Honda cbr650 2014

[WingNut]

This guy in Korat has a shop there called NM Bike and was able to modify his existing exhaust pipe on his CBR 650F to widen the hole, remove the baffles I guess, and make it sound more like an aftermarket pipe without having to change to a slip on. But he is in Korat and I am wondering if any bike mechanics in Bangkok might Be doing the mod? See this short 2 minute video please. I think he charges around 3,000 Baht for the mod he said in the YouTube comments. Looks like he does a nice clean job.

[Nithesh]

Will it meet emission norms? Can't go back to stock pipes after this?

[JonnyF]

you can go buy a cbr1000rr anytime!

or you can go buy a cbr600rr from red baron or gray market anytime as well.

He's probably looking for a modern cbr1000rr that's not 30HP behind the competition

you can derestrict it. also some second hand full spec options around.

The derestricted cbr is still sub 150hp? arent most modern litre super sports >175hp? wish there was a chart somewhere.

depends on the sport bike.

cbr1000rr is listed as 178 hp in Europe and USA and guys reach 160 rwhp in Thailand after derestriction which for Thai roads, it is more than you ever need.

even 120 hp restricted version is enough for here as you still have 1000 cc torque under you but yes, why the f... ck honda restricts it here, nobody knows.

they held a test ride event to introduce their 2015 line up at their training center located by Ramkhameng road a couple of months ago. They held a press conference and i asked this question in front of everyone during the conference. why?

they got shocked at the farang's question in Thai and answered as; 'due to customer feedback'!!!

Which customer can ask a restricted liter super bike? funny answer really.

Haha well done for asking. What a stupid response from Honda though. Bizarre.

[seedy]

Will it meet emission norms? Can't go back to stock pipes after this?

If he does what I think he does, just cuts the stock box open, removes the baffles - keeping the CAT - and rewelds it.

Looks stock in the foto so if CAT still in it will be a bit more noisy but still pass emissions OK

[ll2]

This guy in Korat has a shop there called NM Bike and was able to modify his existing exhaust pipe on his CBR 650F to widen the hole, remove the baffles I guess, and make it sound more like an aftermarket pipe without having to change to a slip on. But he is in Korat and I am wondering if any bike mechanics in Bangkok might Be doing the mod? See this short 2 minute video please. I think he charges around 3,000 Baht for the mod he said in the YouTube comments. Looks like he does a nice clean job.

Yep. There are other shops doing the same but cannot turn back to stock stage and stock exhaust is costly at 15 k thb something.

And sure cannot pass emission and possbly decibel tests.

Can get a full system for as low as 13 k thb nowadays.

[Badrabbit]

What's the best not loud exhaust for the CB650 also how much for Ohlins rear suspension?

[seedy]

Never heard of this Google search hence why I asked the question, have you heard of being helpful?

I was helpful. Do you see the link ?

You must know how to use a computer as you posted here, and never heard of Google search ?

The mind boggles !

[Badrabbit]

Never heard of this Google search hence why I asked the question, have you heard of being helpful?

I was helpful. Do you see the link ?

You must know how to use a computer as you posted here, and never heard of Google search ?

The mind boggles !

Of course I have heard and use google search, I hate people saying use it when it's better to get information from real people!

[WingNut]

Has anyone found any decent quality locally made frame sliders for this bike at a reasonable price? I put some original Yoshi ones on another bike, but they weren't cheap.

[papa al]

BR:

#1298, "Never heard of this Google search hence why I asked the question"

#1300, "Of course I have heard and use google search"

I love this guy's consistency.

Reminds me of L_ _.

Edited January 19, 2015 by papa al

[ll2]

Never heard of this Google search hence why I asked the question, have you heard of being helpful?

I was helpful. Do you see the link ?

You must know how to use a computer as you posted here, and never heard of Google search ?

The mind boggles !

Of course I have heard and use google search, I hate people saying use it when it's better to get information from real people!

sorry for the discouraging answers here.

You can buy Ohlins Shock directly from Bigwing. I thin it was 21 k - 22 k and you can get 10 percent discount if you buy your bike directly from bigwing.

For exhausts, check 'k speed bangkok'. Their 17500 thb short carbon pipe is good and not very loud.

[Badrabbit]

Never heard of this Google search hence why I asked the question, have you heard of being helpful?

