Motorcycle specifications HondaCBR 500 R Four 2026 The small offensive

Beware of this "little" CBR. It doesn't play in the same league as the CBR 500 R in our neck of the woods. The name is the same, but the particle "Four" is enough to change everything. Give it a little provocation and you'll see it disappear into the distance, screaming. Honda has put nothing less than a 4-cylinder engine and 80 horsepower into this sporty machine.

A configuration we're not used to seeing. In this category, only the Kawasaki ZX-4R exists to give us a taste of this kind of machine. But this CBR 500 R Four won't be challenging it on our roads (barring a huge surprise) - it was unveiled in China, and its preferred market will be Asia.

Fire in the pockets

This CBR features a new 502 cm3 in-line 4-cylinder engine, which it shares with the CB 500 Super Four roadster. Honda says little about it other than its power (approximately), its architecture and the presence of an anti-dribble clutch.
The technology infused into this machine points to a more than basic motorcycle: ride-by-wire system, traction control, cruise control, 5 riding modes and the robotized E-Clutch in version 2.
On-board equipment also includes a 5-inch color TFT screen, with smartphone pairing and RoadSync interactivity.

The CBR also pays attention to its chassis, with an inverted fork, a monoshock mounted on a pushrod, two front brake discs, Nissin 4-piston radial calipers, an aluminum swingarm and a tubular steel frame using the engine as a load-bearing element. It's not the stuff of pistardas either, but Honda didn't want a sausage that twists at every turn.

A word of warning?

Small 4-cylinder CBRs are not exceptional in Japan. This market has seen CBR 400s, GSX-R400s, FZR 400s and a whole host of models with this engine architecture and displacement. But the CBR 500 R Four has a higher cubic capacity, and will first be seen in China. A way of showing that a Honda 500 can be much more than a 500?

Image credits: Manufacturer