New CB650R (retro-ish style)

[eisfeld]

Honda has shown the new CB650R at EICMA.

 

It's basically the CB650F reskinned in the same style as their other "Neo Sports Cafe" bikes in the 125, 300 and 1000 classes.

 

5% more power, now 95HP. 6kg lighter (should be 200kg).

It also got traction control and a slipper clutch. New LCD with gear indicator.

 

I think overall a very nice improvement over the CB650F, I like the design. In some ways it even looks better than its bigger sibling the CB1000R (no huge ugly radiator for example). I couldn't find pricing on it but I'd suspect it will cost a little bit more than the CB650F, probably 299k THB.

 

I wish a quickshifter/autoblipper was available but seeing that Honda in Thailand doesn't even offer one on the literbike version...

 

https://www.asphaltandrubber.com/bikes/2019-honda-cb650r/

 

[JonnyF]

Looks good. They've redone the cbr650f to have dual front lights as well, looks loads better, very similar to the Fireblade now.

[thaiguzzi]

Manufacturers are finally realizing that a large amount of riders (possibly a majority?) don't want to own or ride Transformer bikes. I, for one, agree.

Maybe stuff is slowly coming full circle and we'll actually see bikes that have a bit of flywheel again (a heavier crank) and have engines that actually have bottom end torque.

[eisfeld]

37 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Looks good. They've redone the cbr650f to have dual front lights as well, looks loads better, very similar to the Fireblade now.

Oh I didn't notice this one before. I have to agree, looks way better now. I was never a friend of the single triangle front light.

 

14 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

Manufacturers are finally realizing that a large amount of riders (possibly a majority?) don't want to own or ride Transformer bikes. I, for one, agree.

Maybe stuff is slowly coming full circle and we'll actually see bikes that have a bit of flywheel again (a heavier crank) and have engines that actually have bottom end torque.

Yea I also agree with you. The transformer trend seems to have gone away rather quickly. Now we're in the retry trend. Even though I think there's lots of bad designs I prefer this trend much more to the previous one ???? The Yamaha bikes though were rare exceptions, they look not too bad.

 

[Pepper9187]

I like the fact that Honda is kind of always trying to pull out retro bikes, whether we like the outcome or not but at least they're trying.

(

 

 

Just wish they were more clear about their intentions, just do a true, a true legitimate retro bike.... like the CB1300 (or even the first hornet) or the super four, or the old CB1000, or the big 1, or ...SURE, but :

This bike is fine, it's just standing in between 2 styles, modern but not too modern, retro but not too retro ....

 

 

Give us something raw ! yeah, grease on the hands, let us tighten nuts & grease stuff for 2 hrs before each ride.

 

If you want to make a retro bike, just do a retro bike.... you know.

[DILLIGAD]

To my eye, I see nothing retro about this bike, except that it doesn’t look like a ‘transformer style’ bike.
I’m not saying that it won’t sell or be a good bike BTW.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thaiguzzi]

2 hours ago, DILLIGAD said:

To my eye, I see nothing retro about this bike, except that it doesn’t look like a ‘transformer style’ bike.
I’m not saying that it won’t sell or be a good bike BTW.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ya, stick a round headlight on it and - voila! a Retro bike. Not. Bit like Yamaha with their post industrial XSR700/900 (which i like) - round headlight, and shock horror, a round tail light too!!! - yeah - but certainly not retro...

Off topic, sorta.

They have just brought out a tribute XT 500 bike from their XSR 700 range, called an XSRT Tribute bike or something. Quite ridiculous and looks as much like a 500 single XT as i do to David Dimbleby. Basically a high pipe and a paint job. Pathetic. And i'm normally a Yamaha fanboy.....

 

Back on topic, sorta.

However i will give Honda (spit cough, look at the floor, mumble quietly) their due with this 650 -4 range. The downpipes are an inspired design and very pretty. Possibly, dare i say it, retro from the 70's 400-4.

