18th April 2020, 20:50
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| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Pune
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| Bringing home the dragon - My Honda CBR650R ownership review With COVID19 locking us into the confines of our homes and the itch to ride getting stronger, I decided to distract myself by thinking about my experience so far. In this thread I've put down down my thoughts on this machine and my 9 month ownership review from the day I first saw it to completing 8000 kms on it. My Gunpowder Black CBR650R  Before I begin a quick list of likes and dislikes Likes
Dislikes
First a bit of a background on me My 2 wheeler adventures started on a first-gen Honda Activa back in 2004 when I was learning to ride. This was when I was 14 and just started with my 10th standard. This was used by mom to commute and get me and my sibling around. When I started college in 2008 I was handed down this scooter to use daily. Now 8 years and Goa's humid rust inducing climate weren't very kind to it and one day when the exhaust just fell off while riding back home I managed to convince my parents to get me a Pulsar 220. And so began my life with motorbikes. Life has come around full loop where I started on a Honda and now am back to one.  The pulsar 220 served me well for 5 years before KTM came out with the RC390. I was instantly hooked and my RC390 was one of the first delivered in Pune. I was riding pretty actively when I got the KTM and made quite a few friends with whom I rode every weekend. Unfortunately as the need to focus on my career became more important, I dropped off the scene for a few years. I started riding actively again a year back. By this time the urge to get a bigger bike was biting at me since I was quite bored with the RC by then. How I made my decision Marriage and a track focussed crotch rocket like the RC390 don't really go well. My wife absolutely refused to get on it due to the tall hard seat and preferred using the car for even short provision runs. That and my newfound interest in touring and the need for a more comfortable bike (for me and the pillion), started eating at me everyday. After 5 years of owning the RC390 i finally decided to search my next bike. I initially was very interested in the Ducati Monster 821. The bike looked beautiful and really fit into what I expected from my next bike. However they had just updated their pricing and were a good 1lakh more expensive from when I last checked on their prices. I checked also checked out a pre-owned Monster 797 but the lack of basic features made me rule that out as well. The cost of ownership of this Italian brand also put me off. The Triumph Street Triple felt a bit small for me and was crossed off because of the whole de-tune fiasco, reliability issues and dodgy service. Kawasaki's after sales stories left a lot to be desired though the bikes themselves are very capable and desirable according to me. Suzuki wasn't a big consideration with just the GSX750 and V-Storm available. Options for my next bike weren't meeting my needs. Fast forward to February 2019 and Honda announces that the CBR650R is open for bookings in India. I was immediately floored by its looks and the price tag of 7.7lakhs ex-showroom immediately had me drooling. Honda being Honda also had a reputation of reliability and of low maintenance costs especially in India. These factors made me research a fair bit on the bike and I finally decided that this was to be my next bike! About the bike The CBR650R is the latest in a line of bikes which started with the CBR600F in 1987. It is the latest offering from Honda in the middle-weight segment. The new model features a more aggressive design language taking cues from its elder sibling the Fireblade. The single-piece headlamp unit has been replaced by a twin full LED headlamp unit. Besides that, the motorcycle also gets an all-digital LED instrument cluster featuring a gear position indicator and a shift up indicator. The CBR650R is powered by a 648.72cc inline-four that produces slightly more power than the outgoing model at at 88bhp at 11,500rpm and 60.1Nm of Torque at 8,000rpm. The motor comes mated to a six-speed gearbox that is assisted by a slipper clutch. The Indian spec bike is detuned compared to the international versions which deliver 94BHP of power. Feature-wise, the motorcycle comes with dual-channel ABS and also features Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC) which is a fancy way of saying traction control. Suspension is taken care of by Showa inverted forks up front and a Pro-Link type monoshock at the rear. Braking is done by radially mounted dual discs at the front and a single disc at the rear. Compared to Honda's other road going middle-weight the CBR600RR(which is due for a complete update), this bike is more at home on the road rather than the racetrack with a relaxed seating position. Honestly this bike really makes sense for Indian conditions and can handle most of what is thrown at it with ease. Buying experience Every good story has a turbulent start and this was mine. I visited Pashankar Honda in Pune, the only WingWorld dealer in Pune in hopes of a