[st.rebel]

How many of you are old enough to remember Honda's original Rebel from a few decades ago? Because I sure don't but I heard a lot of good things.

Over the years there has been an increase in smaller CC bike ownership and the cruiser market has been scooping up its fair share of that growth, so it comes to no surprise Honda decided to do this.

Most people I talk to who aren't riders but like the idea of riding just can't fathom the idea of riding a sport bike, but cruisers are a different story. With options of a 300 or 500 cc power plant we'll be seeing a lot of first time riders.

Me on the other hand, this might be my 3rd Honda. Owned a 250 and 600 but the Rebel 3 is my medium.

 

[speedandstyle]

I do remember it and the 250 Rebel was still being made as of 2016. I own one of the Rebel's predecessors, a 1980 CM 200 Twinstar, currently it is in parts however. My daily ride right now is a 2006 Suzuki Burgman 400.

I am very glad to see more smaller displacement bikes in the USA. Not all of us want or can afford a 1000cc + bike. For a city commuter anything larger than a 600/650 is overkill. I am also glad to see Honda and other brands trying to brake the decades old cruiser style. It is 2017 afterall!

 

[Rebellion]

I'm not old enough to remember Honda's original Rebel, but like you I am excited to see more low to mid-range options out there as it's not unusual to see a huge jump from a starter bike to the next level. Especially when you're a sport bike rider.

 

[Saint]

It's bikes like these that encourage a lot more people to get into riding as well. I always thought if I wanted something with similar sizing, I would have to deal with a big, heavy, large engined bike. But, the Rebel 300 came to my rescue

 

[st.rebel]

It's bikes like these that encourage a lot more people to get into riding as well. I always thought if I wanted something with similar sizing, I would have to deal with a big, heavy, large engined bike. But, the Rebel 300 came to my rescue

I see it happen a lot of times. Even riding instructors are saying not everyone likes the idea of getting the typical 250-300cc sport bike to start off with, instead they want something not nearly as intimidating. So with that being the case products like the Rebel will do very well.

 

[Saint]

For sure, also love that the Rebel 500 is pretty much identical to the 300 so even if you want a bit more oopmh, you can step up without having to be worried about size changes.

 

[st.rebel]

Even works well the other way around where owning a 300 doesn't have to be that bad since it looks like more than a 300. You would be surprised at how many people think the Rebel 300 is actually a 500 or 600 cc bike.

 

[Saint]

It does offer that presence which is why I'm so pushed towards it. Makes me feel a lot less self conscious about riding it around the place because I won't "look like a noob"

 

[shortyg83]

Even works well the other way around where owning a 300 doesn't have to be that bad since it looks like more than a 300. You would be surprised at how many people think the Rebel 300 is actually a 500 or 600 cc bike.

It does offer that presence which is why I'm so pushed towards it. Makes me feel a lot less self conscious about riding it around the place because I won't "look like a noob"

I kind of think it is hard for the bike to look like a bigger bike. Most other cruisers are going to appear much larger than the Rebel. And most all of them use V-Twin engines as opposed to parallel twin in the Rebel.

Also saying it looks like a 500 or 600 doesn't really work since until recently there really were no other Cruisers in this size range. Your options were the 250cc bikes, or the next smallest option was really the 750cc bikes. And there is a huge size difference between them and the Rebel.
The first cruiser in this size range is really the Harley Street 500, but that shares the same frame as the street 750. So really the only bike to compare it to is the Harley Street. But these rebels size wise actually more look like 250cc bikes.

 

[st.rebel]

compared to the bikes we used to get years ago, they sure do look like they're packing more CCs that reported to some people out here. depends who you ask really but look at everything offered today and operating out of that perspective its easy to see how these can look like what they actually are.

 

[Rebel Rouser]

Suzuki S40 or Savage as it was called fits in the overall same size bike, but have a 650. I really enjoyed the bike... Realistically the new rebel is probably larger in dimensions. The 300cc probably is close in power to.

 

[shortyg83]

Suzuki S40 or Savage as it was called fits in the overall same size bike, but have a 650. I really enjoyed the bike... Realistically the new rebel is probably larger in dimensions. The 300cc probably is close in power to.

The S40 is a bit bigger than the rebel. It is about 6 inches longer than the rebel. While horsepower wise it is similar to the Rebel 300 it has about twice the torque. I hase more torque than the Rebel 500 as well but less horsepower.

But you are right the S40 currently would be about the closest bike out there. But its basically been the same for 30 years too. Could use an update.