I was helpful. Do you see the link ?

You must know how to use a computer as you posted here, and never heard of Google search ?

The mind boggles !

Of course I have heard and use google search, I hate people saying use it when it's better to get information from real people!

sorry for the discouraging answers here.

You can buy Ohlins Shock directly from Bigwing. I thin it was 21 k - 22 k and you can get 10 percent discount if you buy your bike directly from bigwing.

For exhausts, check 'k speed bangkok'. Their 17500 thb short carbon pipe is good and not very loud.

Thankyou 112 I have ordered Ohlins from bigwing 20k, have seen and heard Devil full system but at 30k will have to wait a while!

[Shurup]

Badrabbit, when is your new CBR650 going to be for sale?

[ll2]

Has anyone found any decent quality locally made frame sliders for this bike at a reasonable price? I put some original Yoshi ones on another bike, but they weren't cheap.

RSV Racing one is the strongest and a lot durable. Their parts for 650 series are well designed and their workmanship is OK.

I also use this model as it has three mounting points which makes it stronger. Before got a slider with only one mount point and it gets broken and fell down while riding the bike!, due to vibrations i guess.

Set is 3000 thb

http://rsvracing.com/cbr650f/

[taninthai]

Badrabbit, when is your new CBR650 going to be for sale?

hahaha am I thinking right previous bike being a Honda nc thingy

[Shurup]

Badrabbit, when is your new CBR650 going to be for sale?

hahaha am I thinking right previous bike being a Honda nc thingy

There was a z1000 after nc.

[bramds]

Has anyone found any decent quality locally made frame sliders for this bike at a reasonable price? I put some original Yoshi ones on another bike, but they weren't cheap.

RSV Racing one is the strongest and a lot durable. Their parts for 650 series are well designed and their workmanship is OK.

I also use this model as it has three mounting points which makes it stronger. Before got a slider with only one mount point and it gets broken and fell down while riding the bike!, due to vibrations i guess.

Set is 3000 thb

http://rsvracing.com/cbr650f/

My last sliders for the 500 had 3 mounting points too, but apparently there was too much tension at one of the points and the whole bolt broke while riding.

Oh yeah, it was one of the bolts carrying the engine.

Big Wing Chiang Mai didn't have a replacement bolt, so I had to ride it back to BKK like that, they guaranteed me it would me fine, luckily it was and Big Wing BKK fixed it.

[ll2]

Has anyone found any decent quality locally made frame sliders for this bike at a reasonable price? I put some original Yoshi ones on another bike, but they weren't cheap.

RSV Racing one is the strongest and a lot durable. Their parts for 650 series are well designed and their workmanship is OK.

I also use this model as it has three mounting points which makes it stronger. Before got a slider with only one mount point and it gets broken and fell down while riding the bike!, due to vibrations i guess.

Set is 3000 thb

http://rsvracing.com/cbr650f/

My last sliders for the 500 had 3 mounting points too, but apparently there was too much tension at one of the points and the whole bolt broke while riding.

Oh yeah, it was one of the bolts carrying the engine.

Big Wing Chiang Mai didn't have a replacement bolt, so I had to ride it back to BKK like that, they guaranteed me it would me fine, luckily it was and Big Wing BKK fixed it.

yep same here. The bolt holding the engine through aluminum hangers broke and rode it like that for a day but it is not a big problem.

[seedy]

My last sliders for the 500 had 3 mounting points too, but apparently there was too much tension at one of the points and the whole bolt broke while riding.

Oh yeah, it was one of the bolts carrying the engine.

Big Wing Chiang Mai didn't have a replacement bolt, so I had to ride it back to BKK like that, they guaranteed me it would me fine, luckily it was and Big Wing BKK fixed it.

What grade bolt - 8.8 or 10.9 ?

Did it thread into the aluminum case itself ? Or was it a thru bolt with a nut on the other end ?

[papa al]

I'm sceptible of sliders as they might result in damaged frame or engine.

Expensive.

Also possible they might dig into road irregularity and cause bike to flip.

Dramatic.

If the bike dropped at very slow speed, they would likely work well.

[ll2]

EJC Honda CBR650F roll-out test at Almeria, Jan 5th 2015

It goes well!

[bramds]

My last sliders for the 500 had 3 mounting points too, but apparently there was too much tension at one of the points and the whole bolt broke while riding.

