Honda GB 500 Clubman

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Honda (motorcycle)
Honda GB500 Clubman Right.jpg
GB 500 (PC 16)
Manufacturer Honda
Production period 1985 to 1990
class motorcycle
design type Naked bike , cafe racer
Motor data
Type : 1-cylinder four-stroke engine , DOHC with 4 radially arranged valves (RFVC), overhead camshaft, primary drive via gear wheels

Cooling : air-cooled Mixture
preparation : constant pressure carburettor
Start system : electric and kick starter

Displacement  (cm³) 498
Power  (kW / PS ) 28/38 at 7,500 rpm
20/27 (throttled)
Torque  ( N m ) 38 Nm at 6,500 rpm (28 kW version)
37 Nm at 3,000 rpm (20 kW version)
Top speed (  km / h) 160 km / h (28 kW version)
140 km / h (20 kW version)
transmission 5-speed
drive
Chain drive O-ring chain 108 links RK 525 SMOZ5
Brakes Front: single-disc brake with double-piston
caliper. Rear: Simplex drum brake
Wheelbase  (mm) 1430
Dimensions (L × W × H, mm): 2150 × 750 × 1160
Empty weight  (kg) 178

The Honda GB 500 Clubman is a classic naked bike from the Japanese Honda group. In the first year of construction 1985 as GB 500 TT only available for the Japanese market, later in 1989 and 1990 a total of 4,584 units were built for the American market and 1,727 units for the Japanese market.

history

When the Clubman went on sale in Germany in the summer of 1992, the 1,000 or so officially introduced motorcycles were remnants of motorcycles that had proven to be slow-moving in America. In the three years between production and German market launch, the Clubman was imported in relatively large numbers as a gray import from America to Germany.

When the official German Honda importer put the motorcycles on the market in 1992, the motorcycles were offered at a fairly high new price of DM 7,760 despite their age (the Honda XBR 500 was sold at a price of under DM 5,000 until 1990). In contrast to the gray imports, customers of the official trade enjoyed a two-year manufacturer's guarantee.

Technically, the Clubman is largely based on the "sister model" Honda XBR 500 . The Clubman is preferred by women due to the slightly lower seat height, especially since it is even more manageable than the XBR thanks to a narrower front tire. The machines of both years were only sold in the color black green metallic (Honda color code: G-125 M), the green shade of which is only recognizable in sunshine and thus creates an attractive play of colors. Many of these motorcycles are therefore incorrectly advertised as black. A much rarer color variant is the almost identical, but already manufactured in 1985, Bordeaux-colored (candy musenrot, color code R-104 CU) GB 500 TT with a slightly different tank shape, which was exclusively intended for the Asian market and therefore extremely rare in Germany ever seen. In contrast to the Clubman, the Japanese GB 500 TT has a main stand and there is no secondary air system.

Unlike the Honda XBR 500, the Clubman has a secondary air system that was introduced in the USA due to more restrictive emissions regulations. A secondary air system, which is controlled by a vacuum hose from the carburetor and membrane and starts between the air filter and the carburetor, is used to enrich the exhaust gases with unused air in the cylinder's exhaust duct, which leads to a reduction in carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons through a post-reaction with the exhaust gases. The secondary air system was also introduced for the German market on other four-stroke single-cylinder models from 1991, including the Honda NX 650 Dominator .

The appearance of the Clubman is based on the classic motorcycles of the 1950s and early 60s: the "crouched" position of the motorcycle alludes to the English cafe racers . From a purely visual point of view, the Clubman is reminiscent of motorcycles such as the AJS “Boy Racer” 350, Velocette Venom Thruxton or BSA Goldstar. This look was taken up again with the Triumph Thruxton 900 , for example .

As briefly described above, Honda offered the concept of classic design to the Japanese market in the early / mid-1980s with the GB 250 and GB 400 TT models. 1985 Honda Motors therefore, only for the Japanese market, the GB 500 TT (PC16) with 40 horsepower at 7,000 min -1 and GB 400 TT (NC20) with 34 horsepower at 7,500 min -1 built. The GB 500 TT was offered for the equivalent of DM 6,400.

