The 2021 Honda CB650R ($9,199) rightfully places itself among Big Red’s sport standard lineup, placed between the entry-level and relatively affordable CB300R and the larger-displacement CB1000R. This middleweight certainly offers an engaging and entertaining experience for most experienced riders, while serving as an approachable platform for riders with fewer miles under their belts.
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Following a successful introduction to the US market in 2019, Big Red has made a number of revisions to the middleweight CB for increased practicality and performance. Honda addressed issues with the CB’s ergonomics, suspension, and engine performance with good, well-balanced results. This middleweight grows more attractive to all riders, while still elegantly dressed in Honda’s Neo-Sports Café styling.
Honda chose a 649cc inline-four liquid-cooled powerplant for the CB650R, which sees a number of revisions aimed at improving emissions for the ’21 models year. Engineers made changes to the ECU mapping, camshaft lobes, and intake valve timing, as well as an all-new exhaust system with a new catalyst and muffler. An added benefit is an increase in peak output, which we recorded on our in-house Motorcyclist dyno. The CB650R produced a peak 81.9 hp at 10,900 rpm and 43.0 pound-feet of torque, which is a slight improvement to the 80.6 hp and 42.1 pound-feet that our last 2019 test unit recorded.
Opening the throttle on the CB650R offers approachable yet engaging acceleration, though an overly abrupt initial response is felt at slower speeds. The engine runs relatively vibration free and offers a comfortable highway ride settling in around 6,000 in top gear. The slick-shifting and well-spaced six-speed gearbox makes for easy work on both acceleration and deceleration. If I had one major gripe in the powerplant, the lack of clutch feel hinders the CB’s ability to efficiently accelerate away from a stop.
But the CB650R is an overall delightfully neutral ride, which benefits from a Showa Separate Function Big Piston fork (SFF-BP) for the ’21 model year. Although giving up some small-bump compliance over rough pavement for big-hit support needed in sporty scenarios, the suspension offers a likable balance. It’s light on its feet too. The CB tipped the Motorcyclist scales at a considerable 445 pounds with its 4.1-gallon fuel tank topped off, but corners effortlessly in a composed and confidence-inspiring manner. The OE-equipped Dunlop Sportmax D214 tires do an excellent job of connecting the Honda to the tarmac with great grip and feel...
Full story here: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/reviews/2021-honda-cb650r-mc-commute-review
Videography/edit: Bert Beltran
Photography: Jeff Allen
Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/c/MotorcyclistMag?sub_confirmation=1
Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist
Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine
See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/
--
Following a successful introduction to the US market in 2019, Big Red has made a number of revisions to the middleweight CB for increased practicality and performance. Honda addressed issues with the CB’s ergonomics, suspension, and engine performance with good, well-balanced results. This middleweight grows more attractive to all riders, while still elegantly dressed in Honda’s Neo-Sports Café styling.
Honda chose a 649cc inline-four liquid-cooled powerplant for the CB650R, which sees a number of revisions aimed at improving emissions for the ’21 models year. Engineers made changes to the ECU mapping, camshaft lobes, and intake valve timing, as well as an all-new exhaust system with a new catalyst and muffler. An added benefit is an increase in peak output, which we recorded on our in-house Motorcyclist dyno. The CB650R produced a peak 81.9 hp at 10,900 rpm and 43.0 pound-feet of torque, which is a slight improvement to the 80.6 hp and 42.1 pound-feet that our last 2019 test unit recorded.
Opening the throttle on the CB650R offers approachable yet engaging acceleration, though an overly abrupt initial response is felt at slower speeds. The engine runs relatively vibration free and offers a comfortable highway ride settling in around 6,000 in top gear. The slick-shifting and well-spaced six-speed gearbox makes for easy work on both acceleration and deceleration. If I had one major gripe in the powerplant, the lack of clutch feel hinders the CB’s ability to efficiently accelerate away from a stop.
But the CB650R is an overall delightfully neutral ride, which benefits from a Showa Separate Function Big Piston fork (SFF-BP) for the ’21 model year. Although giving up some small-bump compliance over rough pavement for big-hit support needed in sporty scenarios, the suspension offers a likable balance. It’s light on its feet too. The CB tipped the Motorcyclist scales at a considerable 445 pounds with its 4.1-gallon fuel tank topped off, but corners effortlessly in a composed and confidence-inspiring manner. The OE-equipped Dunlop Sportmax D214 tires do an excellent job of connecting the Honda to the tarmac with great grip and feel...
