Honda CL500 vs Svartpilen 401: Best Beginner Scrambler?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2023
- I take a look at the new Honda CL500 and compare it to the Svartpilen 401 which I've owned for quite a bit of time.
The two bikes represent very different takes on the scrambler theme, with the 401 delivering a more sportier and hard-nosed option more ideal for those who like a single-cylinder, razor sharp handling, and value for money.
The CL500 is a more accessible machine, with a stronger mid-range, more casual ergos, low seat and laid back overall handling characteristic, making for a more forgiving but still fun machine.
The CL500 also offers a great alternative to the Rebel 500 for people who like the package, but want something a bit different, but does give up the ultra low seat height of the cruiser.
MotoHub in Sydney were kind enough to lend me their demo Honda CL500, so check them out if you're in Sydney and would like a test ride (they also stock Husqvarna!):
www.motohub.com.au/
Don't forget to subscribe and hit that notification bell!
motojournokris.com/youtube
#svartpilen401 #cl500 #scrambler #motorcycle - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Great review mate. Thanks heaps!
A good summary!👍👍 I have always liked the Svartpilen 401, but I would take the CBX500 in preference to either of these bikes.
The CB500X is a great proposition really, more touring prowess than both these bikes, and should be better off road to boot.
Especially for the 2024 model the Svartpilen 401 is the best for the money in almost every category
Yea those new bikes are amazing to be honest. And very competitive on price too.
After two failed KTM‘s I do not take any Pierer Mobility bikes anymore. So I am happy with Honda now 😍🏍️
Can't argue with that, do you mind me asking what models you had?
@@MotoJournoKris I had a 690 Enduro (2010) and a 790 AdvR RALLY (2020)
Interesting, those 690/701 Enduros look amazing, and a lot of the WR250R owners with channels also gave the 790/890 ADVs a try. I was really impressed by the Norden 901, but always a little worried about reliability from a long term ownership standpoint. @@espero7757
I've watched 2 of your CL500 videos and I applaud your effort but.... for Pete's sake stop calling this a cruiser based bike. Honda just developed a modular platform and put our a cruiser bike first. If I know Honda they probably designed the same platform for a sport bike and an adventure bike just to see if it would work. If you consider this frame as a type of common frame design, you will notice many bikes in history with a nearly identical design to this. And the bikes were usually performance bike oriented. The Rebel is probably one of the very few times this frame design has been used in a cruiser style bike. IMO
The CL500 is based on the Rebel 500 which is a cruiser, and it has strong cruiser vibes as a result. You can argue with my opinion about the feel of the bike, the fact it's cruiser based is undeniable objective fact.
There are many bikes based on this frame style produced in the past 40 yrs and none of them are cruisers. Look at the RZ350 from 1985 for example. Its a sport bike with the same frame design. The elements that make a cruiser are rake and trail geometry, bars and suspension. None of these elements carry over unchanged to the CL500 from the CMX500 unchanged. The one single fact is simply that the CMX500 was out first. Honda has made a platform design that can be modified for different types of products. Its short sighted to keep designating this a "cruiser based bike" and I do own the CL500. In my opinion there is nothing about it that feels like a cruiser and I've not seen this in any other of the countless reviews I've watched. Cruisers are low and relaxed. They prefer straight lines. This is not that.@@MotoJournoKris
Also I watched another vid of a guy on the CL500 and he was shredding corners like crazy with it, the handling is tons better than the Rebels and if you throw dual sport tires on it, it can go just about anywhere. I’m gonna grab me one next year once my bike is paid off cuz I’m ready to upgrade.
I removed your other comment because it was basically a big collection of strawman arguments. Happy for you to refute something I've ACTUALLY said. If you're just going to make up ridiculous rubbish and pretend I said it, I'll delete your comment. Please feel free to try again, always happy to have an intelligent conversation with disagreements, just needs to be based on real points, not strawmanning. @@jacks1bonnielass
@@MotoJournoKrishey, nice review comparing the bikes, but I have to disagree with your point made too. See, Honda CL500 is a scrambler, which basically stands for city motorcyle with abilty to go off'road. Initially, brittish started making royal-enfield's for the purpose of a usual-city bike, which would be able to go off-road. In fact, these manufactured motorcycles were so good, that brittish promoted them by organizing off-road racing competitions with motorcycles, identical as the CL500. In short, that's how a scrambler is defined and can be used for off-road purposes too. CL500, and Svartpilen are scrambler bikes. Which comes to a conclusion that the bikes you compared, aren't, in fact, cruiser-based bikes since their ability and flexibility to go off-road. IMO
For most things the 401 gets the nod. But the seat height is a deal breaker for me. The SCL 500 wins overall.
Nice one Chris. Thank you. Looks, whilst also subjective, do play a part in the decision making. The Honda at least provides colour options, where the gun barrel sights bike doesn’t. However, for my money it would go to the 401 purely based on a combination of looks, better brakes, and a significantly better suspension package. 👍😎🇦🇺
I'd probably do the same, it's a hard proposition to say no to really. I'm tempted to see about getting some wrap for my 401 to fix the lack of colour options issue too!