Technical specifications

engine

  • Air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke engine with secondary air system
  • Overhead camshaft, the four radially arranged valves are controlled by rocker arms and rocker arms
  • Dry sump lubrication
  • contactless capacitor ignition
  • Displacement: 498 cm³
  • Bore × stroke: 92 × 75 mm
  • Compression: 8.9: 1

landing gear

Single-loop frame made of tubular steel with split beams, telescopic fork, rocker arm made of tubular steel, four-way adjustable struts, double-piston disc brakes at the front, simplex drum brakes at the rear, wire-spoke wheels with aluminum high-shoulder rims.

  • Front travel: 105 mm
  • Rear suspension travel: 96 mm
  • Rim size front: 2.15 × 18
  • Rear rim size: 2.50 × 18
  • Front tire size: 90/90 S 18 and 100/90 S 18
  • Rear tire size: 110/90 S 18 and 120/90 S 18

mass and weight

  • Wheelbase: 1,410 mm
  • Weight (fueled): 178 kg
  • Payload: 127 kg / depending on the entry
  • Perm. Total weight: 306 kg
  • Tank capacity / reserve: 16.5 / 3.5 l

Performance

  • Acceleration 0-100 km / h: 7.0 seconds. (9.3 sec.)

Service data

  • Service intervals: every 6,000 km
  • Oil change: every 6,000 km
  • Oil filter change: every 12,000 km
  • Engine oil: SAE 10W40, 20W50
  • Capacity: 1.6 liters (with filter change: 1.8 liters)

Equipment / price

Color: dark green metallic (black green metallic, Honda color code: G-125 M)
28 kW / 20 kW
new price: DM 7,770.00 net

Model years

The year of construction of the Clubman can be recognized by the engine number:

  • 1985 GB500 TT (JP / NZ): PC16E-10 .....
  • 1989 GB500 Clubman (USA): PC16E-20 .....
  • 1990 GB500 Clubman (USA): PC16E-21 .....

criticism

“Once in motion, the GB 500 is a lot of fun. The chassis is well adjusted and the gambler has a good feeling for the condition of the road surface. If he has to screw on the machine because of a defect, that is hardly a problem. Because Honda used very simple technology for the Clubman - as was usually the case with motorcycles from the time - simple repairs can be done quickly. "

- Roman Büttner : Spiegel Online

“The UK cites a time when speed was still an awesome phenomenon. Her thin speedometer needle only strokes the 100 miles on the "speedometer" with a lot of running. Makes Tempo 160 in the metric system. That was the norm in the wild sixties, when daring drivers cracked "the ton" on their café racers. Back then you would have exchanged your girlfriend for 42 hp. Today that's not enough for heroism. "

- Thomas Schmieder : Motorcycle

literature

  • Michael Schäfer ao: late harvest . In: MOTORCYCLE . 14/1992. Motor-Presse-Verlag, pp. 32-38, ISSN  0027-237X .
  • Hans J. Schneider among others: Like no brainer in May. Classic single in the test: Honda GB 500 Clubman . In: Motorcyclists . 10/1992. Reiner H. Nitschke Verlags-GmbH, pp. 10-13, ISSN  0935-7645 .
  • on the Japanese version from 1985: Hiroshi Kimura: Make-up . In: MOTORCYCLE . 17/1985. Motor-Presse-Verlag, pp. 36-37, ISSN  0027-237X .

Web links

Commons : Honda GB  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Fey: Driving report. In: bma, edition 3/2002. March 1, 2002, accessed November 16, 2013 .
  2. ^ Roman Büttner: Honda GB 500 Clubman: Small exotic with a large fan base. In: Spiegel Online . June 14, 2010, accessed January 8, 2015 .
  3. ^ Thomas Schmieder: Single party. In: Motorrad , issue 2/2009. December 30, 2008, accessed November 15, 2013 .