Oh yeah, it was one of the bolts carrying the engine.

Big Wing Chiang Mai didn't have a replacement bolt, so I had to ride it back to BKK like that, they guaranteed me it would me fine, luckily it was and Big Wing BKK fixed it.

What grade bolt - 8.8 or 10.9 ?

Did it thread into the aluminum case itself ? Or was it a thru bolt with a nut on the other end ?

No idea about the grade of the bolt.

As far as I remember it went through.

[WingNut]

Thanks for the tip on the frame sliders. After hearing about the bolt problems though, I have a bit mixed emotions about the idea.

Regarding the guy in Korat who did the pipe mod, I was in the K Speed shop today on Ram Intra road. There is a technician there who has a CBR650 and has had the mod done himself. He said it takes a full day, and he needs to send the bike to another shop. I started up his bike and I listened to the sound. It's not bad to a degree, but I must admit it's nothing like the sound you get out of an aftermarket slip on. He basically said that when he first got them all done, he was excited because the sound was an improvement over the original pipe, but then he said after riding with it for a while he started to feel like the sound wasn't enough of an improvement. He basically said to me that this mod is the cost saving mod and that eventually he's going to put on an aftermarket pipe. So I think the short answer is that this isn't really the way to go. Most likely I think most people won't be satisfied with the sound of this mod, and may end up having to spend money a second time to eventually put on an aftermarket pipe anyway. So in my opinion, I would say to skip it.

[eisfeld]

A small review of the CB650F:

I rented one from Pops in Chiang Mai for 8 days and drove from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen and back, all around about 1500km over all kinds of roads. Highways, mountain twisties, sugarcane covered Isaan roads and gravel pits. Got a pillion also on board for most of the time. My background is my CBR500R which I've ridden for more than one and a half years now.

Comfort: the seat was much more comfortable than the one on my CBR500R and the suspension, riding position, tires, etc. made for a quite comfortable ride. I can do 700km in one day though with a small bit of pain in my butt and left leg (not sure why the latter). With my own bike I don't want to do more than 200km.

Once you reach 150km/h, wind really blows you back and upwards as there is basically nearly no wind protection. You certainly dont want to do this or higher speeds for longer than a couple minutes. Maybe an aftermarket windscreen can help here but I doubt it would make a big difference. On the flip side the wind pressure is constant and there were turbulences. Again on my CBR500R unless I tuck down behind the screen, I get my helmet thrown from side to side constantly once over 120km/h.

Between about 95km/h and 115km/h (4k to 5k RPM) in 6th the bike develops very noticeable vibrations which then at about 115 - 125km/h change frequency and are not as noticeable or annoying as in the former speed range. The same vibrations exist in other gears in lower speeds respectively. Engine breaking also develops quite some vibrations and if you engine break around 110km/h it's especially annoying. This is my main gripe with the bike actually and I think it might be a strong enough reason to not be happy with the bike in the long run. The engine gets hot but doesn't roast you. Might convince some guys to stop riding in shorts

Engine: a good upgrade from my 500. A very elastic engine - it has enough torque down low to let it roll without throttle in 6th gear at 25km/h! And the first gear is powerfull yet smooth enough to easily maneuver around at low speeds without any issues whatsoever. Again my bike here is much more rough and stall-prone. You can start from red light in 2nd and then jump immediately to 6th and stay in that gear all day long until the next stop. If you need power, keep it around 6k RPM and it'll have enough torque at hand to swiftly overtake cars at any speeds you'll encounter on Thai roads. Apart from the virbations mentioned above, I really liked the engine. Power wise it might be just enough to keep me entertained for a long long time.

Handling: I was pleasantly surprised by the handling. The bike corners really well and never got upset. It holds the line perfectly fine and the wide handle bars combined with the upride riding position give you excellent control. With 210kg it's not a lightweight but it doesn't feel heavy at all but at the same time is stable. It might not be the best for the track but on roads I'd say it's a really well engineered bike. I am really disappointed by my own bike now

The tires were OK-ish but I would definitely switch them to some Pirelli Angel GTs. I had the rear slipping a bit at times where they shouldn't have slipped.

