Honda CBR650F Review

The CBR came to India in the form of the Honda CBR250 in the year 2011 and after much begging Honda finally decided to get the bigger Honda CBR650F to India. This glorious year was the year 2015. The CBR1000r Fireblade is also available but you would have to see not only your but also your family’s kidneys to buy it. The CBR Fireblade was an outright supersport and trust me on of the most comfortable supersports around.

The 250 is more of a tourer and has done well to maintain that image. Honda places the 650F too as a sports tourer. It is the 3rd cheapest in-line 4 cylinder bike in India today. Third only to the Benelli siblings (600i and 600GT). It sounds amazing just like a typical in-line 4 and is enough to give our biker boys wet dreams. Let’s check what all The Honda CBR650F offers.

Honda CBR650F Price

Well, at 7.5 + lakhs it is an expensive bike for 650 cc but the performance and quality is unmatched. The 650 is compared to bikes like the Street Triple and the Z800 now both of which have been discontinued to make way for new models. But is also the only bike to offer ABS with Honda patented Combi Brakes system.

Also Read: Benelli 600i Review

Honda CBR650F Specifications

Honda CBR650F Dimensions

The Honda CBR650F seems like a perfect bike made by Honda. This just the right length, a narrow frame. Heavy but not too heavy. ( for me anything above 195 kgs is heavy). The seat height is just about right at 810 mm. Not to high, not to low. What is a bit of concern is the 133 mm ground clearance. Forget pillion, with the kind of speed breakers we have, this bike would be brushing almost everywhere.

Honda CBR650F Top Speed

Honda claims a top speed of 222 km/h for the Honda CBR650F which is a lot. For a 650 cc bike. You can get a bump in speed by getting a bump in bhp with some ECU remaps and a change in exhaust to make it sound even way better. The seating posture is just right to provide good aerodynamics and the bike has enough power to propel it to those speeds.

Also Read: Kawasaki Versys 650 Price and Review

Honda CBR650F Design

I don’t know if any of you remember, this serial for kids that used to come on doordarshan some 25 odd years back called SuperHuman Samurai. Its was like a guy gets powers to go into the digital world to fight viruses that looked like dinosaurs. Well coming back to the topic, The front headlamp and the fairing look like the chest piece of that armour. But is pretty nice for us fan boys. Especially with the red and white scheme. From the side it is quite a sleek fairing that kind of exposes the engine. I wonder why would they do this.

There is a major drawback sadly here in this case. The red/blue/white are typical Honda colour decals. The tank has a nice curve and blends well into the generous seats. For a bike that is a mixture between sport and touring this is a pretty comfortable seat. I wonder if the rider would have a sore even after completing a saddle sore challenge. Trying to keep up with the emission norms this bike gets an underbelly exhaust which honestly is so silent it almost cuts off the sound of that amazing in-line4.

The swing arm seems beefy and can take a pounding from those bad roads on those long trips. The LED tail lamps are pretty simple yet very elegant. Something about Honda is that their designs are not very loud. They try to keep things minimalistic and focus more on quality.

Also Read: Kawasaki Versys 1000 Review

Honda CBR650F Engine 

The engine is what a good sports bike should be having. Doing a 0-100 in 3.8 secs is not a joke. This is what the z900 achieves with 250 cc more. Now, this is shattering performance by Honda. Even if you are paying more for the lack of cc you are making up in terms of performance. There is very little to argue with Honda in terms of quality and deliverance. Only issue now is why doesn’t Honda release more of their amazing line up of bikes in India. The 6-speed gear shift is light and flawless and effortless unlike the N650.

Honda CBR650F Mileage

With an overall claim of 20 km/l which is quite outstanding for a bike with the above performance figures Honda has delivered efficiency with performance. If we consider the 20 km/l with the descent 17.3 litre tank the bike can do a 300+ km range before a fuel stop. That in my regards is a big plus point since this bike is anyway aimed at tourers.

Honda CBR650F Ride and Handling

When did you last hear about a bad handling Honda?. I surely do not recollect. Honda’s build their bike with a purpose whether it is the commuter CB Shine for daily commute with good efficiency or the Fireblade for a supersport yet highly comfortable with higher performance.

The combi abs system works flawlessly. I had a friend who did a Sikkim trip on his Honda CBR650F, he said he managed to be safe at a particular point which had black ice while a friend on the N650 slipped and fell off. Nothing major as they were slow but that’s how much difference ABS makes. I don’t know why people feel abs is not important as it is more important than money. It saves life. Unlike most sports bikes the CBR650F has a very linear acceleration and deceleration. Nothing is sudden or jerky.One issue taller rides will have is, the engine casing is quite protruding no the right hand side and touches your knee moment you put your foot down in slow traffic. I had a burnt mark for a week. This was the experience with all tall riders. For shorter riders your knee doesn’t bend much so does not end out touching the casing. Honda better solve this issue as even the fairing is short and does not cover the engine unit. This can cause an issue in traffic leading to the rider to lose balance.

The four cylinder in-line 648.7cc is a jewel of an engine. The power delivery is very linear and the refinement is simply superb. The engine is rated at 85.3bhp of power and 62.8Nm of torque is one of the best in its segment. The Honda readily revs to around 11,000rpm, and blasts through a broad power band with ample grunt available from anywhere over 4,000rpm.

The Honda CBR650F comes with a six-speed gearbox, allied to a smooth working, perfectly sprung clutch, that isn’t too heavy to operate in urban Indian conditions. Performance is scintillating on this refined new Honda, with genuine 200kph plus speeds coming up effortlessly when roads allowed, and the CBR 650F not falling as far behind the full-size litre-class superbike brigade as you might expect.

This being said the engine also calms down for when stuck in traffic. It does not feel neither jerky nor overpowering in stop and go situations. It like all other four cylinder engines tends to heat up quite significantly in traffic.

The riding position on the Honda CBR650F is a comfortable mix of being sporty and touring. This allows regular use of the bike, plus the occasional long distance touring outing. In terms of dimensions, the new CBR is more compact than a Kawasaki Ninja 650.

Honda CBR650F isn’t however light, weighing 215kg, and you sometimes can feel its mass while riding the bike, when tipping the CBR 650F into corners, or as you switch directions when following the right lines through the twisties. It is a bit shorter in height too which could help shorter riders choose this over its competition. Suspending the motorcycle are telescopic forks in front, not upside downs, and a monoshock at the rear.

Hauling the Honda CBR650F down when braking are powerful, twin 320mm petal rotor front disc brakes, plus a 240mm single petal disc at rear, ABS enabled, and working brilliantly, with just the right bite and feel. Our test bike came shod with Dunlops, which offered fair traction and left us with no reason to complain.

Verdict

The Honda CBR650F is an amazing bike, yes the price is quite high but find me another bike with this mannerisms. The design front is where the bike needs work especially on the engine casing front which burnt my knee along with the looks of the bike. With prices only going up it would be nice to see how Honda keep the value. Will they slash th price or increase it like other manufacturers.