test drive. However they didn't even have a display bike, never mind a test bike. The only place with a test ride available in India was the newly opened premium BigWings showroom in Gurgaon. Cut back to Pashankar Auto, the section for their premium bikes is a small corner of the showroom which is dedicated to their everyday commuter offerings. A table and a couple of chairs with a standee advertising the CBR was all that they had. I had to wait a while for the sales guy to show up who didn't seem very keen on selling any bikes. He handed me a brochure of the bike and didn't have much else to say. I left the showroom after enquiring on the price discounts etc. since there wasn't anything more I could do. That night I watched a few more reviews and decided to take a leap of faith and put my money down on the bike. The sales guy for some reason thought it would be best to check twice if I was sure if I wanted to book the bike since the booking amount would be non refundable. No idea why he thought I would back off from the purchase later. I confirmed the same and the booking was finally done. I decided to go for the Matt black option since the red seemed too loud for my tastes and maintaining that gloss finish would be a real pain. I'm not sure if this is the norm but they charged me 2.5% on every card transaction I did with them. They refused to budge when I tried to object it and asked me to do a bank transfer instead. Now began the extremely torturous wait. From Feb to July there was absolutely no communication from their end regarding the delivery status. I kept following up every week or two to get an update. I even raised the issue with Honda India, who didn't bother responding with anything useful. False promises after false promises went on till the Mid of July when I got a call finally saying that the bike has arrived and will undergo PDI soon. I rushed to the showroom to be welcomed by this beautiful sight.  I'm glad I chose the matt finish model because boy is this bike a looker when you see it in the flesh. The murdered out black along with the gold-bronze finish of the engine case, headers and suspension look really amazing to me. The tastefully added red highlights was quite literally the cherry on top.  Completed final formalities and paid the balance amount. The bike came to 9.5 lakhs on road including insurance and RTO. No discounts on offer at all. Seeing that all 300 bikes allotted for India sold out in a couple of months, this is unsurprising. Took delivery in a few days.  Pune and Maharashtra in general was seeing some of the heaviest rains and flooding last year so couldn't do much riding until a couple of months later. Few pictures of the bike post delivery.   Took out the sari guard in the first service.  Full LED headlights  Old and new   Ownership review After the horrible purchase experience, I must say that the ownership experience more than makes up for it. I'm glad I didn't cancel my booking in frustration at the time. The Bike is extremely smooth and coming from the harsh engine character of the KTM, this was an absolute revelation. Idle at traffic signals sometimes gets me worried whether the engine is running or not. The bike picks up from first gear with ease and without much drama. Power delivery is very progressive. I use the bike to commute to work and back daily ~ 10 Kms to and fro. I ride usually on weekends and the occasional long rides when the stars align. Build Quality & looks The bike feels solidly put together. No loose bits or vibrations anywhere. The fairing and panels have a nice finish and are holding up quite well so far. Need to avoid pressure washing as once some water got into the electronics below seat and caused the lights to flicker. This really had me panicked. The service engineer dried it up with a blower and asked me not to use pressure washing to clean it. I now make sure that the gentler spray gun is used to prevent it from happening again. The bike is a solid looker according to me. Everyone has their subjective views on styling but I find the bike really beautiful. As I had mentioned earlier, I was not looking for something as loud as the GrandPrix red variant. That thing sticks out in a crowd like a firecracker. Thanks to the quiet exhaust and the all black colour it blends really well in traffic and doesn't really get much attention, just as I'd want. This becomes even more beneficial when I park in public places since people tend to overlook it quite easily. To most people it looks like a R15 v3 or a similar bike in black. Handling and ride review The bike is very sedate and calm below 4K RPM and totally changes character post it. You can happily ride around on 5th gear at 40-60 kmph without the engine knocking due to the well spread out torque. It's only after 6K RPM when the beast within comes out to play with a loud engine note. As is pretty typical with in-line cylinder engines there's an immediate surge in power and the bike really takes off past thr 5-6K RPM mark. This dual characteristic makes it perfect for city as well as weekend rides. I'm not a corner carving junkie and neither is it my aim to be one. Knee downs at every corner are not my thing and I prefer to ride safely