@@MotoJournoKris Sorry Kris. For some reason my comment changed to Chris. Hadn’t thought about the wrap option however it could have a negative impact on re-sale.
Good comparison, Kris. I like both bikes, but I'd just about prefer the CL. Nick
I thought the 401 might be the clear winner to me, but after riding both, there's a lot going for the CL500!
Great comparison. I love my Svartpilen but it's hard work in traffic and feels really sporty for a scrambler.
100% The 401s are very sporty machines!
100% . Svartpilen is definetly much more sporty compared to CL. But what do you mean by 'hard work in traffic'? From what I am looking it seems that svartpilen is more compact, more manuvarable, which in fact makes it easier to handle? Just my opinion though, would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this, Kurtis.
Not sure is Kurt is thinking along the same lines, but the 401 has quite an aggressive and revvy engine, and you'll likely be working through the gearbox quite actively compared to a 400 or 500 cc twin in traffic conditions.@@VincentasJarusevicius-cl3mw
It handles really well in traffic it's more the engine. Nothing below 4000 rpm and needs to be revved. Can't be lazy with the gears at all. I've stalled it quite a few times and I've been ridding bikes for forty years.
@@VincentasJarusevicius-cl3mw
emoved the exhaust chamber box and that made a HUGE differnce. Have an Arrow full exhaust with a baffle it's so much better to ride so much more torque down low.
A handfull of dealerships have been knocking out Svartpilens 401s for roughly €4200 over here in Germany. Some are 2020 bikes as they never sold as was expected.
With the 2024 CL500s having a new tft display, there’s a few Honda dealerships selling last years bikes for round the €5500 mark.
We've typically had really good run-out deals on the 401s most years, normally $1000 or so off the previous year models, even when there was no updates. It seems like a great way of getting a good price if you don't mind having an older year model bike.
We humans are adaptable creatures and the buyer is still getting a new product.
2024 Honda CL500‘s have an easy more readable dash but, the older ones leave the riders eyes more focused on the road!
Great review, but the CL500 is more expensive.
Not in the EU. CL500 is 100 EUR less than the Pilen 401's
Nice review, what is the CL500 collector delete?
Sorry that's on the Svartpilen 401, but it just removes the collector which quietens the exhaust down significantly, but keeps the cats. I'd probably recommend going a slip-on if you can get one for a decent price instead of the collector delete.
scl is clearly a parts bin bike. It looks quite boring and uninspiring to me. It feels like a rebel with a raised exhaust. I can't unsee the rebel in them. The Yamaha scr950 was a much better outcome of a cruiser turned scrambler.
Svartpilen 401 on the other hand is a breath of fresh air in terms of design and is way way more fun to ride. Love the svart, just wish it had just a little more power and just a few more refinements would make it a forver bike,
It'll be interesting to see if we get that when KTM update the 390/401 engine, and the next generation of all these models come along! Props definitely go to the Svartpilen (and Vitpilen) for offering something different.
what's your opinion about Honda CL500 vs Triumph 400X?
I haven't ridden the 400X yet, but it looks like the sportier and lighter option of the two. I think it'll be a similar situation to the two bikes mentioned here. CL500 being a winner for someone after a more relaxed scrambler. The 400X being a bit more performance and sport orientated and ticking the boxes there.
@@MotoJournoKris, thanks!
nice video but you gotta sync the b-roll with what you're actually talking about. At a lot of points you were talking about one bike and the other bike was on screen or you were talking about the wheels and it was focused on the exhaust.
That's always the aim, but not always that feasible in practice.
I love all these bike guys on YT.
But they all remind me of guitar teachers I used to criticize. Constructively of course.
What do they all do wrong imo?
They forget what it was likew to be a beginner.
And for someone thats teaching people whether giving lessons or providing purchasing opinions..its so very important.
When he talked about the sound from the bikes...that Svartpilen sounded awesome to me but I dont know any better.
Because Im a beginner.
But anyways, no offense to this guy or any others....everyone does it.
I will give my two cents that might help first time riders considering these two bikes simply cos Im a research nut.
If you think that the two bikes are pretty even when it comes to the looks department...you should def get the Honda.
Just cos its going to be bulletproof...no issues or problems with QC or reliability.
It costs more sure....but the only people who dont have an easy decision are like me...who love the looks of the Svartpilen. ADn vitpilen for that matter. The Honda looks badass to me for sure. But the 401s...I think for me..I have to get it.
I feel like we are lucky to have it as an option period.
Has anyone seen a bike in the last 40 years that is that unique? That looks that cool? Not from anyone theyd buy from and was less than $20,000. None of the top makers would dare take that chance.
All other things being equal I'm a big believer in buying the bike you like the look of the most. You should be proud of your motorcycle every time you see it.
One of the big problems with generalised beginner advise is they don't know, what they don't know, and you can't know what's going to be most important to them along all the fairly subjective metrics. Reliability being a bit different as a more objective point.
This or the 400 x
I can't decide. 400x looks way better.
That new 400X is really good. They've done wonders with the single, and I'm impressed by the suspension for the price. I reckon it's probably a bit closer to the traditional scrambler theme too in many ways, with a bit more (light) off-road focus.
CL500, borrrrring. Hi Kris!