Full story here: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/reviews/2021-honda-cb650r-mc-commute-review
Videography/edit: Bert Beltran
Photography: Jeff Allen
Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/c/MotorcyclistMag?sub_confirmation=1
Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist
Shop Products We Use: https://www.amazon.com/shop/motorcyclistmagazine
See more from us: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Good morning everyone and welcome to another episode of MC commute where we test motorcycles
00:05 on the way to the motorcyclist headquarters in Irvine, California. And today we will be testing
00:12 the 2021 Honda CB650R. This is Honda's middleweight sport standard and it's also received a number of
00:21 revisions for the 2021 model year. And that being said, we got a lot to talk about. So why don't we
00:28 hit the road? My oh my oh my oh my the 2021 Honda CB650R. In my personal opinion, I think this
00:40 motorcycle is a stunner. This is dressed in Honda's Neo Sports Cafe styling as is the CB300R and also
00:49 the bigger displacement CB1000R. That being kind of the retro-esque styling that Honda has introduced
00:57 in the last few years. Now one thing to note about this 2021 model is that it only comes in the black
01:04 color way that you see here. But in my personal opinion, I think that it looks really good.
01:09 Obviously you have these kind of, I don't know what you call them, those bronze colored wheels
01:16 that look really, really nice as is the engine cases. We have LED headlights up front. Honestly,
01:24 a very, very nice quality motorcycle with premium fit and finish as you'd expect on a Honda product.
01:30 So why don't we get to it? Let's fire this one up. Still in first gear. Put it in neutral so
01:38 we don't take off. Okay. What do you guys think of that? I think it sounds pretty good. That inline
01:50 four 649cc power plant that powers this Honda CB650R.
01:57 Yep. I should probably turn off. Hey, there's a fellow Honda rider, I think. There he goes on that
02:11 magnificent Honda Goldwing, man. He looks like he's ready for a tour. I think I'm ready for
02:17 one of those too. What a machine that bike is. Maybe one day we'll get a review of the Honda
02:23 Goldwing together on something other than a commute. How about that guys? Let's do something
02:28 magnificent with the Honda Goldwing. Now, as we mentioned, this Honda CB650R is powered by
02:38 a 649cc inline four power plant, which receives numerous revisions for the 2021 model year.
02:48 Most notably aimed at improving emissions. Those changes being revised ECU mapping. It's also got
03:02 different intake valve timing. It's got a little bit different cam lobes, a new exhaust, new muffler,
03:08 among other things. Now, like I said, that's mostly aimed at improving emissions, but
03:13 in testing this motorcycle, I threw it up on our in-house motorcyclist dyno, where we recorded
03:20 81.9 horsepower at nearly 11,000 RPM and right around 43 foot pounds of torque. Now, comparing
03:29 that to the last 2019 model that we tested, that actually produces roughly 1.5 more horsepower and
03:37 about two foot pounds more of torque. So while improving emissions, Honda has also increased this
03:44 in power, which is a nice touch. And it's an entertaining power plant at that.
03:52 81.9 horsepower may not seem significant, but for the category and the approach that
04:00 Honda took with this motorcycle, I think that it aptly fits. It feels...
04:06 Yep. This thing is pretty good. Now, this motorcycle, it does not have any specific
04:16 ride modes. It doesn't have any adjustability. It does have Honda's selectable torque control.
04:21 In other words, Honda's traction control settings. Now, that's either on or off,
04:28 no selectable settings. That's a nice touch to have. I don't necessarily feel like you need to
04:33 have it as this isn't a big power monster, but it is a nice touch to have maybe if the conditions
04:39 were less than ideal. Other couple of little things that I have to comment on would be the
04:45 throttle response. The fueling of this motorcycle is just slightly abrupt. I feel sometimes that
04:54 in slow speed scenarios specifically, I just struggle to find smooth feeling. You have to
05:00 be very precise and very deliberate with your throttle control to not feel so lurchy when
05:08 kind of getting around traffic or in slow speed maneuvers. So, nice touch. Honda, they aim those
05:19 improvements at boosting emissions, but also they succeeded with giving it a little bit more oomph,
05:28 which is obviously just adds entertainment value. Another thing that Honda revised on this 2021
05:38 model is the ergonomics. The ergonomics, the handlebar is rolled slightly forward to help
05:48 with slow speed maneuvers as well. And honestly, it's a very neutral riding position on this
05:54 motorcycle. The handlebar is in a very comfortable position for my five foot seven inch racer size
06:00 stature as I always like to joke, but not really joke. I'm just trying to justify me being short.
06:06 Um, but it's in a very neutral position. The foot pegs are somewhat sporty, which I appreciate. The
06:15 foot pegs are somewhat up and back, uh, that placement. And so it puts you in an aggressive
06:22 stance when, when you're on the balls of your feet, you can really kind of hustle this motorcycle
06:27 underneath you and, and put it where you need to be on the road. Right. Um, but it's also not
06:35 too aggressive to where it becomes uncomfortable. If you're on your daily commute or even a few
06:40 hundred mile ride, I found this motorcycle to be just overall very neutral. All right,
06:47 let's hit it. Let's open this bad boy up. Nice. Nice. It has enough acceleration that it can be
07:03 just downright fun, but also not scary fast, or maybe get you in trouble, uh, with the laws you
07:09 might on maybe a CB 1000R. One other thing that I have to comment on with the, look at all these
07:17 fellow motorcyclists out today. That makes me very happy. It's a beautiful day for it.
07:21 One thing I have to comment on would be the shift feel through the gearbox and through the gear
07:28 lever is sometimes it's not, it's not a very positive feel. Sometimes you question whether
07:33 you actually get the thing in the gear. Um, and that being said, I have found false neutrals
07:39 a couple of times during my testing, as I know Adam had found during his testing of the 2019
07:46 CB 650R. Now that being said, I've also struggled with the, the clutch actuation and the feel at the
07:55 lever, especially launching off of stops like we are right now. It's hard to tell when it's
08:02 actuated, when it's not actuated, um, and really kind of get you. And that also, you know, that,
08:09 that kind of plays into taking off in second or third gear. When sometimes you don't have the
08:14 opportunity to get down to first, it makes it challenging. Really above 7,000 RPM, this thing,
08:20 this kind of, it takes life and it wants to really spool up, which makes it,
08:25 makes it quite entertaining when you can keep it spinning.
08:28 I love that sound of inline fours, man. It really makes you feel like you're on a competition
08:37 inspired machine, which really just adds some entertainment to the overall ride. Now,
08:44 Honda has also updated the chassis just slightly. That being the addition of the
08:51 Showa separate function, separate function, big piston fork that is equipped at the front of this
09:00 motorcycle, you know, um, that replaces the inverted fork that was, that was on the 2020 model.
09:10 Just with slightly different internals, Honda geared this at being a little bit more sporty,
09:15 as you can essentially feel, it feels a little bit stiffer and, you know, maybe it doesn't
09:22 soak up those small bump, uh, those small chatter bumps and imperfections as well as it did in the
09:30 past, but it also lends itself to more big hit support and can hand, it can be up to the task
09:38 of handling very aggressive, spirited riding. Maybe if you were to, uh, head back to the
09:45 canyons or the twisties. ABS also comes standard on this machine. Um, now what I have to say is
09:54 while the braking power, the outright power of the brakes of these four piston radial mounted
10:03 calipers is strong. It lacks feel at the lever, uh, to really understand how much force is being
10:11 applied at the caliper. And also just the initial bite when you first pull on that lever,
10:16 it just doesn't really feel like you're, you're stopping. So you really have to grab,
10:20 I don't want to say a handful of brake, but you have to grab more brake than you anticipate to
10:25 really get this thing to stop. Once you get it in that stop, like start putting the power to
10:29 the calipers, this motorcycle stops itself pretty well. One more thing that I should add being that
10:36 we're stuck in traffic all day today is the low 32.0 measured inch seat height. Um, actually allows
10:46 me to flat foot. Like I said, I'm five foot seven. It allows me to flat foot this motorcycle,
10:51 very comfortable and give me a very good sense of control, especially in this dense traffic or
10:56 just slow speed maneuvers. The, uh, the whole motorcycle itself feels very narrow and compact,
11:03 um, which, you know, just gives a good feel, especially in those slow speed scenarios,
11:10 ladies and gents, we're also going for a second gear start from the stop light.
11:20 As you can see, sometimes it's a little difficult to understand where the clutch is actuated and
11:27 where it isn't. Um, and get sometimes be a little bit challenging, but overall power is very usable.
11:34 What are we doing here? Power is very usable and friendly and approachable. Now to get to the real
11:42 numbers, this Honda CB 650R top tipped the motorcyclist scales at 445 pounds, fully fueled,
11:52 that 4.1 gallon fuel tank top to the brim, which, you know, maybe isn't relatively that lightweight,
12:01 but as we talked about, it has a very compact and lightweight feeling out on the road.
12:06 And when we get to our favorite roundabout corner up in a little here in a little bit,
12:11 we'll show off the cornering potential of this middleweight Honda.
12:15 Let's rip by this car, put that in line for power to the test.
12:22 We're coming up to our roundabout to enter California I-5. I'm hoping that we get a little
12:31 bit of clear space in front of us, but of course we're going to hit another red light
12:36 and put this ABS to the test. Now, what I have to say is that, um, the braking performance,
12:45 as we talked about the brake feel feels a little bit numb. Um, the initial bite of the brake is
12:51 also a little bit lacking and numb, but I have to give kudos to Honda for the, um, the tuning or the
13:01 algorithm of the ABS on the 650R as even in the most hard stopping experiences that I've had on
13:10 this motorcycle, the ABS doesn't flare up too aggressively and send pulses like excessive pulses
13:19 through the lever to really kind of hinder the stopping performance of this 650. Nice touch.