and respect the road and fellow riders/drivers. That said I do try to have some fun when I can and for that purpose the 88 BHP of power the bike has on tap is more than enough for me. If you wish to ride aggressively you can, it takes a bit of effort to turn the big around and isn't as flickable as the RC390 but I guess thats to be expected. I still find myself holding back a bit due to the poor tyres and pathetic road conditions around Pune. Let's see how things are after I change them. Handling is smooth with the bike remaining planted even with high crosswinds, guess the weight helps in that. I've ridden in heavy rain and dry conditions with both well paved and broken roads, almost every type of condition that the average rider might encounter and I'm yet to see it break sweat. The bike remains planted in corners and takes highways, twisties and regular roads with ease. Honda tried to move away from the sports touring image to market this as a bike which would be as home on the road as it would be on the racetrack, and this shows. The clip on have been lowered a bit and the foot pegs moved a bit behind. This has made the rider triangle more sporty but still feels relaxed in my opinion. The traction control has kicked in quite a few times during rides. Either when I tried to take off from standstill while parked on the side of the road on girt and gravel or when I'm taking a corner a little bit too hard coming out of a corner. It's held me quite nicely and ensured that there was no untoward incident. Gearshifts are light and smooth. The slipper clutch helps with gear shifts immensely, it is the lightest I have used so far. After the hard clutch on the KTM this feels like a godsend. Aggressively downshifting gives you some engine braking to reduce speed and does not lock up the rear wheel like the KTM used to. The handlebars are lower than the older model and after a longish ride you do tend to feel some pressure on them. For small rides in the city and around it isn't much of a big deal. Despite its heavy weight, it feels like a breeze to handle. I guess the Honda engineers really worked on the centre of gravity and weight distribution. Tyres The bike wears Dunlop Sportmax D214 tyres as stock. These are absolutely pathetic tyres to say the least with little to no traction in wet. They take a long time to heat up and even then don't give a lot of confidence when you're trying to take on steep curves. I've ridden 8300 kms in them and have no idea how I've managed so far.  I've lost traction numerous times in hard turns and had to wrestle the bike back to stability. Front tyres are Front 120/70 and rear 180/55. These will go out soon after the lockdown for a new set of new Michelin PR5's. Stock Dunlops  Brakes The bike comes with Traction control and ABS as standard. While ABS is non switchable, you can turn off the TC quickly and easily while riding using the trigger button on the left switchgear. A unique safety feature is Honda's emergency braking warning system. When you decelerate hard the system flashes the rear brake light and indicators to warn others around you. They have a progressive bite to them and you can grab a fist-full to stop in emergencies or use a couple of fingers to manage your speed while taking corners or moving around in traffic. No steel braided lines, might consider an upgrade sometime in the future. Radially mounted 4 pot dual Nissin callipers at the front  Rear brakes  Suspension Suspension is non adjustable at front. They are a pair of inverted Showa Big Piston separate function forks. They both handle rebound and compression separately. I find them well tuned to our conditions though they do tend to bottom when they hit large depressions or potholes. The single mono shock rear suspension only offers pre load adjustability and is set to a softer setting as stock. I had to stiffen it up a bit because uneven road surfaces caused the bike to bounce a bit at high speeds. Ground clearance is only an issue when you have a pillion. You have to ride slowly over tall bumps to avoid scraping the catcon box below the bike. Rear suspension  Detailing The bike comes with some really nice touches on the seating and fairing. Theres some faux carbon fibre detailing on the outside and inside of the fairing. Outside  Inside  And some more inside the Ram air intakes. Also notice the subtle yet totally awesome red highlights below the lights.  Seats The seat height at 810mm is just about perfect for me. I measure in at 6 feet and have no issues planting both feet onto the ground. Shorter riders should be at ease too. There's some space to move around on the seat when you're covering long distances. You can grip the tank hard by moving front and move back to get a larger area to sit upon. This is thanks to the triangular design of the seat. The seats have beautiful red stitching from the front to the rear. Both seats are comfortable with the rear just a bit higher than the riders. This is something I really prefer as pillion seats which are on another level get very tiring both for the rider and pillion. This is not a seat for long rides with a pillion but its a pretty decent option if you're doing solo with luggage. Padding is decent with concealed grab rails available for the pillion. My wife still refuses to go around to longer places but she's agreed to get on for shorter runs. Some progress I guess. Top view of the seats  Red stitching on the seats. Also notice the key slot to open the seat trunk  Rear trunk opened up with the tool kit and first aid.  