MORE ADVENTUROUS

There’s no getting away from the fact that some adventure bikes are big enough to come with their own postcodes. What grew out of making a road bike more dirt suitable has become a plethora of machines from 250cc to 1290cc.

And how extreme do you want your adventure bike to be? One bellwether has been wheels — can an adventure bike have a front wheel smaller than 19in and should it be wire-spoked, not cast alloy?

Like so many things, what works for one rider might not work for another. Honda seems to have decided its CB500X is attractive to adventure bike riders, because the company has upped the front wheel size from 17 to 19in among the changes, which will make it better on a loose surface.

But will it make it a better bike on the road too, where the majority of CB500Xs will spend most of their lives?

WHO IS IT FOR?

The old model seemed to be aimed