Staff Blog Daily smiles from CBR500R - MOTOR GERR

My only fear with Honda's CBR500R was whether it would be a little too tame and that I'd get bored with it all-too quickly.

Just over a month and 1000 miles in I can categorically state that I'm still loving the little twin and it's delivering plenty of smiles on a daily basis.

I have previously owned a Yamaha Fazer 600 and simply loved it for its do-it-all ability. It was comfy, plenty fast enough (for me) and was just as happy blasting to the south of france as it was around Brands Hatch on a track day.

And I suspected the CBR500 would be a similar type of all-rounder with a bit less oomph. And that's how it's turning out.

But it's fast enough. You can get three figures on the speedo (at a test track, of course)  – if it's downhill and you're well tucked in, but it impresses in other ways to be honest.

It's fuel economy is settling down at just under 60mpg and it's incredibly stable for a small bike. It's also happy bumbling around town or swinging through back-lane bends.

The only gripe so far is a bent sidestand arm after I tried to 'settle' the bike down on a grass bank.

It's early days, of course, and it remains to be seen how the Thai-built machine copes over the coming months.But the bike has done all I've asked of it really well… such as:

Brands and back in a day – 200 miles in comfort
Daily 30-mile commute – back lanes have never been so much fun
Improving fuel economy. Steady riding sees nearly 70mpg
Next, I'm going to look at some better tyres and may consider pepping up the exhaust. For now – all is good and I definitely feel like I made the right choice.

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