Well the topic has kind of drifted off from Thanksgiving over indulgence but I'll add my 2 cents on the little Honda 500.
I had a chance to ride a friend's new CB500X recently for a few miles. I was both impressed and not. The bike looks, feels and handles great - light, smooth, nimble and narrow but I felt it was more than a bit underpowered. This coming from a guy who rides single cylinder bikes most of the time. It's no surprise that my big ole thumper (DR650) feels more powerful (more torquey) but I was surprised that the DR actually felt a bit faster than the 500 twin too. Nowhere near as smooth and refined though. There's absolutely no doubt that either of our Suzuki 650 v-twins (DL and SV) would run circles around the 500 but those bikes are getting a bit long of tooth now and will have to be retired one of these days. And, like pretty much every other "adventure" bike these days, I would never take one of these on anything more rugged than a gravel road. My problem with this model and most other pseudo dual sport/adventure bikes is that they are just too fragile for real off-pavement use. They don't drop or take abuse well... Lack of a protective frame under the engine, low ground clearance, expensive plastic parts and on some bikes, low pipes and cast wheels, make them unacceptable to me for that kind of duty.
All that said the CB500X is quick "enough" for an old guy like me and I would consider it a viable replacement for either of our street bikes for a single rider. It's definitely NOT a two-up bike in my book. I like the refined, well thought out feel (it's a Honda after all!) and the fantastic fuel mileage. I don't know how well it will sell in "bigger is better" North American where it will be positioned as an entry-level machine (and an excellent choice IMO) but I suspect it will be a success for Honda in the international markets.