[DILLIGAD]

Agree


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kinnock]

3 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Ya, stick a round headlight on it and - voila! a Retro bike. Not. Bit like Yamaha with their post industrial XSR700/900 (which i like) - round headlight, and shock horror, a round tail light too!!! - yeah - but certainly not retro...

Off topic, sorta.

They have just brought out a tribute XT 500 bike from their XSR 700 range, called an XSRT Tribute bike or something. Quite ridiculous and looks as much like a 500 single XT as i do to David Dimbleby. Basically a high pipe and a paint job. Pathetic. And i'm normally a Yamaha fanboy.....

 

Back on topic, sorta.

However i will give Honda (spit cough, look at the floor, mumble quietly) their due with this 650 -4 range. The downpipes are an inspired design and very pretty. Possibly, dare i say it, retro from the 70's 400-4.

Agree 100%, but I'll forgive Honda because of those four sweeping, hot rod style, 400/4 inspired down pipes.  

[Deli]

95 hp sound ok, tail and head light are ugly as sin, same for the exhaust. Needs some after market parts make up for sure

Edited November 7, 2018 by Deli

[eisfeld]

22 hours ago, eisfeld said:

I wish a quickshifter/autoblipper was available but seeing that Honda in Thailand doesn't even offer one on the literbike version...

Seems like a quickshifter is available as an option but of course no info if we'll get that in Thailand (also available for the CB1000R but not in Thailand). And not sure if it works downwards as well.

[guzzi850m2]

I quite like it, a lot of bike for the money.


Sent from my POCOPHONE F1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[eisfeld]

I saw the bike in the flesh at Bigwing Phuket today, had a test-sit on it as well. I liked it in real slightly more than on the pictures actually. Pretty nice. The front looks better than on the CB1000R (due to not having a huge ass blocky radiator). Been thinking all day, it's quite tempting to sell my Scrambler and get this one instead. Will wait until test rides are available to see if it suffers from the same vibes that I experienced on the CB650F a few years ago.

[taninthai]

I think they have made great improvements to the whole cb650 range ,hated the front of the old faired version,95 bhp is nice power for this bike,I have a old 98 plate 600 hornet in the U.K. had it over 12 years ,I’m actually thinking of changing my 650 versys for a cb650f,wouild not be one of the new style though can pick up nice priced used ones now here in Thailand,I want something a bit more fun light and flickable than the versys.

[sabaijai]

Price is 305k, according to this.

https://www.bigbikeinfo.com/honda/price-cb650r

[eisfeld]

23 hours ago, sabaijai said:

Price is 305k, according to this.

https://www.bigbikeinfo.com/honda/price-cb650r

That is correct (saw that price in the showroom). 9.2k first class insurance with 10k deductible from LMG.

 

I liked the matt blue version the most though there was no black one on display so can't say if I'd like that more.

 

The reason I am considering this bike is that I am looking for something that my GF can ride as well and 810mm seat height seems to be the max she can manage. The power is just enough, the weight is OK (202kg), I know parts and service will be well priced, I wont have trouble selling it a few years down the road.

 

I also visited Kawa and Triumph dealers over the weekend.

 

Kawasaki has the wonderful Z900RS which I also went and test-sat. They didn't offer test rides and I never buy a bike without having ridden it plus it's 840mm which is definitely too high for her. But man, it looked and felt really nice to sit on.

 

Triumph didn't have the bikes on display/for demo which I was interested in (Street Twin/Scrambler, Street Triple RS) because they sold the old lot and will get new bikes in January. I'll re-visit them when they have the bikes so I can check them out more closely.

 

BMW doesn't have something comparable. Ducati... well only the bigger Scrambler but we want something different and not so expensive.

