The Honda CX650 Turbo, or CX650T, is one of very few production motorcycles that came with a turbocharger from the factory. Just 1,777 were made, and sales were slow due to the high sticker price and prohibitive insurance costs.
Today, the surviving examples of the Honda CX650 Turbo are sought after by enthusiasts, as well as its little brother, the Honda CX500 Turbo. The experience of riding a turbocharged motorcycle is unlike anything else on two wheels, and it keeps owners coming back for more.
Fast Facts – The Honda CX650 Turbo
- This is an original Honda CX650 Turbo, one of the few turbocharged production motorcycles, it saw limited success with only 1,777 units made. High production costs and insurance premiums hindered sales. Today, these models are highly valued by collectors for their unique engineering and unusual history.
- Turbocharging motorcycles can improve performance by adding power without much additional weight, but it also brings challenges, such as the inability to fit intercoolers and the realities of turbo lag, which can be riskier on two wheels than in cars.
- The Honda CX500 Turbo was the first production motorcycle with both a turbocharger and fuel injection system. Its successor, the CX650 Turbo, improved upon fuel economy and turbo lag, but despite these upgrades, it was still considered expensive and left production by the end of 1983.
- The 1983 Honda CX650 Turbo is now a rare, collectible motorcycle. Examples with low mileage are especially sought after, like one recently listed for auction with 20,000 miles, fresh maintenance, and a clean title.
Building A Forced-Induction Motorcycle
The concept of turbocharging a motorcycle makes a lot of sense when you consider that turbos tend to add only a small amount of weight, it doesn’t sap power from the engine in the same way that a supercharger does, and it increases engine power.
The Honda CX650 Turbo, and the earlier Honda CX500 Turbo on which it is based, is an engineering tour de force. Despite this, turbocharged motorcycles failed to catch on, and remain rather obscure today. Image courtesy of Honda.
The difficulties presented by turbocharging are unfortunately plentiful, they typically can’t be fitted with intercoolers so the intake charge is very hot, and the infamous issue of turbo lag can be even more dangerous with a motorcycle than it is in a car.
All four of Japan’s “Big Four” motorcycle manufacturers experimented with turbocharged bikes for a brief period in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, ultimately it proved to be an evolutionary dead end. That said, the concept of forced induction motorcycles has been making a comeback in recent years, most famously with the Kawasaki Ninja H2 which produces up to 326 bhp.
The world of motorsport has also made great strides with both turbocharging and supercharging, particularly land speed racing and drag racing.
The Honda CX650 Turbo
The Honda CX series of motorcycles debuted in 1978 with the CX500, it was an unusual design to say the least, with a longitudinally-mounted, liquid-cooled, push-rod V-twin with a displacement of 497cc and a 5-speed transmission located below the crankshaft sharing a common casing.
Power is sent to the rear wheel via a shaft drive, and during the development and design phase it was decided to rotate the heads 22° so that the intake wouldn’t interfere with the rider’s knees.
Only 1,777 examples of the CX650 Turbo were made, and just 1,200 were shipped to the North American market. Image courtesy of Honda.
When the CX500 first appeared it wasn’t greeted with open arms by many in the motorcycle community. No one really knew what to make of it, and in some markets it was nicknamed the “plastic maggot.”
The bike did find a niche as a courier motorcycle, particularly in Europe, and it made a good commuter bike for those who didn’t mind the model’s quirks.
In 1982 Honda released the CX500 Turbo (also known as the CX500TC), interestingly it was both the world’s first production turbocharged motorcycle, and Honda’s first production motorcycle with a programmed fuel injection system.
Now, before people start emailing me to tell me that the Kawasaki Z1R-TC was in fact the world’s first production turbocharged motorcycle, it’s important to note that the Z1R-TC left the Kawasaki factory in Japan as a regular old Z1R. The turbo conversion actually took place later in the United States at Alan Masek’s Turbo Cycle Company.
The Honda CX500 was a fast bike, certainly by the standards of a 500cc motorcycle, and it could achieve 125 mph when called upon. It did have a few issues however, it drank fuel like a liter bike, it was expensive to buy, and it suffered from fairly significant turbo lag.
The 1970s and 1980s were a time when turbocharging was one of the most exciting technologies being applied to production vehicles, but very few of these vehicles were motorcycles. Image courtesy of Honda.
A year later in 1983 the Honda CX650 Turbo was released. It was still expensive but turbo lag had been largely tamed, and fuel economy improved. It wouldn’t be enough for the bike, and it would leave production by the end of the year with just 1,777 made.
“The CX500T has all the good points of the 500T: the fairing and comfort, shaft drive and mega pose value for those who think biggest and flashiest is best. And whereas the 500 fell flat on its face when it came to performance, the 650 has little turbo lag, the ability to cruise all day at well over the ton, and most of all this amazing zappo when you hit the throttle hard.” – Bike Magazine
It’s not known how many examples of the Honda CX650 Turbo have survived, as they were bikes that needed very specific maintenance and didn’t always receive it. Good examples with low mileage are now highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts alike.
The 1983 Honda CX650 Turbo Shown Here
The motorcycle you see here is an original 1983 Honda CX650 Turbo, one of the 1,777 that were made, and the 1,200 that were shipped to the North American market.
This CX650 Turbo has ~20,000 miles showing on the odometer. It has had some recent work done in preparation for the sale including flushing and replacing the brake fluid, rebuilding the fuel petcock, cleaning the fuel injectors, replacing the fuel pump, changing the air filter, oil, battery, and both spark plugs.
It’s now being offered on Bring a Trailer out of Hortonville, Wisconsin at no reserve with a clean Georgia title. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