Misc.: the shift lever seemed to have issues when coming out of neutral. If I didn't give it a good kick, it wouldn't engage the gear and instead give this rattling feedback. The same thing doesn't happen at higher gears. The clutch lever required a bit too much power for my tastes to pull but that was not a big issue. Overall I find the clutch and gearbox of my CBR500R nicer to operate but I am not 100% sure why. It just feels easier and gives better feedback.

There was also some audible noise coming from the air intake I think. A bit of a rattling sound and it disappears when accellerating. This and the gearbox issue might have been from an accident where a previous rider dropped the bike as indicated by scratches on the engine and usual places like bar ends.

The light seems to be set a bit too high as several car drivers gave me light flashes probably thinking I had the high beam on. But that was not the case. At normal low beam it actually shines in a pretty much horizontal line instead of downwards and is quite strong. Plus the slightly blueish side lights might make it look like highbeam too.

Overall I think it's a good bike but the vibration issue puts me off. I would gladly pay a bit more to get rid of this by rubber mounting the engine or whatever is needed but that's not possible via after market of course. Maybe a second generation could iron this out.

[Nithesh]

Do post a pic of your trip if you have any. Would like to see a vlog
About the vibes, the forum members found it noticeably less after putting in a good number of miles on the odo. It subsides eventually, others resorted to handle grips and heavier bar ends to solve them. Isn't a major drawback imho.
The other sound you hear from intake is said to be a exhaust valve solenoid.

[ll2]

A small review of the CB650F:

I rented one from Pops in Chiang Mai for 8 days and drove from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen and back, all around about 1500km over all kinds of roads. Highways, mountain twisties, sugarcane covered Isaan roads and gravel pits. Got a pillion also on board for most of the time. My background is my CBR500R which I've ridden for more than one and a half years now.

Comfort: the seat was much more comfortable than the one on my CBR500R and the suspension, riding position, tires, etc. made for a quite comfortable ride. I can do 700km in one day though with a small bit of pain in my butt and left leg (not sure why the latter). With my own bike I don't want to do more than 200km.

Once you reach 150km/h, wind really blows you back and upwards as there is basically nearly no wind protection. You certainly dont want to do this or higher speeds for longer than a couple minutes. Maybe an aftermarket windscreen can help here but I doubt it would make a big difference. On the flip side the wind pressure is constant and there were turbulences. Again on my CBR500R unless I tuck down behind the screen, I get my helmet thrown from side to side constantly once over 120km/h.

Between about 95km/h and 115km/h (4k to 5k RPM) in 6th the bike develops very noticeable vibrations which then at about 115 - 125km/h change frequency and are not as noticeable or annoying as in the former speed range. The same vibrations exist in other gears in lower speeds respectively. Engine breaking also develops quite some vibrations and if you engine break around 110km/h it's especially annoying. This is my main gripe with the bike actually and I think it might be a strong enough reason to not be happy with the bike in the long run. The engine gets hot but doesn't roast you. Might convince some guys to stop riding in shorts

Engine: a good upgrade from my 500. A very elastic engine - it has enough torque down low to let it roll without throttle in 6th gear at 25km/h! And the first gear is powerfull yet smooth enough to easily maneuver around at low speeds without any issues whatsoever. Again my bike here is much more rough and stall-prone. You can start from red light in 2nd and then jump immediately to 6th and stay in that gear all day long until the next stop. If you need power, keep it around 6k RPM and it'll have enough torque at hand to swiftly overtake cars at any speeds you'll encounter on Thai roads. Apart from the virbations mentioned above, I really liked the engine. Power wise it might be just enough to keep me entertained for a long long time.

Handling: I was pleasantly surprised by the handling. The bike corners really well and never got upset. It holds the line perfectly fine and the wide handle bars combined with the upride riding position give you excellent control. With 210kg it's not a lightweight but it doesn't feel heavy at all but at the same time is stable. It might not be the best for the track but on roads I'd say it's a really well engineered bike. I am really disappointed by my own bike now

The tires were OK-ish but I would definitely switch them to some Pirelli Angel GTs. I had the rear slipping a bit at times where they shouldn't have slipped.

Misc.: the shift lever seemed to have issues when coming out of neutral. If I didn't give it a good kick, it wouldn't engage the gear and instead give this rattling feedback. The same thing doesn't happen at higher gears. The clutch lever required a bit too much power for my tastes to pull but that was not a big issue. Overall I find the clutch and gearbox of my CBR500R nicer to operate but I am not 100% sure why. It just feels easier and gives better feedback.