 

Suzi has the GSX S750 which I don't find very pretty. The SV 650 A/X could maybe worth a consideration. Nice V-Twin sound, the looks are not too bad. But they only seem to offer the X in grey. Price wise it's about the same as the Honda and even a bit lower and lighter. I think I should check this one out a bit more - nearly totally forgot about Suzi. I think Suzuki could make this a really finde bike by giving it upside-down forks and a few more tweaks.

[JonnyF]

24 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

That is correct (saw that price in the showroom). 9.2k first class insurance with 10k deductible from LMG.

 

I liked the matt blue version the most though there was no black one on display so can't say if I'd like that more.

 

The reason I am considering this bike is that I am looking for something that my GF can ride as well and 810mm seat height seems to be the max she can manage. The power is just enough, the weight is OK (202kg), I know parts and service will be well priced, I wont have trouble selling it a few years down the road.

 

I also visited Kawa and Triumph dealers over the weekend.

 

Kawasaki has the wonderful Z900RS which I also went and test-sat. They didn't offer test rides and I never buy a bike without having ridden it plus it's 840mm which is definitely too high for her. But man, it looked and felt really nice to sit on.

 

Triumph didn't have the bikes on display/for demo which I was interested in (Street Twin/Scrambler, Street Triple RS) because they sold the old lot and will get new bikes in January. I'll re-visit them when they have the bikes so I can check them out more closely.

 

BMW doesn't have something comparable. Ducati... well only the bigger Scrambler but we want something different and not so expensive.

 

Suzi has the GSX S750 which I don't find very pretty. The SV 650 A/X could maybe worth a consideration. Nice V-Twin sound, the looks are not too bad. But they only seem to offer the X in grey. Price wise it's about the same as the Honda and even a bit lower and lighter. I think I should check this one out a bit more - nearly totally forgot about Suzi. I think Suzuki could make this a really finde bike by giving it upside-down forks and a few more tweaks.

You sure they do the CB650R in Matt Blue? Never seen that and can't find it on Google either?

 

The MT07 might be a good choice as well (not sure about dealers in Phuket though). Seat height is 805 and it's supposed to be a really fun bike. Only issue is that it's due an update so you might find you have the 'old' model this time next year...

[eisfeld]

8 hours ago, JonnyF said:

You sure they do the CB650R in Matt Blue? Never seen that and can't find it on Google either?

 

The MT07 might be a good choice as well (not sure about dealers in Phuket though). Seat height is 805 and it's supposed to be a really fun bike. Only issue is that it's due an update so you might find you have the 'old' model this time next year...

They call it "Matt Jeans Blue Metallic" whatever that means ???? I think it looks better in real than in the pictures.

The deal with this bike is basically that there's nothing amazing about it but there's nothing really wrong with it either.

 

 

Good point about Yamaha and we'll visit the showroom soon. They actually built a nice big bike showroom just down my road basically. A friend of mine bought his MT-07 there. He's happy but doesn't ride that much. The MT-07 is a fun bike but like you said, probably will be updated next year (Euro 5 etc). Speaking of, the Suzuki engine is also extremely long in the tooth by now. Wonder if they'll finally bring a new powerplant for Euro 5.

 

I think with the knowledge that I maybe wont keep this bike forever and that it might not get a massive update next year, the Honda seems like a reasonable choice right now.

[thaiguzzi]

10 hours ago, JonnyF said:

The MT07 might be a good choice as well

...... or the better looking and slightly more expensive retro XSR700, which at least looks like a motorcycle (post industrial wasteland) rather than a Transformer.....

Plus both the above and the SV650 are twins, with a bit of mid range ooomph, rather than revving the tits off a 4 banger to get anywhere........

IMHO.........

[JonnyF]

11 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

...... or the better looking and slightly more expensive retro XSR700, which at least looks like a motorcycle (post industrial wasteland) rather than a Transformer.....

Plus both the above and the SV650 are twins, with a bit of mid range ooomph, rather than revving the tits off a 4 banger to get anywhere........

IMHO.........

The XSR700 is an inch taller than the MT07 so maybe not good if he's looking for a low seat for his gf. 

