Honda CBR650R Official Bookings Begin; To Be Priced Below Rs 8 Lakh

Customers can book the bike for a token amount of Rs 15,000

• Bookings are open across all 22 Honda Wing World dealerships.
• The Honda CBR650R will make its way to India via the CKD route.
• It gets an all-new design inspired by the CBR1000RR Fireblade.
• Powering the bike is a 649cc, DOHC, liquid-cooled, inline-four motor.

Honda has officially opened bookings for the 2019 CBR650R at a token amount of Rs 15,000 across all 22 Honda Wing World dealerships in India. The CBR650R is available in two shades - red and black. Honda says the bike will make its way to India via the CKD route and hence, will be priced under Rs 8 lakh. 

But the question is, just how much has changed compared to the CBR650F? Well, the new CBR650R looks more aggressive than its predecessor thanks to design cues borrowed from the CBR1000RR Fireblade. Additionally, the bike gets LED lights at the front and back along with a fully digital instrument console. It also gets revised ergonomics, as a result of which the riding position is more aggressive than the CBR650F.

Powering the bike is a 649cc, DOHC, liquid-cooled, inline-four motor that dishes out 95PS of power at 12,000rpm and 64Nm of torque at 8500rpm in the international-spec bike. However, it could be slightly detuned for the India-spec model. It comes mated to a 6-speed transmission and gets a slipper clutch too. The bike also gets a multi-level traction control system, which can be switched off completely. Unfortunately, the bike’s fuel tank capacity has gone down from 17 litres to 15.4 litres and could hamper its touring cred.

Suspension duties are handled by new 41mm Showa SFF (Separate Function Forks) upside-down forks, while the monoshock at the rear remains unchanged. Braking duties are handled by new radially mounted Nissin four-piston calipers paired with twin 310mm discs at the front and a single 240mm disc coupled to a single-piston Nissin caliper at the rear. Its new 17-inch cast aluminium wheels come wrapped in Dunlop Sportmax radials.

In terms of competition, the Honda CBR650R doesn’t have any direct rival. However, when compared to similar cubic capacity sports tourers, there is the Kawasaki Ninja 650. The Ninja 650 is priced at Rs 4.59 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom India), but is extremely low on power compared to the Honda.