There was also some audible noise coming from the air intake I think. A bit of a rattling sound and it disappears when accellerating. This and the gearbox issue might have been from an accident where a previous rider dropped the bike as indicated by scratches on the engine and usual places like bar ends.

The light seems to be set a bit too high as several car drivers gave me light flashes probably thinking I had the high beam on. But that was not the case. At normal low beam it actually shines in a pretty much horizontal line instead of downwards and is quite strong. Plus the slightly blueish side lights might make it look like highbeam too.

Overall I think it's a good bike but the vibration issue puts me off. I would gladly pay a bit more to get rid of this by rubber mounting the engine or whatever is needed but that's not possible via after market of course. Maybe a second generation could iron this out.

thanks for the review eisfeld.

It does not matter but is that yours or someone else's review?

Vibrations is going less after a couple of thousand kms. And it vibrates mostly at 4-6 k rpms, where engine is running lean for economy as 4 - 6k rpm is where the legal road speeds are.

Yep, this is not the honda's smoothest inline four but not a lot different too and never bothersome for me. Also it is not hotter than my old cbr500r and of course we do not ride such sport bikes with shorts, do we?

Of course bike reviewed had an accident so hard to say something fully. Headlight has to be adjusted, maybe its adjustment went bad after the accident.

And wind protection, you need to tuck a bit, this is a sport bike. I never get any turbulence and wind blows cleanly at my chest without any disturbance. at cbr500r, it was hitting my helmet and having some disturbance rarely but never on cbr650f. nicely made aerodynamic work from honda i believe. Even at speeds over 200 kph.

Edited January 20, 2015 by ll2

[eisfeld]

Do post a pic of your trip if you have any. Would like to see a vlog

About the vibes, the forum members found it noticeably less after putting in a good number of miles on the odo. It subsides eventually, others resorted to handle grips and heavier bar ends to solve them. Isn't a major drawback imho.

The other sound you hear from intake is said to be a exhaust valve solenoid.

I don't remember the exact number but this bike had way more than 10k kilometers on it. The vibrations definitely didn't go away. The handle bars are not a big issue when wearing gloves but it's felt in the foot pegs and seat too which is the annoying part.

Thx for the info about the exhaust valve solenoid, very interesting. I wonder if all bikes have that, I didn't notice it last year when doing a test drive when the bike was really new and my CBR500R doesn't have it either.

I am not a fan of posting pics of myself online and I dont't have pics of just the bike and the scenery - forgot to make such pics

[eisfeld]

A small review of the CB650F:

I rented one from Pops in Chiang Mai for 8 days and drove from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen and back, all around about 1500km over all kinds of roads. Highways, mountain twisties, sugarcane covered Isaan roads and gravel pits. Got a pillion also on board for most of the time. My background is my CBR500R which I've ridden for more than one and a half years now.

Comfort: the seat was much more comfortable than the one on my CBR500R and the suspension, riding position, tires, etc. made for a quite comfortable ride. I can do 700km in one day though with a small bit of pain in my butt and left leg (not sure why the latter). With my own bike I don't want to do more than 200km.

Once you reach 150km/h, wind really blows you back and upwards as there is basically nearly no wind protection. You certainly dont want to do this or higher speeds for longer than a couple minutes. Maybe an aftermarket windscreen can help here but I doubt it would make a big difference. On the flip side the wind pressure is constant and there were turbulences. Again on my CBR500R unless I tuck down behind the screen, I get my helmet thrown from side to side constantly once over 120km/h.

Between about 95km/h and 115km/h (4k to 5k RPM) in 6th the bike develops very noticeable vibrations which then at about 115 - 125km/h change frequency and are not as noticeable or annoying as in the former speed range. The same vibrations exist in other gears in lower speeds respectively. Engine breaking also develops quite some vibrations and if you engine break around 110km/h it's especially annoying. This is my main gripe with the bike actually and I think it might be a strong enough reason to not be happy with the bike in the long run. The engine gets hot but doesn't roast you. Might convince some guys to stop riding in shorts

Engine: a good upgrade from my 500. A very elastic engine - it has enough torque down low to let it roll without throttle in 6th gear at 25km/h! And the first gear is powerfull yet smooth enough to easily maneuver around at low speeds without any issues whatsoever. Again my bike here is much more rough and stall-prone. You can start from red light in 2nd and then jump immediately to 6th and stay in that gear all day long until the next stop. If you need power, keep it around 6k RPM and it'll have enough torque at hand to swiftly overtake cars at any speeds you'll encounter on Thai roads. Apart from the virbations mentioned above, I really liked the engine. Power wise it might be just enough to keep me entertained for a long long time.

