HONDA has always been very good when it comes to making the best of the current market, so building three bikes out of one was always going to be a winner.

Enter the final part of the new CB500 trio.

The other two models were introduced earlier this year – there’s the sporty CBR500R and the naked CB500F, now here comes the adventure-style CB500X.

Three well-built, great looking bikes all for just less than £5,000.

The CB500X is the perfect machine to tempt novice riders on to two wheels, it’s cheap enough but without compromise, has enough power to take full advantage of the A2 licence regulations and looks like a proper adventure bike.

The CB500x is low, light and nimble, so should certainly appeal to anybody and will also suit riders looking to downsize and, let’s face it, less than £5,000 isn’t a huge sum to find for a brand new Honda.

After riding this bike I think it’s perfect for that dreaded commute to work – avoid the traffic jams, the long delays on a comfortable, easy to ride bike.

Up close the new bike was every bit as good to look at as it is in the photos, Honda hasn’t skimped on build quality to keep costs down.

The bike is well-finished, stylish, modern and comes with ABS as standard.

The riding position still retains that adventure bike style and is both natural and comfortable.

The upright riding position and bar width gives you a good view and a feeling of control, the foot pegs are set perfectly and the clutch is relatively light.

The CB500X may not be large in capacity, but it has a fairly strong engine with a linear power delivery so it pulls well, keep it in the right gear and the bike powers along quite nicely – hit 6,000rpm and you’re rewarded with a nice induction roar and it’ll quickly get up to the redline.

The brakes are superb with lots of feel and bite and they also have the Honda ABS system to back them up, I never felt it cut in during the whole time I was riding, but the Honda system is so refined that it’s hard to notice it anyway, it’s just there to help if and when needed without getting in the way of the riders enjoyment.

MPG is quite a big selling point these days and during my ride the on board computer was reading a little over 47mpg. I love the whole Honda concept of building one bike with three very different personalities, especially when it can be done at such a reasonable price.

It makes much more commercial sense and gives A2 class riders a choice of similar machines to choose from, all from a name they can trust.