Honda CBR650F: Top 7 facts

1, First 4-cylinder Honda to be assembled in India:

The Honda CBR650F will be the first performance bike to be built in India. The motorcycle will be brought via the CKD (completely knocked down) route and assembled at its plant in Manesar. By bringing the Honda CBR650F via the CKD route, the Japanese two-wheeler giant will attract lesser tax than a CBU unit. The CBR650F will be brought from Thailand to India.

2, Price:

It was expected that Honda will price the Honda CBR650F aggressively given the fact that it will be locally assembled. There were rumours during the 2014 Auto Expo where it was showcased for the first occasion that it will be priced around Rs 5.5 lakh. This pricing made performance bike enthusiasts salivating given the fact that it will be powered by an in-line four motor. But Honda officials hinted that the bike wouldn’t carry an aggressive sticker price as they have been unable in localising components as predicted. The current localisation for the Honda CBR650F is rumoured to be in the single digit percentage. Owing to this fact, it is expected that the new bike from the Japanese two-wheeler giant will be priced around Rs 7.5 to 8 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

3, Power:

Honda has a few high displacement motorcycles on sale in India. But the current range of performance motorcycles are brought in via the CBU route. The Honda CBR650F will be the most powerful motorcycle to be assembled in India. Talking about specifications, the Honda CBR650F houses a 649cc, liquid-cooled, in-line-four motor pumping out 87PS at 11,000rpm and 63Nm at 8,000rpm. The motor is mated to a six-speed transmission that transmits power to the rear-wheel via chain drive.

4, Standard ABS:

The Honda CBR650F will be equipped with two-channel ABS as a standard offering. This is a good move by Honda as given the performance on tap ABS can be a life saver in emergency situations. Also it gives the added advantage over its rivals as the Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the Benelli TNT650GT both don’t offer ABS even as an optional extra. 

5, Only one colour option:

The Honda CBR650F will be available in only one colour shade. It will be only offered in the HRC inspired shade as showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo display bike. We must admit though that the white, red and blue tricolour paint option does look on the upcoming motorcycle. It isn’t clear why that Honda is limiting the CBR650F to only one colour option for the Indian market.

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6, Rivals:

The Honda CBR650F is a middleweight sports tourer and will be pitched against the Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the Benelli TNT650GT in the Indian two-wheeler market. The Kawasaki Ninja 650 is the current segment leader and the cheapest offering in this segment. The Honda and Benelli motorcycles have the benefit of being powered by two extra cylinders. The Honda CBR650F is the most powerful motorcycle among the trio as it has two extra ponies over the Benelli offering. The Kawasaki Ninja 650 is almost 15PS down in comparison to its Japanese counterpart.  

7, Dealership (8 major cities):

Being a performance motorcycle, the Honda CBR650F will be sold only in exclusive Honda showrooms. Initially, the new Honda motorcycle will be available only in eight cities across India. It will be sold in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Also only one dealership will be allotted per city to handle sales and service of the Honda CBR650F. According to Honda this has been done as the technicians have to be specially trained to maintain such performance oriented motorcycles.