Handling: I was pleasantly surprised by the handling. The bike corners really well and never got upset. It holds the line perfectly fine and the wide handle bars combined with the upride riding position give you excellent control. With 210kg it's not a lightweight but it doesn't feel heavy at all but at the same time is stable. It might not be the best for the track but on roads I'd say it's a really well engineered bike. I am really disappointed by my own bike now

The tires were OK-ish but I would definitely switch them to some Pirelli Angel GTs. I had the rear slipping a bit at times where they shouldn't have slipped.

Misc.: the shift lever seemed to have issues when coming out of neutral. If I didn't give it a good kick, it wouldn't engage the gear and instead give this rattling feedback. The same thing doesn't happen at higher gears. The clutch lever required a bit too much power for my tastes to pull but that was not a big issue. Overall I find the clutch and gearbox of my CBR500R nicer to operate but I am not 100% sure why. It just feels easier and gives better feedback.

There was also some audible noise coming from the air intake I think. A bit of a rattling sound and it disappears when accellerating. This and the gearbox issue might have been from an accident where a previous rider dropped the bike as indicated by scratches on the engine and usual places like bar ends.

The light seems to be set a bit too high as several car drivers gave me light flashes probably thinking I had the high beam on. But that was not the case. At normal low beam it actually shines in a pretty much horizontal line instead of downwards and is quite strong. Plus the slightly blueish side lights might make it look like highbeam too.

Overall I think it's a good bike but the vibration issue puts me off. I would gladly pay a bit more to get rid of this by rubber mounting the engine or whatever is needed but that's not possible via after market of course. Maybe a second generation could iron this out.

thanks for the review eisfeld.

It does not matter but is that yours or someone else's review?

Vibrations is going less after a couple of thousand kms. And it vibrates mostly at 4-6 k rpms, where engine is running lean for economy as 4 - 6k rpm is where the legal road speeds are.

Yep, this is not the honda's smoothest inline four but not a lot different too and never bothersome for me. Also it is not hotter than my old cbr500r and of course we do not ride such sport bikes with shorts, do we?

Of course bike reviewed had an accident so hard to say something fully. Headlight has to be adjusted, maybe its adjustment went bad after the accident.

And wind protection, you need to tuck a bit, this is a sport bike. I never get any turbulence and wind blows cleanly at my chest without any disturbance. at cbr500r, it was hitting my helmet and having some disturbance rarely but never on cbr650f. nicely made aerodynamic work from honda i believe. Even at speeds over 200 kph.

It's my own review from my trip last week.

The bike had already loads of kms on it, vibrations evidently didn't go away. I don't think the vibrations are because of some economy mode, you can ride at 3k RPM and use even less fuel. It's just that they start at 4k RPM where the frequency resonates with the frame very much and then at about 5k the frequency is high enough to not resonate as much.

About the turbulences: I forgot a "not" in my original post which I'm going to edit now. There are NO turbulences which I was very happy about. Like you said some very good aerodynamic engineering from Honda. You can't tuck on CB650F like you can do on your CBR650F, there is no windscreen to hide behind and there are two air channels on the sides of the fork which blow wind upwards.

Didn't know the headlight can be adjusted, good to know.

Edit: I can't edit the previous review post, really annoying.

Edited January 20, 2015 by eisfeld

[seedy]

Edit: I can't edit the previous review post, really annoying.

Place cursor beside Multiquote box. Edit will appear.

click and go

[fullcave]

A small review of the CB650F:

I rented one from Pops in Chiang Mai for 8 days and drove from Chiang Mai to Khon Kaen and back, all around about 1500km over all kinds of roads. Highways, mountain twisties, sugarcane covered Isaan roads and gravel pits. Got a pillion also on board for most of the time. My background is my CBR500R which I've ridden for more than one and a half years now.

