Honda CBR650R
Everyone owned a CBR, or had a mate who did. The new 650 reminds us why…
EVERYONE WHO RIDES the CBR650R nods in satisfaction, then says how it’s ‘like a steel-framed CBR from the 1990s’. This is positive. From the mid-eighties to late Nineties the CBR600F was the defining sporty middleweight with speed, handling, ease of use, usability and quality in all-enveloping plastic wrapping. Insert all-things-to-all-people cliché here. But they’re wrong. The new CBR650R isn’t really like a 25-yearold 600F. Nah, it’s better than that.
The CBR developed into the super-sharp CBR600RR during the 2000s, and Honda have already tried to recapture the all-round goodness of the ‘steelie’ – first with the CBR600F in 2011, then the 650F in 2014. These should have appealed to everyone who fondly remembered the originals. Which is all of us. But they were the naked 2007 Hornet with a fairing, biased too far towards sensible. This year’s CBR650R squares the job up. With Fireblade styling, chassis upgrades, sportier ergonomics and new tech, Honda have found the missing edge and made a ‘proper’ CBR. It’s certainly full of the faith-boosting DNA of those ’90s bikes. ‘I feel confident more quickly on the Honda,’ says Andy. ‘I’ve always had sportsbikes, and there’s something about the CBR that feels ‘right’ immediately.’ Clip-on ’bars are level with the yoke and, though sportier, the riding position is still road, not track. It engages without sacrificing comfort or ease of use, with a great sense of control. Suspension is also do-it-all. Priced at £7729 (only £700 more than a CBR was in 1998) its forks and shock are built to a certain spec, but ride quality, damping and feel are very good. I’m impressed by the upside-down ‘single function’ fork, with a spring in one leg and damping in the other. This allows greater adjustment and suffers less friction, to the benefit of ride quality. The front feels great on darting back roads and dappled lanes, especially under braking. It’s only when experiencing the lush, oily damping on the higherquality ZX-6R that the Honda set-up feels less than ideal (but then the Kawasaki is also two grand more expensive).
Speaking of braking, the CBR has a car-style emergency-stop warning whatsit. Brake hard and, just like for the backed-up drivers cluttering motorways, the hazard lights come on. Nowt wrong with that… or there wouldn’t be if Honda’s idea of emergency
braking was more realistic. Spirited riding on clear, sunny roads gets the winkers blinking, which is somewhat distracting. With utter faith in the CBR’S abilities, I even set the hazards off while braking for tight corners in the wet. Now where’s the fuse… Long bits stick out the ’pegs (bank-angle sensors, hero blobs, whatever) to protect the neat Blade-style silencer. It doesn’t take too much roundabout effort to get them sparking, and Andy and I are sure our friends with mid-1990s CBR600FS used to bank more. Then again, there’s as much fun dragging ’pegs as placing a slider. Despite clearly being a thoroughly practical device, there’s no centrestand option on the 650. It’s a good thing. Two decades ago we stripped our GSX-RS and FZRS of cumbersome road fittings (we even took mirrors off Suzukis…), so not being able to have a stand somehow helps the Honda seem a little sharper. Daft, I know – but it’s a subconscious reinforcement that this is now a ‘pukka’ CBR. Growly, roaring, slightly tingly, there’s lots of familiar sensations from the 649cc, 94bhp inline four. It’s not as revvy or outright fast as the ZX-6R, instead being a rounded road unit with a spread of usable shunt. Quick enough? Yes. It can seem a tad rough-edged after the smooth, sweet Ninja though. Traction control is basic, too. Accelerate over gravel or a wet drain, and the pause in drive is too big; it’s like someone has reached over and flicked the killswitch (we did lots of that back in the day, too). This bike’s accessory quickshifter is also iffy. The action is a bit laboured, and with a gearbox so light and slick I find old-fashioned rolling-off for clutchless shifts are smoother and quicker. Light clutch, too. This sounds approving, if not bubbling with excitement. It’s because the CBR650R doesn’t have a headline attraction. What it has is a compelling collection of desirable traits, strapped together in a package that’s as good trundling to work as it is getting stuck in to our roundabout nonsense. ‘It’s a really good bike,’ confirms Andy as we pitch on the kerb and see who’s sliders have the most dangling bits. ‘The new look doesn’t go far enough; my old GSX-RS had alloy frames, painted wheels, and my 2003 ZX-6R had gold brake calipers and elegant paint. They looked lighter, classier, with a layer of desirability the Honda still lacks. But for riding on today’s roads, the CBR is pretty much spot-on.’
‘Honda have found the missing edge and made a “proper” CBR’
‘The late 1990s were golden. We lapp ed roundabouts, went to packed BSB races, buzzed to bike meets, felt part of a community. Crisp 600s (plus a few hot 750s) were must-have machinery – nothing else was so engaging’