A Gentle GIANT

The Honda NX500 is one of the most accessible twin-cylinder adventure tourers available in the Indian market. We took a ride on one to find out how it performs

- Charan Karthik

THE NX500 IS THE CB500X'S REPLACEMENT AND Honda have given it a more dynamic styling, a modern dash, and a little more oomph to add to the big bike feel. It is a decent looking motorcycle, although its front end is likely to polarize opinion, giving rise to heated discussions around a coffee table as it's not for everyone. However, at the front, you will not miss the beautiful silver-coloured twin exhaust headers that run down towards the belly. The rectangular diamond shaped headlights are small yet functional and have adequate throw with some resemblance to the Decepticon Shockwave's face from the film Transformers. Slowly moving past the chunky fairing at the front, you will notice the large windscreen. Although not adjustable, it provides enough protection from the wind as you tuck in at triple-digit speeds. The bike gets a 41-millimetre Showa upside-down (USD) fork that makes it stand tall and gives it an admirable stance.

Coming to the rear, it is a whole different story as the bike looks very beautiful. The tail lights have a smooth finish to them and suit the bike's frame. The rear is slightly swept up and is stubby but becomes leaner at the tip. Very stare-worthy. The NX500 gets a fiveinch colour TFT display with Honda's RoadSync feature, which is basically smartphone connectivity. It helps with navigation, music control, and call management. The interface is simple to use and has customization options such as changing the layout of the screen, rpm red-line limit, and a day/night background. The toggle switch to navigate through the screen is rather small and there was slight difficulty in accessing it with gloves on. The rest of switchgear takes some time getting used to as most of the buttons are not easily accessible.