Blasphemous to Mention the "H" Word Here?

I lurked here for a long time and had almost convinced myself to buy an X as an all 'round tourer and fun rider.  

I have a short inseam, though, and seat height was an issue (29").  

Just when I was about to pull the trigger, Yamaha discontinued the bike in the US.  Dang!

Last summer ('13) a buddy mentioned that Honda had announced a new bike of similar ilk - the Honda CB500x and I took a look.  Long story short, by the end of the year I was the proud owner of an X - albeit a Honda CB500x.  I'm loving it:

31" seat height; 49hp engine; 75 mpg; 430lbs; ABS; paid a little over $6k; cool looking matte black finish reminiscent of the old WRX.  

What's not to love?

Not meaning to kick a hornets nest (though I may be gently tapping it   ) have any of you Yammers looked or ridden the 500X?  I'd be very curious to hear your thoughts.

Cheers

(And may The Lord have mercy on me for making such blasphemous statements in the Sacred Temple of Yama!  I am not worthy....)

Not against a Honda motorcycle just because it is a Honda and not a Yamaha, but a CB500X, to me, is a twin-cylindered street bike.
I don't see a comparison to a WR-250X with similarities, unless you are talking price range.
May as well compare the Yamaha FZ-07 I test rode just yesterday.
They retail for $6,990.
Did you consider one of those?
Maybe not if you bought your 500 last year.

I was enjoying the ride I had on it as it feels very light (397 pounds all fueled-up and ready to roll), and the engine is VERY fun with strong torque from idle and all the way up.
Very tempting.
I'm looking under the sofa cushions for any loose change.  ;)

Edit:
I found some change. :)

In addition to the FZ-07, the Versys and V-Strom (650) are also in the "affordable mid-sized twins" catagory and closer to the CB500 than the WRX thumper.

I sat on the on a FZ-07 last week. Very nice. Dealer told me Yamaha is coming out with a ton of new stuff over the next couple years.

I still like the Versys for mid-sized twins. Standard seating suits me.

Yes, sir, our district Yamaha rep (the guy who smiles and kindly twists your arm in hopes you'll order a bunch of parts and accessories for the dealership) told me a couple weeks back that, "We are coming out with a few new models that will be announced in October."

He knows I'm into dirt bikes and sporty street bikes, and he had that smart-ass grin on his face.

YZ, did you buy the FZ-07? You have it listed under your avatar.

Yes.
Unloaded it in my driveway last night after work.
About to head out to work an hour early for my maiden voyage on this particular FZ-07.
It's the red one, by the way.

If I enjoy this one as much as I did the one on my Saturday morning demo ride, I'll be happier than a pig in sheet.

YZEtc wrote:

Yes.
Unloaded it in my driveway last night after work.
About to head out to work an hour early for my maiden voyage on this particular FZ-07.
It's the red one, by the way.

If I enjoy this one as much as I did the one on my Saturday morning demo ride, I'll be happier than a pig in sheet.  

Congrats on new ride. Let's get a 100 mile report if you can. The Versys is on hold for me. Mrs. Gatorfan is struggling with job situation at moment.

Sure.
I'll post a ride report and a couple of pics in the near future.

How was the maiden voyage ?

The ride into work yesterday morning was in poor conditions with thick fog all over the place, so that was just one of those get-there-in-one-piece trips.
Not very sporty.

The ride home yesterday was great - 75 degrees with the sun sinking toward the horizon and clean and dry pavement.
It felt fantastic to run a sporty street bike through some corners, again.

After the weekend, I'll post some pics and a ride review.

The FZ-07 is a 689cc parallel twin, in case you aren't aware, with the two crankpins 270 degrees apart instead of the typical parallel twin arrangement of 180 degrees apart, so the pistons rise and fall with a weird timing.
This is part of the Yamaha MotoGP-inspired, YZR-M1 crossplane crankshaft idea that gives linear torque delivery (you can find much to read about with the crossplane crankshaft theory on the Internet, too).
The short explanation is that it makes the engine feel and sound like a V-twin, although I think the engineers involved would probably be insulted with such a brief and over-used way of putting it.
It's fun to ride, that's for sure.

I've ridden the FZ-07 back-and-forth to work for three days and went for a 2-hour ride this afternoon, and, since I've gotten a pretty good feel for the bike, I may as well post a review of the bike right now.

So far, the bike has about 200 miles on it and I've made a few changes:
I adjusted the control levers to suit, removed the passenger pegs and peg mounting brackets, removed the handlebar end weights, removed the stock grips and switched to some slimmer (smaller diameter) motocross grips, and switched the stock front brake pads to EBC HH-rated ones.
The pads were changed after 115 miles because, in my opinion, they are a conservative compound suited to sightseeing that makes you pull harder on the lever for serious whoa power, and with the new pads they feel much more like proper sportbike brakes.
They should, as the front calipers are the same monoblock design as used on the YZF-R1 up to 2003 and still used on the FZ-1.