The tool kit consists of a rear suspension adjuster, phillips and flathead screwdriver, two spanners, and a bracket to lock your helmet to the bike. There's enough storage to store the documents and a rag to clean the bike.  The upswept exhaust looks classy and feels high quality. Those looking to keep the stock exhaust will be really happy with its design. Its pretty quiet upto 6K RPM, after that I guess its harder to contain the sound. I will be replacing it soon.  Top view of the console, mirrors and switch gear. The mirrors allow for a decent view of the rear but take a bit adjusting before they are of use. If you fold the mirrors, you'll find the need to adjust them every time before you set off. I installed the RAM stem mount to help with navigation. The switchgear is of really high quality and feels like its built to last. All the switches and button have a really nice tactile feedback.  The Left Side switchgear with pass light/highbeam switch, hazard light, horn and indicators.  Right side switchgear with kill switch and ignition.  Last edited by Aditya : 23rd April 2020 at 07:02. Reason: Duplicate words deleted |
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19th April 2020, 16:21
| #2 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Pune
Posts: 31
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| Re: Bringing home the dragon, my Honda CBR650R ownership review Continued........ Full LED headlamps look really cool and are always on. High beam adds a bit more throw. They do feel a bit lacking and I'm planning to get a set of Honda auxiliary lights fitted.  The console displays RPM around the gear position indicator. Its pretty basic but gets the job done. I've completed 8391 Kms so far.  Accessories installed so far First priority was a radiator guard. Ordered this off Aliexpress since I didn't see why a mesh should cost 10K. Installed a RAM stem mount to help with navigation. This helped a lot even while navigating in the city. Installed rear spools to help make chain maintenance easy. Installed Tank pad supplied by Honda as accessory. Didn't like their side grips so got another set from Aliexpress as a stop gap till I find a good set. The Honda Tank pad.  After sales service Service so far has been absolutely smooth so far. The workshop is small with one mechanic to look after all the bikes. That said it's easy to schedule a servicing and get your bike taken care of. I have maintained a good relationship with him and he helps me out with all my requests. Honda does have an issue with installing aftermarket accessories though and I'm constantly warned that they will void my warranty. So far it's still in tact, might change after I install my new exhaust. First Servicing after one month came to Rs 3,500 with engine oil and oil filter change. 2nd Servicing after 5 months came to Rs 1,800 for an oil change. Honda uses its own branded THORTTLE Fully Synthetic SAE 10w30 Engine Oil. They use this in all their premium bikes from the CB300R to the Fireblade to the GoldWing. Nor sure if I need to change away from this. So far so good, really enjoying the experience so far! Gear I use Alpinestars Bonneville Air Jacket Alpinestars SP8 V2 gloves Alpinestars SMX 6 Boots AGV k3 SV Helmet Planned - Alpinestars 2 Piece race suit Planned future mods Frame sliders Engine guards Fork Sliders Want to get some sort of paint protection done but not sure of options available for matt paint types. Anyone have any place in mind in Pune or Mumbai? Ordered a SC Project Twin CRT exhaust but due to the lockdown in Italy and India it is yet to ship. Picture of the exhaust  Bonus pictures      Will keep this thread updated with my experiences. Third service is coming up and most of the modifications I planned to get will be procured soon. Last edited by tushar9960 : 20th April 2020 at 17:49. |
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20th April 2020, 22:14
| #3 |
| Team-BHP Support   | Re: Bringing home the dragon - My Honda CBR650R ownership review Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing! Congrats on the Dragon. CBR650R looks awesome in this new avatar and also the black matte paint scheme! Brilliant transformation from the original - which I felt was bland once upon a time! Wish you many more happy miles of ownership. Last edited by CrAzY dRiVeR : 20th April 2020 at 22:18. |
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20th April 2020, 23:01
| #4 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: New Delhi
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| Re: Bringing home the dragon - My Honda CBR650R ownership review Very detailed review, Tushar.  The CBR650R is a beautiful motorcycle, that smooth motor really takes the cake there. The riding posture is a welcome change from the outgoing 650F and I feel it is perfect for corner carving as well as touring - neither too upright nor too committed - feels the right kind of sporty ! Having seen your 650R in flesh, I can say that the matte black paint scheme looks stunning. Many Congratulations for acquiring this beauty. Wish you many happy miles with this one. |
