Honda CBR 650R Review – The Fully Faired Middleweight Action Reborn

Overview

Honda is the only two-wheeler manufacturer in the Indian market right now, which has an equal focus on both segments of entry-level mass-market motorcycles and scooters as well as the premium big bike category.

Speaking of the latter category, the Honda CBR 650 R sits right in the middle of Honda’s big bike lineup, ranging from the smaller CB 350 H’ness to the mighty Africa Twin. The Honda CBR 650R started off as a perfect balance between the usability of a naked roadster and a focused nature of a fully faired supersport, thus offering the best of both worlds.

In a very short time, the Honda CBR 650R became a successful model for Honda for the refined performance from the smooth inline four engine and comfortable ergonomics, making it much more practical to use over its rivals. Honda has relaunched the CBR 650R in the BS6 iteration, which has not seen much changes in its design, features list, and performance. However, this time around, there has been a substantial hike in its price.

Price List

Compared to the erstwhile available BS4 iteration, the new BS6 iteration of the Honda CBR 650R has seen a substantial hike, thanks to major engineering changes done to its engine to comply with the latest emission norms. This time around, Honda CBR 650R price in India is tagged at Rs. 8,88,796. This makes the Honda CBR 650R 2021 one of the most expensive middleweight motorcycles available in the Indian market

Engine and Specifications

Powering the Honda CBR 650R is a sweet four-stroke, inline-four, liquid cooled, fuel injected, 648.72cc engine, which it shares with its naked counterpart, the CB 650R. This makes the Honda CBR 650R the smallest fully-faired motorcycle to feature a four-cylinder engine. The powertrain is married to a slick 6-speed gearbox and breathes out 87 PS @ 12,000 rpm of maximum power and 65 Nm @ 8,500 rpm of maximum torque.

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Mileage

Engineered and designed to be a comfortable sport tourer, the Honda CBR 650R, for its segment of middleweight category of motorcycles, delivers a decent fuel economy range of 22-24 kmpl in real-world conditions. This Honda CBR 650R mileage figure is quite decent for a performance-oriented inline-four engine.

Handling and Braking

As compared to other middleweight motorcycles, the Honda CBR 650R BS6 follows a slightly conventional approach when it comes to its engineering components. The motorcycle sits on a twin-tube frame and has been fitted with upside-down telescopic forks at the front and a fully adjustable monoshock with aluminium swingarm at the back. There are twin 310mm discs at the front and a single 240mm disc at the rear for braking duties, which are assisted with a dual-channel ABS setup as standard.

Tyres and Wheels

The Honda CBR 650R rides on 17-inch wheels at both ends, with the front one shod with a 120/70-17 tyre at the front and a 180/55-17 tyre at the back, both of which are tubeless. The long wheelbase of 1433mm and a seat height of 635 mm of the Honda CBR 650R give it a planted feel, which aids in its long touring capabilities. The motorcycle is slightly on the heavier side at 211 kgs.

Colors

Like the previously available BS4 iteration, the new BS6 version of the Honda CBR 650R too is available in the same two color options of Grand Prix Red and Matte Gunpowder Black Metallic.

Design and Features

The new BS6 iteration of the Honda CBR 650R sees no visual changes over the BS4 iteration it has replaced. This actually isn’t a bad thing at all, considering the fact that the Honda CBR 650R was always a handsome motorcycle, with dimensions sporty and big enough to give it a striking road presence.

The fully-faired Honda CBR 650R gets a twin all-LED headlamp setup encased in a curvy looking fairing at the front, with both the headlamps having an appearance of the wings of an insect. The LED treatment is further imparted to its sleek-looking turn indicators at front and rear as well as a small tail lamp nestled just behind the pillion perch.

The large and curvaceous-looking fuel tank, assisted with side portions of the full fairing extending all the way down towards the engine, gives the Honda CBR 650R an impression of a fairly large motorcycle. The four pipes emerging out of the engine are neatly tucked behind the lower part of the fairing, ending up in a stubby-looking side-mounted unit.

The Honda CBR 650R comes with minimal-looking side body panels, on the top of which sits the split seat setup, which feels comfortable and easily manageable with the low seat height. The multi-spoke Y-themed black colored alloy wheels complete the side profile of the motorcycle.

The Honda CBR 650R isn’t too heavily equipped motorcycle like its other Japanese and European rivals, but gets a fair amount of features onboard, like clip-on handlebars, assist and slipper clutch and a fully digital blue backlit instrument console which reads out information of speed, rpm, fuel level, gear, clock, temperature and other real time data.

Competition

Currently, there is no other fully-faired inline-four motorcycle in the Indian two-wheeler market that can be positioned as a direct rival to the Honda CBR 650R. Instead, the Honda CBR 650R is pegged against other premium middleweight motorcycles priced similar to it, like Kawasaki Z650, Kawasaki Z900, Triumph Street Triple R and Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT, all of which though cater to different kinds of riders.

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Verdict

The Honda CBR 650R might seem a bit too far stretched as far as its pricing is concerned, which curbs its value for money proposition. However, if you look beyond it, the Honda CBR 650R is a fairly impressive motorcycle that offers a sweet inline four-sport touring experience like no other motorcycle in its price bracket. The Honda CBR 650R has the word ‘premium’ written all over it, which makes it a fairly desirable motorcycle for those who want a big inline-four motorcycle, but find the liter class motorcycles a bit more intimidating to ride.

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