 

I get some people don't like the modern look of bikes but I don't really think either of the XSR models works that well. The Triumphs do it very well, Kawasaki do it reasonably well, but the XSR's are just a bit weird IMO. I actually like the Honda styling, it's a nod to the retro fad while still looking like a modern bike. I'm guessing the engine is not the most characterful but a good all rounder.

[eisfeld]

Can't agree more with JonnyF. I prefer classic/retro looks over transformer but the Yamahas really don't do it for me. They just don't look nice to my eyes and I'd actually prefer the modern MT-07 look to the XSR version. The Honda actually doesn't look all that retro, it's just more how a motorcycle should look like. A Ducati Monster for example isn't retro but looks nice due to having a round headlight. More round curves and shapes. It makes the designs more timeless and looks less cheap.

 

The MT-07 powerplant does have indeed quite a bit more torque down low but I don't mind the CB650R engine, I think I'll have to try both and see how I like the Yamaha. Never ridden that one. For a daily ride, what matters more than torque to me is the low RPM behaviour and fueling, especially for my GF. I know from past experience that the Honda is very smooth and easy in that regard. Still powerful enough to leave everyone behind. The MT though probably lends itself more for hooning around. 20kg lighter is also nice. Then on the other hand the Honda has a slip-assist clutch and traction control which the Yamaha doesn't seem to have.

[AllanB]

"Retro Style", by what measure?

 

Does retro now mean going back a few minutes, an hour perhaps?

 

We are going to have to leave it to the Chinese, a 650 Bonny knock off at B200k would sell like hot cakes.

Edited December 11, 2018 by AllanB

[DILLIGAD]

"Retro Style", by what measure?
 
Does retro now mean going back a few minutes, an hour perhaps?
 
We are going to have to leave it to the Chinese, a 650 Bonny knock off at B200k would sell like hot cakes.

Already seen a video of it on U Tube. It looked like a cream colored R.E., to me!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, DILLIGAD said:

Already seen a video of it on U Tube. It looked like a cream colored R.E., to me!

If it's an RE you can tell - bike will have a huge luggage rack on it. Many bungee cords. And all the parts that fell off of it strapped to said rack !

[canthai55]

3 hours ago, AllanB said:

We are going to have to leave it to the Chinese, a 650 Bonny knock off at B200k would sell like hot cakes.

They did so well with their 50,000 Baht 'dirt bike'

Can just imagine what a 200,000 Bonny would be.

555

[DILLIGAD]

If it's an RE you can tell - bike will have a huge luggage rack on it. Many bungee cords. And all the parts that fell off of it strapped to said rack !

It’s was definitely a new Chinese 650 twin being advertised at a Motor Show! Didn’t recognize the makers name.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[thaiguzzi]

4 hours ago, DILLIGAD said:

Didn’t recognize the makers name.

Nor would anyone else.........

[DILLIGAD]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[canthai55]

Powered by CFMoto’s 650cc parallel-twin, itself a close replica of the Kawasaki ER-6 engine, the CJ650 has 71bhp – which is three times more than the old CJ750 M1’s wheezing 22bhp. It’s emissions-legal around the world and far more reliable than the old boxer engines, although also now chain drive, rather than being a shaftie.

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2017/february/sidecar-motorcycles-wwii-world-war-two/

PS - video above says 52HP. Side cover says 650, license plate holder says 750.

Hope he built a shed big enuf for his new bike !

Edited December 12, 2018 by canthai55

[thaiguzzi]

21 hours ago, AllanB said:

We are going to have to leave it to the Chinese, a 650 Bonny knock off at B200k would sell like hot cakes.

No.

People are buying  a new Triumph twin exactly because IT IS A Triumph.

Because it says Triumph on the badge on the tank.

They are buying the heritage & history that goes into that styling.

Not a no-name Chinese knock-off.

Regardless of if it looked identical and was half the price.