Trade-offs suck – especially in the world of motorcycles. If a bike design is too focused on looking good, then it may falter when it comes to performance or reliability. On the flipside, making reliability and performance the only priorities will often leave you with the bike-equivalent of a nice thermos. But what if you could find a thermos that oozed sex appeal while also providing piping hot coffee, always without fail? I give you the Honda GB500 Tourist Trophy.
British race bike looks from the 40s-60s plus Japanese reliability and modern features give way to one of Honda’s most beautiful yet puzzling motorcycles. There isn’t a clear answer of why this bike was built, my guess is Mr. Soichiro wanted something unique from Honda’s offerings of the time without using a lot of R&D resources. So how is the GB500 any good? Well, the handsome devil is in the details.
Honda used a retro paint scheme with its Black Green color and gold striping. To add to that, polished metals make appearances everywhere, including forks, light housings, and those beautiful D.I.D wire wheels. Then you have the mechanics of the bike. Honda shaved down the 600cc single-cylinder engine found in its larger XL600 dirtbike to create a 498cc, 33HP thumper capable of 90 mph quarter-mile runs.
This particular bike seems very well-maintained. It still looks factory fresh and is all original except for the Supertrapp slip-on exhaust and a brake master from an R1 (original comes with it, as well). 23,000 miles puts it outside of museum quality but then again, why would you ever want this thing to sit still. Cycle World’s Peter Egan said it best, “The GB500 is the perfect sportbike for someone who wants to enjoy the sensations of a traditional road-going single without a heavy maintenance schedule or an advanced degree in machine shop”. Case-in-point, it should be ridden like hell!
You can find this bike for sale in Hayward, California for $5,800 here on Craigslist. The bike seems to also have been listed on the Bay Area Riders Forum for $6,500 early last month. Lowered price could mean eager to sell, which ultimately could mean a great deal for whoever grabs this thing!