The bike feels very light (397 pounds all fueled-up) and the bike is very thin where the rider's inner thighs grip the fuel tank, making it feel like a 75 horsepower dirt bike in a way, especially with the dirt bike-esque handlebar and the throb you can feel coming from the 270 degree crossplane crankshaft.
This 270 degree staggering of the crankpins makes this parallel twin engine sound and feel like a V-twin, and when running up and down the rev range while sport riding, I get the feeling the bike would sound VERY good with an aftermarket exhaust and a fuel programmer installed (of reasonable noise output, naturally).
Time to look under the sofa cushions for more loose change.

Power starts off from idle with a good, torquey pull as soon as you let the clutch lever out, with the meat of the power starting at about 5,000 RPM.
On twisty back roads, 3rd gear and 5,000 - about 8,000 on the tachometer is very effective and quite fun, often allowing you to stay in third and just rev the engine up and down, brake, smile, and repeat.

Tossing the bike into your favorite corners has you realizing just how small, light, and narrow the FZ-07 is.
I've never owned a street bike with this much torque and power that's this small in physical size and this light (it's 20 pounds lighter than the current R6, for example), so today's ride, over the same roads I loved to ride every day on my R1s, R6, and FZ-1s a decade or more ago, was a bit of a revelation for me.

Tires on the FZ-07 are either Michelin Pilot Road 3 or Bridgestone BT-023.
Sizes are the extremely common 120/70ZR17 front and 180/55ZR17 rear.
My bike has the Bridgestones, and, honestly, if you'd told me they were full-on sport tires and not sport/touring tires, I'd believe it.
They feel great and work very well.
I must be getting old.
Nah, they're just good tires.
Once these wear enough to warrant replacement, I'll go for my usual Pilot Powers.

The suspension is basic and budget, with an old-school damper rod fork with no external adjustments, and an equally basic rear shock adjustable for spring preload only.
To my considerable delight, while I wouldn't confuse the suspension with Ohlins, it works well enough to where I can't really gripe about it, either.
Thank God.
Time will tell, however, as to whether or not I'll not be able to resist the urge to throw money at it, anyway, as Traxxion Dynamics already has fork and shock mods available for the FZ-07, not to mention who else in the suspension game may have something available by the time income tax refund time comes around.

So, those are the basic thoughts.
If you want to know more, just ask.

Nice write up.

How's the vibration level with that parallel twin?

How's the ride at 75-80 mph?

You can feel vibration, but to me, it's more like a V-twin-esque throb, not a tingle.
I feel it mainly where I grip the sides of the fuel tank.
I don't find it bothersome at all and it never intrudes on my riding pleasure, but adds a touch of character.

Other than the expected wind pushing against you, the bike has a tall 6th gear that feels like it's loafing along at those speeds.
3rd and 4th gears are what I use most because I use it as a sport bike, and I only clicked it up into 6th a couple of times to see what it was like.

They just released it to us in the Australian market, albeit with a aussie spec 655cc motor to fit into our learner legal category. They had one with the Akro titanium system on it at the dealer launch.... OMFG it was an eargasm, no one in the room was overly impressed until we heard the one with the pipe. would be a must have accessory for me.

Thanks for the write-up !!

Is it front heavy? Can you loft the front up with a twist or does it need to be clutched up?

I agree about how good it must sound with an aftermarket muffler installed.
One of reasonable volume, that is.

I usually place bikes in two categories when it comes to wheelie ability:
A) The bike willingly wheelies.
B) The bike does not want to wheelie.

You can tell whether you are on an A or B bike within the first mile.

The FZ-07 is definitely an A bike - just opening the throttle in 1st gear does the trick with no additional effort required, so, if you can't commence a wheelie with an FZ-07, you have to look at the guy in the mirror.

When the front tire is on the road, the bike feels stable and secure, yet changes direction easily.
When doing a wheelie, the front end leaves the road willingly.

YZEtc wrote:

Yes, sir, our district Yamaha rep (the guy who smiles and kindly twists your arm in hopes you'll order a bunch of parts and accessories for the dealership) told me a couple weeks back that, "We are coming out with a few new models that will be announced in October."

He knows I'm into dirt bikes and sporty street bikes, and he had that smart-ass grin on his face.  

Was there any hint of the mythical WR450R?

Thanks,

Dave

No, sir.
Too tight-lipped.

If that's the case......

Agree with Evol. If they announce a WR450R, I might even be willing to pay the "r" word for it and keep the 250 as a loaner bike. It would save me dealing with the plated KTM 500 about which I've been thinking....

they gave us the same shit eating grin and no info... one of my reps did say he was selling his wr450f and waiting though... seems almost certain it will be a FI reverse cyl wr250f. they did give us some vague market categories for the 6 other models we get by years end... most seemed to be lifestyle/cruiser type markets, but a couple did hint at a possible new r1 and a 250 sport bike and possibly a small mx'er, maybe 50/65 (but i think thats more wishful thinking on my behalf, its a segment i get killed in.)