CHARLIE HONDA CBR650R
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… Easing my way to the 650, and gunning my way away from it.
Having received the CBR650R in pristine condition with a mere 22 miles on the clock is a real privilege; you are safe in the knowledge that this bike is unsullied in any way. However, you do have to be mindful of the ‘conditions of use’, with one being not to give the throttle a wallop before the first 600 mile service –- at least. Thus it’s been a steady start before the CBR650R finally rolled out of Honda with a clean bill of health, and with the pin finally pulled from the grenade it was time to let it go off.
Now, as an analogy let’s keep things relative, as the CBR650R is not a grenade in the same way that a Fireblade is, and is by no means designed to be. In the same way as I will talk racing a Honda CB500 at Mallory Park enthusiastically whilst Boothy sits behind me having just secured a 14th place at this year’s Senior TT. All things need to be put into context, but for a rider of my ability, experience and needs from a bike the CBR650R has a lot to offer. I am prone to luggage up and put in the miles at pace, attend the occasional but always enthusiastic track days, navigate the commute and when I can the occasional European tour. These are all the CBR650R’s hunting ground.
Like the F before it, this 650 is marketed as a sports-tourer, but this model leans far closer towards the sport than the previous model – the bars are
lower, pegs are further back and you naturally assume a position that may as well tattoo ‘attack’ on your forehead.
With some choice shaving from the frame, a smaller tank than the F model and some other weight-saving, Honda have managed to peel 6kg off the bike. Add an extra inlet of air to aid performance and hopefully you begin to get the point when I say that it’s getting sportier.
So with the 600-mile cuffs removed I have added more enthusiasm and spirit to my rides and have not at any point been left wanting. You have to keep in mind that despite this bike looking like a blade, it isn’t one, but it delivers a smooth increase in speed via your right hand, which excites without scaring. It handles beautifully and on the occasional over-cooking of a corner the radial brakes are extremely effective. I am yet to trigger the flashing indicators under hard braking, which is beginning to annoy me, much in the same way that you naturally have a tendency to race the time on the Sat Nav; I am bursting to brake harder and later to set the buggers off, which is counter productive I would say. That said, with track time planned soon I am sure that I will get that monkey off my back.
With faster miles approaching and the odd track or two I covered the bike in glue and ram-raided R&G Racing. Not only am I fan of what they produce, I love the fact that a brand new bike for 2019 has everything listed on this page and is available with immediacy. Now with £470 worth of protection there is a safety blanket; this stuff crashes extremely well as I found out with my previous YZF-R6 sliding to a halt with little damage to anything other than the R&G product placed to protect.
The only thing I need cosmetically is the tail tidy (now in stock – £99.99) and we will be away. Other than that this really is an all-round package that is hard to fault given the target market and price of £7,729. I have to admit at this stage I am unsure of any significant modifications I will need to make, as its pretty damned good straight out of the box.