I bought a CB500F on July 8th, and now have a bit over 500 miles on it. Time for first service & valve adjustment, soon. I've been without a bike for around 30 years and decided it was far past time to ride again. My impression of the bike follows.
Ergos - Pretty good, just a bit more forward leaning that a classic clubman position. At 5' 11" I wouldn't mind if the bars were swept back a tiny bit, it would help me get my butt back onto the wider part of the seat instead of being on my "sit bones" on the narrow part. As it is, it's a two-hour seat for me, but a slight change of bars would fix that, I think.
Power - Like a sewing machine from idle to wherever you rev it. I was surprised at how much torque it has for a 500cc street bike.
Handling - I'm not the best judge of that as I'm a pretty conservative rider. Small sharp bumps like the transition from asphalt to a concrete bridge that don't meet properly will jolt you a bit, but it's not a big deal. I did take it into some very tight twisties in the mountains here in east Tennessee (part of what's known as "The Snake") and pressed a little harder; it was very easy to ride even in tight esses. I came into two decreasing radius turns a little hotter than I intended, and just holding steady and leaning harder brought me through them without a fuss.
Brakes - Front brake is pretty good at highway speeds, it's pretty progressive up to a point then tightens much more quickly. I'd advise caution until you're familiar with it. The rear brake is OK, the problem is that it takes a lot more pressure than I expected. They held up well in the twisties for an hour or so's riding, I have no idea whether they'd fade if you flogged it - but it isn't really that kind of bike.
Weight - At a stop is feels a little heavy, even a bit top-heavy. Once you're rolling that feeling disappears.
Most of my riding is around town at 30-45 and it's really enjoyable. Faster than about 55-60 the wind on chest and head shows up, and it really needs a windscreen. I'll get one as soon as a decent one hits the market. I suspect that because the headlight/instrument housing is shaped a bit like a fairing that it is the culprit. Little to no buffeting below mid-chest gives me that suspicion. I put soft side bags and a tail bag on it so I can use it around town for getting groceries, running errands, etc. While the side bags I chose clear the pipe well, I'll probably add side and tail racks eventually. Until then I'll just make sure I don't load them heavily.
Some pictures with bags on it:
