Honda GB500

GB500

Manufacturer	Honda
Production	1980s-1990s
Predecessor	XBR500
Class	standard motorcycle
Engine	498 cc air-cooled RFVC 4-valve SOHC single Bore X Stroke: 92 x 75 mm CR: 8.9:1
Transmission	5-speed
Suspension	Front: 35 mm telescopic forks Rear: Twin shocks with adjustable pre-load
Brakes	front single disk, rear drum
Tires	Front: 3.25 x 19 in Rear: 3.75 x 18 in
Rake, trail	Rake: 64°, trail: 105 mm
Weight	157 kg (346 lb) (dry)
Fuel capacity	20 L (4.4 imp gal; 5.3 US gal)

The Honda GB500 'Tourist Trophy' was a motorcycle introduced in the late 1980s, based on the Honda XBR500 and first marketed in Japan with a 400cc engine and exported to the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand with a 500cc engine.^[1]

The Tourist Trophy, or TT, derives its name from the Tourist Trophy motorcycle races on a 37-mile road circuit in the Isle of Man.

The XBR500/GB500 engine was based on the motor from the Honda XL600, a dry-sump four-stroke dirt bike. The four-valve single cylinder engine featured a radial four-valve combustion chamber, along with a tubular frame, wire wheels, clip-on handlebars, solo seat, seat hump, and pin-striped gas tank. The styling resembled TT single-cylinder racing bikes (such as the Manx Norton, the BSA Gold Star and the AJS 7R) that were prominent in the TT until the 1960s.

In the USA, GB500s were imported for model years 1989 and 1990.

Both the 400 cc and 500 cc versions were imported and sold by Honda New Zealand. When originally released in NZ, the GB came in three basic models:

• GB400TT - dual seat,
• GB400TT - Mk2 with half-fairing, single seat with plastic cowling showing Mk2 logo, and different footpeg outriggers to suit solo,
• GB500TT - no fairing, single seat.

References

External links

• Media related to Honda GB & XBR at Wikimedia Commons