Comfort: the seat was much more comfortable than the one on my CBR500R and the suspension, riding position, tires, etc. made for a quite comfortable ride. I can do 700km in one day though with a small bit of pain in my butt and left leg (not sure why the latter). With my own bike I don't want to do more than 200km.

Once you reach 150km/h, wind really blows you back and upwards as there is basically nearly no wind protection. You certainly dont want to do this or higher speeds for longer than a couple minutes. Maybe an aftermarket windscreen can help here but I doubt it would make a big difference. On the flip side the wind pressure is constant and there were turbulences. Again on my CBR500R unless I tuck down behind the screen, I get my helmet thrown from side to side constantly once over 120km/h.

Between about 95km/h and 115km/h (4k to 5k RPM) in 6th the bike develops very noticeable vibrations which then at about 115 - 125km/h change frequency and are not as noticeable or annoying as in the former speed range. The same vibrations exist in other gears in lower speeds respectively. Engine breaking also develops quite some vibrations and if you engine break around 110km/h it's especially annoying. This is my main gripe with the bike actually and I think it might be a strong enough reason to not be happy with the bike in the long run. The engine gets hot but doesn't roast you. Might convince some guys to stop riding in shorts

Engine: a good upgrade from my 500. A very elastic engine - it has enough torque down low to let it roll without throttle in 6th gear at 25km/h! And the first gear is powerfull yet smooth enough to easily maneuver around at low speeds without any issues whatsoever. Again my bike here is much more rough and stall-prone. You can start from red light in 2nd and then jump immediately to 6th and stay in that gear all day long until the next stop. If you need power, keep it around 6k RPM and it'll have enough torque at hand to swiftly overtake cars at any speeds you'll encounter on Thai roads. Apart from the virbations mentioned above, I really liked the engine. Power wise it might be just enough to keep me entertained for a long long time.

Handling: I was pleasantly surprised by the handling. The bike corners really well and never got upset. It holds the line perfectly fine and the wide handle bars combined with the upride riding position give you excellent control. With 210kg it's not a lightweight but it doesn't feel heavy at all but at the same time is stable. It might not be the best for the track but on roads I'd say it's a really well engineered bike. I am really disappointed by my own bike now

The tires were OK-ish but I would definitely switch them to some Pirelli Angel GTs. I had the rear slipping a bit at times where they shouldn't have slipped.

Misc.: the shift lever seemed to have issues when coming out of neutral. If I didn't give it a good kick, it wouldn't engage the gear and instead give this rattling feedback. The same thing doesn't happen at higher gears. The clutch lever required a bit too much power for my tastes to pull but that was not a big issue. Overall I find the clutch and gearbox of my CBR500R nicer to operate but I am not 100% sure why. It just feels easier and gives better feedback.

There was also some audible noise coming from the air intake I think. A bit of a rattling sound and it disappears when accellerating. This and the gearbox issue might have been from an accident where a previous rider dropped the bike as indicated by scratches on the engine and usual places like bar ends.

The light seems to be set a bit too high as several car drivers gave me light flashes probably thinking I had the high beam on. But that was not the case. At normal low beam it actually shines in a pretty much horizontal line instead of downwards and is quite strong. Plus the slightly blueish side lights might make it look like highbeam too.

Overall I think it's a good bike but the vibration issue puts me off. I would gladly pay a bit more to get rid of this by rubber mounting the engine or whatever is needed but that's not possible via after market of course. Maybe a second generation could iron this out.

thanks for the review eisfeld.

It does not matter but is that yours or someone else's review?

Vibrations is going less after a couple of thousand kms. And it vibrates mostly at 4-6 k rpms, where engine is running lean for economy as 4 - 6k rpm is where the legal road speeds are.

Yep, this is not the honda's smoothest inline four but not a lot different too and never bothersome for me. Also it is not hotter than my old cbr500r and of course we do not ride such sport bikes with shorts, do we?

Of course bike reviewed had an accident so hard to say something fully. Headlight has to be adjusted, maybe its adjustment went bad after the accident.

And wind protection, you need to tuck a bit, this is a sport bike. I never get any turbulence and wind blows cleanly at my chest without any disturbance. at cbr500r, it was hitting my helmet and having some disturbance rarely but never on cbr650f. nicely made aerodynamic work from honda i believe. Even at speeds over 200 kph.

Edit: I can't edit the previous review post, really annoying.

Yes, ThaiVisa is special that way..