Honda SCL500 Coming To Canada Soon!

Honda Canada has confirmed the SCL500 scrambler will be here soon, at an MSRP within the range of a 650 dual sport.

Wait, the SCL500—what’s that? Apparently Honda, in some marketing ploy, has decided to abandon the CL500 name used elsewhere in the world. In Canada and the US, this faux retro machine will be known as the SCL500.

However, it’s the same bike that other markets already saw confirmed, debuting on the 2022 show circuit. It gets the same sensible 471cc parallel twin (six-speed gearbox, slipper clutch) that Honda’s been using for about a decade now. It was previously featured in the CBR500R, CB500F, CB500X and Rebel 500, so you know it’s had the kinks worked out and offers excellent reliability. It’s supposed to crank out 45 horsepower and 32 pound-feet of torque, so it’s not a powerhouse, but it will most certainly keep up with traffic and venture well into extra-legal speed territory.

The chassis has a budget look to it—a steel tube frame (mostly borrowed from the Rebel), plain-Jane telescopic fork, preload-adjustable coilover shock. There’s 150mm of travel up front, and 145mm of travel in rear.

At least ABS comes standard, with single-disc front and rear brake (296mm and 240mm discs respectively).

But most rides are not buying these machines for hard-core off-roading. They’re simple machines made for the occasional putter up an unpaved road. They are not desert racers. With cast rims (19 inch wheel up front, 17 inch wheel in rear), they are not made to be bashed through the woods at high speed.

LED lights and LCD dash come standard. Curb weight is a claimed 192kg. Seat height is 790mm, so this bike will be very easy to throw a leg over when compared to many of the dual sports on the market.

Speaking of which: MSRP for the SCL500 is $9100 in Canada. That sounds like a lot, but when you consider that price includes $899 for freight, PDI and other fees, you see a base price that’s in the ballpark of the Kawasaki KLR650.

Unfortunately, we only get one paint choice for that money: Green. The Euros, even Americans, have more choice. But maybe that will change for next season?

See Honda Canada’s page for the SCL500 here. We don’t know exactly when the machine will arrive here, but we expect it in time for some of the 2023 riding season.