.