Japanese maker Honda has launched the 2019 CBR 650R in India. The aforementioned bike will replace the CBR 650F in India. The prices for the new CBR 650R start at Rs. 7.7 lakhs, and the new bike comes with a host of changes as compared to the older edition.
The new price of the bike marks a Rs. 40,000 hike in the current price, however, with the changes on the new version of the bike, the price hike will not be a major issue. After the launch of CB 300R, this is the second global product by the company in India and like the former, it will also come to India via the Completely Knocked Down (CKD) and will be locally assembled. As is the case with all the performance bikes by the Japanese company, the CBR 650R will also be sold through the special 23 Honda Wing dealerships in India.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India’s senior vice president for sales and marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria spoke on the occasion of the launch of the new sportsbike in India and stated,
It was just last week that we announced the establishment of new premium big bike business vertical – the Honda BigWing in India. CBR650R further strengthens the model line up to be sold & serviced under Honda BigWing. Delivering a sporty & powerful performance with Honda’s Racing pedigree, the all new CBR650R is set to excite middleweight biking enthusiasts.
As already, mentioned, the new bike comes with a lot of changes as in the new version. The looks of the bike are heavily inspired from the bigger and more powerful Fireblade. The old name has also changed and instead of the CBR 650F, the new bike will be sold under the CBR 650R moniker. While the older model was more of a Japanese sports tourer styled bike, the new Honda CBR 650R has more aggressive sportbike styling that is also very sharp. The rear also features similar changes with the minimum styling at the rear giving the bike a sharper tail.
The new version of the Honda bike also follows the weight shedding trend of the industry as the Japanese maker has managed to shave 6 kilograms from the chassis and the loss in weight plus the new design of the bike also makes it better handler than the outgoing version. The suspension duties at the front are handled by Showa 41 mm ‘Separate Fork Function’ USD units. Whereas the front brakes are twin discs with radially mounted calipers.
As far as the features are concerned, LED headlamp, digital LCD instrument cluster, gear-shift, and position indicator are now standard on the bike and the safety part includes dual channel ABS, slipper clutch, and Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC) system as standard. The HSTC feature on the bike is switchable, but it should be avoided unless one hits the track and is an expert handler of the bike. Talking about the mechanics of the new CBR 650R, the unit here is a rev-happy 650cc, inline 4-pot engine rated to deliver 87 bhp and 60.1 Nm. This unit is mated to a 6 speed gearbox.
