Honda CB500 Super Four and CBR500R Four Preview

Honda’s brand-new CBR500R Four is new from the ground up, featuring a 502cc inline-four and E-Clutch.

Not long ago the market for small four-cylinder bikes appeared to be dead. Manufacturers abandoned their 400cc-class fours and were rapidly shifting away from 600cc four-cylinders as emissions rules, costs, and customer tastes ushered in an era of middleweight twins. But the midsized four is back as a growing number of brands follow Kawasaki’s ZX-4R lead, with Honda being the latest to join the fray with the new CB500 Super Four and CBR500R Four.

Mechanically very similar is the CB500 Super Four roadster, which also features an E-Clutch.

The fact that Honda chose to reveal the bikes, albeit in a limited way, at the CIMAMotor show in China rather than one of the more traditional, Western events illustrates how the increasing affluence of riders in China is driving the four-cylinder revival. Kawasaki might have been first to bring back the idea of a small four with the ZX-4R, but since then a host of Chinese brands, including CFMoto, Kove, and ZXMoto among them, have introduced four-cylinder machines in the 400cc–500cc realm. Honda clung on to the last vestige of the 1980s influx of 400cc fours with the Japan-only CB400 Super Four and CB400 Super Bol d’Or models until 2022 but pulled the plug just before the class revival began.

While the new CB500 Super Four and CBR500R Four were shown on stage at CIMAMotor, Honda has been reticent when it comes to detailed information. That’s expected to appear, along with more images of the bikes, later this year when they get a global reveal, probably around the time of November’s EICMA show in Milan. We already know from Honda’s trademark activity that it intends to sell the new machines much more widely than China alone, and will also be building downsized, 399cc “CB400” versions for the Japanese market where regulations favor sub-400cc bikes.

Both models will feature an updated version of Honda’s E-Clutch.

The details that have been confirmed about the CB500 Super Four and CBR400R Four are that they share the same engine and chassis despite very different styling; the Super Four is a retro roadster while the CBR500R Four has thoroughly modern sportbike bodywork. That engine measures 502cc and appears to be a clean-sheet design, featuring modern tech including ride-by-wire throttle and a next-generation version of Honda’s E-Clutch. No power figure has been revealed, but the bikes are expected to make something in the region of 80 hp.

Honda’s E-Clutch has already proved a hit on the CB650R and CBR650R, providing a useful steppingstone between conventional transmissions and the sort of automated manuals that are growing in popularity. The gearshift itself remains manual, with a conventional foot lever, but the clutch can be operated either manually via the left bar or automatically via a built-in actuator—so you can start, stop, and shift gears without ever pulling the lever. The new version on the CB500 Super Four and CBR500 Four is more compact, moving the actuator mechanism from the right-hand side of the engine to the left-hand side, where it’s tucked up above the transmission instead of bulging from the clutch cover. It also promises more advanced operation, with an auto-blipping feature—enabled by the adoption of ride-by-wire—to make downshifts smoother.

From what we can see of the bikes, both use a steel-tube frame paired with an alloy swingarm, a rear monoshock, and upside-down fork carrying Nissin radial four-piston calipers. So while the naked CB500 Super Four is styled like the old CB400, its construction is completely different to the old spine-framed, twin-shock machine, which used a right-way-up fork and axial-mount brakes, all elements that clearly dated it several decades.

While most of the mechanical parts are shared across the CB500 and CBR500R models, the sportbike version gets its own tank, seat unit, and exhaust, as well as a fairing, to provide a modern look that’s refreshingly free of winglets or unnecessarily complex folds and surfaces. We’ll find out more later in the year, including the models’ prospects for a US market launch, so watch this space.

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