BACK IN 2020, WHEN the world lost its mind over the Rona, Harley-Davidson discontinued its last learner-legal bike available in Australia, the Street 500. It was a sad day for many, the Street had enjoyed immense popularity after its release, with Harley-Davidson selling bucketloads of these bikes to riders seeking a learner-legal experience, complete with the iconic Harley logo.
Now, may whatever sky-God you believe in strike me down for saying this, but the Street 500, although a ridiculously popular bike, was, well, not a particularly good motorcycle, but such is the way of things with a Harley badge on them riders still bought the sucker.
Four years have passed, and the tears of loss have dried. Harley-Davidson has now introduced the new X500 to soothe the masses. Is it an improvement on the Street 500? You bet it is, and I reckon the MoCo is going to sell boatloads—it sure as hell performs better.
If the X500 looks somewhat familiar to the eye, you’re not imagining things. Harley probably wouldn’t want me to mention that the X500 is essentially a Benelli Leoncino 500end, so I won’t. However, even if the X500 happens to be a rebadged Benelli, which I’m not explicitly saying it is, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. The Leoncino is, after all, a damn fine motorcycle for its $9,890 asking price.