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20th April 2020, 23:18
| #5 |
| BHPian  | Re: Bringing home the dragon - My Honda CBR650R ownership review Lovely comprehensive covered review Tushar.  Honda has done a great job on taking this 650R to the next level over the former 650F. Few bumps in power, The front end, instrument cluster, other such attractive features and of course its low Maintenance with the similar pricing as the former makes it a great and a desirable mid-segment superbike. I would say it was an apt choice after the RC390 and i can say that being your fellow rider in the same group and seeing you ride and your passion for couple of years now. It felt awesome to be a part of the welcome of your dragon to the riding group and doing a longish Kunkeshwar ride couple of months back. Congratulations again and wishing you many happy and safe miles on the dragon Cheers Amey |
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21st April 2020, 00:20
| #6 |
| BHPian  | Re: Bringing home the dragon - My Honda CBR650R ownership review Nicely put together review there Tushar . Now after reading your detailed review I can relate to how the beauty turns over to a beast, post 5 to 6k rpm! And it was quite evident too, when I took your bike for a short spin in Kalyani Nagar a few weeks back. Loved the smoothness of the 4 pot Honda Motor. While you are at it, my quick suggestions to you - 1. Get a new set of tyres ASAP 2. Bike protection like frame sliders, engine guards & fork sliders to encourage providence. Will be seeing you soon. Enjoy your time with the Bike |
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21st April 2020, 00:25
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| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Gurgaon
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21st April 2020, 11:02
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21st April 2020, 11:23
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| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Bangalore
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21st April 2020, 11:23
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| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Pune
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| Re: Bringing home the dragon - My Honda CBR650R ownership review Congrats on the 650R! The good thing Honda did with the 650R riding position was making it a bit sporty than before, but not sporty enough to break your back. The additional horses and the upside down forks are good upgrades over the 650F, although I would've liked a side mounted exhaust rather than an under belly exhaust. To me this is the perfect motorcycle for some one who wants something quick and fast but not enough power to intimidate you. Good choice on the exhausts and the tyres, have learnt a lot positive things about the grip in both dry and wet conditions. |
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21st April 2020, 11:37
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| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: chennai/neyveli
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21st April 2020, 12:20
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| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: Poona
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21st April 2020, 12:37
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| BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: MH-14 MH 12
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| Re: Bringing home the dragon - My Honda CBR650R ownership review Great going Tushar... Good detailed review of a very capable bike. Our ride to Kunkeshwar was epic. But as Monaro suggests, change your tyres ASAP. I can vouch for the amount of confidence new tyres induce. I was on old tyres on our Khandi waterfall ride, and lost traction a couple of times. I changed to new ones for our Kunkeshwar ride and boy.... Even I managed to carve corners in Amba ghat section Cheers, AB |
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21st April 2020, 14:19
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21st April 2020, 17:13
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| Re: Bringing home the dragon, my Honda CBR650R ownership review She is a beauty Tushar. Congrats on the new ride! The bike looks killer in black. And I agree with you the 650r is very easy to pass by without noticing but once it catches your eyes it very tough to take your eyes off it. That has been my experience so far whenever I have seen one in the wild. Looks like you have the "type" of rider you are figured out to the dot. And the right bike to go with it too. Wishing you many more happy miles with the bike and I'm sure you will enjoy the bike even more with the exhaust you have ordered. Quote:
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Cheers Krishna | |||
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