Honda has created a 500cc parallel twin-cylinder bike – the Rebel which is an engaging and easy machine to ride, and offers plenty of scope for owner customization. For the rebel at heart, a motorcycle is more than just a means of transportation. They represent a lifestyle, an attitude, and the ability to express their own individual identity. These riders’ expectations are different to those of the motorcycling mainstream and the machines that speak to them reflect this. They have to fit in with their life but must also contain the potential for further individualization.
The Rebel blends tradition with groundbreaking new ideas and perspectives – a custom motorcycle that showcases a classic, timeless look but is also imbued with a defiant; contemporary style all of its own. Accessible, easy to ride and easy to live with, the Rebel goes its own way but is also a blank canvas, ready for whatever its owner’s imagination has in store for it.
Powered by a 471cc parallel twin-cylinder engine, with strong bottom end torque and a smooth, linear power delivery the Rebel is A2 license friendly. It’s also slim, with a low seat height and therefore easy to manage at low speeds. The riding position is relaxed and neutral, with gently outstretched arms matched to mid-mounted foot pegs.
The Rebel’s tubular steel frame is brand new and draws fresh, contemporary lines into stripped-back, fat-tyred bobber’ style. Blacked out to the maximum, with the minimum of paint, it also switches from solo-only to pillion-possible via two bolts. Two key words ran headlined throughout the Rebel’s development program – simple and raw. To do so much with so little is an art form in itself, an exercise in minimalist design where every detail matters. From every angle of its stripped form it expresses off-beat individuality.
Everything that can be is blacked out, which highlights the Rebel’s lithe design as well as underlining the subtle paintwork. Set high up front the evocative round headlight features a 135mm diameter glass lens and die-cast aluminum mount.
The one button speedo is a compact 100mm dial with negative LCD display and blue backlight and is both striking and effective, while the ignition is housed below the left side of the fuel tank.
The Rebel will be available in multiple color options including graphite black, matte armored silver metallic and millennium red. The pillion pad and rear foot pegs are easily removed, and a number of tailor-made accessories will be available for the Rebel; these include a tubular rear rack, saddlebags, screen and 12V socket.
The Rebel’s 471cc 8-valve, liquid-cooled parallel twin-cylinder engine is drawn from the sporty CBR500R. For cruising duties, revised PGM-FI fuel injection mapping has shifted its character away from the high rpm-focused performance of the CBR to a torque-heavy bottom-end output, with smooth and linear delivery throughout the rev-range. Punchy maximum torque of 44.6Nm torque @ 6,000rpm combines with peak power of 33.5kW @ 8,500rpm.
