Honda CBR650F

Honda has made its foray into the lucrative sports touring segment with the CBR650F. This middleweight fully-faired motorcycle has been pegged as an all-around motorcycle which can take care of your commuting, sports riding, as well as long distance touring.

The CBR650F’s design draws inspiration from the bigger supersports motorcycles from Honda’s stables, especially the CBR600RR. The front of the CBR650F gets a single headlamp unit at the front flanked by LED position lights. The CBR650F is offered in a single HRC-inspired paint scheme with red, white and blue tri-colour paint, which complements the blacked out frame and the six-spoke alloy wheels. The clip-on handlebars and the rear set footpegs lend the CBR650F a sporty riding position, emphasising the bike’s front-biased design. It also gets a short four-into-two-into-one underbelly exhaust system, which gives the bike’s rear section a clean and minimalist look.

The CBR650F is built around a twin-spar steel frame, housing a 649cc 16-valve inline four-cylinder engine. This engine puts out 86bhp and 63Nm of torque through a six-speed gearbox, and comes with a Programmed Fuel Injection (PGM-FI) system for its four throttle body sensors. Honda claims that this system has been tuned to offer a smooth and accurate throttle response, which should make it perfect for a sports tourer. The engine is capable of propelling the CBR650F from 0 to 100kmph in under four seconds, while the top speed is reported to be just under 210kmph.

In terms of suspension, the CBR650F rides on conventional 41mm forks at the front and a monoshock in the rear with a seven-stage spring-preload adjust. Braking power is provided by dual 320mm petal discs at the front and a single 240mm disc at the rear, with ABS being offered as a standard fitment. The CBR650F gets a fully electronic twin pod instrument cluster which displays a speedometer, bar tachometer, dual trip meters, fuel gauge and a clock. It also comes with an electronic anti-theft device called Honda Ignition Security System (HISS).

With the CBR650F, Honda has perfectly filled in the performance void in its line-up between the quarter-litre CBR250R and the litre-class CB1000R. However, despite the Japanese manufacturer laying emphasis on the fact that this bike has been made in India (read: locally assembled), the pricing of the CBR650F doesn’t exactly reflect this. At Rs 7.3 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), the CBR650F is a lot more expensive than other middleweight sports tourers like the Kawasaki Ninja 650, Benelli TNT 600GT and the Hyosung GT650R.