Another Honda: The Honda CX500 Turbo

The Honda Cx500 Turbo. Still not priceless

Once earth-shattering, absolutely revolutionary. But heavy and with on-Honda like many teething problems: That was the Honda CX500 Turbo. The machine was presented in the fall of 1980 in Cologne, at the IFMA. And the world shuddered: An 500 cc motorcycle with the performance of an 1000 cc. And with a turbo !.

The Honda CX500 Turbo looked slick

Where his atmospherically breathing brother, the CX500, after an initially cautious start, would become the model of a whole new generation of 'utility bikes' - the London motor couriers swore by it. –Were a good friend to everyone, there was the chic, dynamically aggressive and with 'Turbo' designations CX500 Turbo very clearly 'top of the range'. You could tell by the pearly white paint with its blue and red elements, the entire finishing touches of details and the 'gold-plated' Comstar wheels were also a statement. To warn unsuspecting motorists of the impending danger, the 'Turbo' indication on the nose of the cockpit was even in mirror writing. BMW had already done that trick by putting the Turbo mirror writing on one of their glorious cars on a nose spoiler. That was not allowed by the German government: "Too distracting for motorists." As if motorists would look at motorcycles in their mirrors.

Yet that warning was justified

The - under the 4.500 revs only responding calmly - Honda CX500 Turbo was given up for 82pk, but the block often produced 90-92 on the dynamometer. And the torque was also considerably higher than specified. Moreover, tire technology in the early 1980s was not that far either. There were Honda CX500 Turbo riders who drove a rear tire with 3000 kilometers down to the canvas. The high own weight of the Honda will also have had to do with that.

Some things

But when the whip of a Honda CX500 Turbo went over, it became very thirsty. That may of course have to do with the fact that the Turbo had not three but four valves in each head and that the carburetors were replaced by injection. But the pilot's gas hand also played a valiant part in that process. The entire inhalation process with all its sensors - partly due to Nippon Dense - created quite a few problems in the beginning. Four pressure sensors and a number of temperature sensors transmit signals to the CFI computer, which calculates the dosage. And that did not always go well, despite the fact that this computer was already equipped with a self-diagnosis system

Some 36 years after it was first introduced to the world, a Honda CX500 Turbo still looks exceptional. And he is. More than 5.300 of these motorcycles have been made. And very early after their introduction, Connoisseurs & Gurus announced that Honda CX500 Turbos would become insanely expensive collector's items.

That was not too bad. Or against?

Yet this revolutionary machine has remained relatively affordable. Recently a 'disassembled but absolutely good' copy was offered for 1.500 euros. For copies in reasonable to good condition you pay between the 3.500 and 5.000 Euro. From 6.000 euros, firm demands can be made!

The Honda CX500 Turbo is one for people who are not afraid of 'a difficult motorcycle'. And that applies to the driving behavior as well as in the mechanical area.