My NC is For Sale and I bought a used CB500F last winter and have put around 8k miles on it. Someone asked me to compare the two so here goes.
The NC has a ton of torque compared to the CB500 and with the latter I had to relearn how to downshift! The CB will RPM like crazy where the NC feels "lazy" while still moving along briskly. With the low RPMs of the NC, it never feels as if you're going fast until you look down at the speedo. They both get around the same miles-per-gallon but the CB has a much bigger tank so it has greater range. There is an 80-85 pound difference between them which was one of the reasons I bought the CB. The weight difference will be less for a non-DCT model.
Obviously, the CB lacks a "frunk" so carrying even small stuff requires something additional such as a top box. The CB feels like a much smaller bike because it is.
The NC has a ton of torque compared to the CB500 and with the latter I had to relearn how to downshift! The CB will RPM like crazy where the NC feels "lazy" while still moving along briskly. With the low RPMs of the NC, it never feels as if you're going fast until you look down at the speedo. They both get around the same miles-per-gallon but the CB has a much bigger tank so it has greater range. There is an 80-85 pound difference between them which was one of the reasons I bought the CB. The weight difference will be less for a non-DCT model.
Obviously, the CB lacks a "frunk" so carrying even small stuff requires something additional such as a top box. The CB feels like a much smaller bike because it is.