Rieju introduces the Adventure 500 Legend ADV bike

Spanish brand Rieju enters the ADV bike market with this bike

The recently-concluded EICMA in Milan, Italy, has reestablished itself as the premiere show for debuting the newest models from different motorcycle manufacturers around the world.

For Spanish brand, Rieju, EICMA was the perfect venue to showcase their entry into the ADV bike market with the Adventure 500 Legend.

Familiar design

On the outside, the Rieju Adventure 500 Legend has design cues that are inspired by Honda’s flagship adventure bike, the CRF1100L Africa Twin. On the engine side, it is also stunningly familiar, CB500-familiar to be exact. It boasts a 471cc, DOHC parallel-twin engine which produces 47 PS of power and 43 Nm of torque.

Some sources claim that this engine is produced by Loncin – one of the largest manufacturers in China – under technical and license agreements with Honda. This same engine can also be found in Bristol Venturi 500.

Loncin, through a technical partnership with BMW, is the maker of the 900cc engines found in the German marque’s F series of motorcycles.

Rebadged HJMoto 500?

During last year’s China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition (CIMA) – which is basically China’s version of EICMA – a 500cc adventure bike was debuted by Hengjian (HJ) Moto.

The “GS Adventure 500” looks exactly the same as Rieju’s new ADV bike, complete with its front and rear fuel tanks (39 liters total) and gold 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels.

Rieju is an old brand

Here in the country, not too many are familiar with the Rieju brand. Rieju’s name actually came when Luis Riera Carré (RIE) and Jaime Juanola Farrés (JU) combined their names shortly after founding the company in 1934.

Rieju is a staple when it comes to off-road motorcycles, particularly in its homeland Spain. It was not until 1994 that the company started exporting motorcycles to other markets and in 2020, Rieju purchased the rights to GASGAS’ off-road motorcycle models.

Rieju is distributed in the country by MotoAce.