13:26 All right. If we can take one thing from all these red lights, it looks like we got
13:31 some clear road in front of us to get on the freeway right here.
13:36 Third gear, put these Dunlop D214s to the test. Here comes our bump. Not so bad. That big hit
13:46 support that we talked about, uh, obviously soaking up that bump as we enter it, enter
13:52 California's highway interstate five, headed to the motorcyclist offices. Now we're already in top
14:01 gear headed down the road, um, doing roughly 75 miles an hour and settling in somewhere around
14:09 6,000 RPM in top gear. And it's a relatively neutral, um, it's a relatively neutral,
14:19 comfortable ride. One thing that I'd really like to point out, which is also a revision to this
14:24 2021 model is Honda has repositioned the LCD display for better visibility on the previous
14:33 model. Um, sometimes with the sun glare or just the overall positioning of that display is very
14:40 difficult to read the figures on that dashboard. Um, so I have to give kudos to Honda on that.
14:50 It is much easier to read. I have a clear picture of what is actually going on, uh,
14:55 with vital information. Now we're headed to the motorcyclist offices. The mirrors on the CB650R
15:02 are relatively vibration free. It paints a nice clear picture of what's going on behind me with
15:09 a lot of, uh, I don't know what we want to call that surface area to see a nice big clear picture.
15:16 The seat construction in my honest personal opinion is slightly harsh. Um, it just kind of
15:26 sends, it sends discomfort through my tailbone as I'm sitting on this thing. I think that, you know,
15:33 as you get later into a day, rather than in just the 12 or 15 mile commute, that stiffness would
15:39 probably be more beneficial because sometimes they get too soft and you actually kind of sag
15:43 into the seats. Uh, so that, that seat construction isn't to my preferred liking, but I think that it
15:51 would have its place. And also, you know, buying an aftermarket seat is not the most, uh, it's not
15:57 a very difficult thing to do and really tune this bike to your liking. All right. So that 4.1 gallon
16:04 fuel tank with the slim narrow compact feel in between our legs, uh, out during our testing,
16:11 I've recorded anywhere between 39 and 41 miles per gallon, uh, from the CB650R. So in theory,
16:21 you could roughly get maybe 140, 150 miles out of this motorcycle without, uh, too much
16:28 fuel range anxiety. Nice touch. I think this is an overall very comfortable, capable commuter
16:35 with a lot of versatility. As you can imagine with any sport naked machine,
16:42 um, you're obviously going to deal with wind blast on the highway. And that is such the case with
16:49 the CB650R, not excessively. The riding position is not overly aggressive to where you're fighting
16:57 it. Um, nor does this motorcycle really want to haul butt like maybe bigger displacement motorcycles
17:04 in the category. So you're not tempted to haul butt and also strain yourself at the same time
17:09 by fighting the wind, uh, so significantly. That assist slipper clutch that is, uh,
17:15 equipped to this CB650R lends itself to very smooth deceleration and downshifts
17:24 getting into the corners. A nice touch by the big red manufacturer. Well, this lady's on her phone,
17:32 MC Commute viewers. It's very disappointing. I really wish that people would pay more attention
17:39 to others on the road and especially motorcyclists as we can all band together on that one.
17:47 So we're going to try and go for a wheelie aboard the CB650R. Now we're going to turn off that HSTC
17:56 being the traction control system that is equipped to this machine. Now, all you have to do is
18:01 quickly pull on this lever. Now you got, uh, uh, icon that displays that the TC is now turned off
18:09 and we're going to go for a little wheelie. I haven't honestly practiced wheelies on this thing.
18:13 So guys, please, please go easy on me. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to
18:18 give this Honda CB650R a shot in the motorcyclist MC Commute wheelies.
18:25 Jeez Louise, I'm poor at wheelies. I need to practice those more.
18:32 I'm sorry, guys. Go easy on me. Go easy on me. Would you? Everyone makes mistakes.
18:40 All right. Our MC Commute on this 2021 Honda CB650R is coming to an end. Now, would I purchase
18:50 this 650R? Well, it's an interesting discussion, right? Because Honda offers the CB300R, the 650R,
19:00 and the 1000R. The CB300R is a very enticing entry-level machine. The 650R, I think that it
19:09 could be an entry-level machine. I think that there's sometimes maybe a little bit too much
19:14 power. Maybe it's not the most approachable motorcycle right off the get-go, but it holds
19:19 its place, as I mentioned in that lineup. I think that this motorcycle is really, um, a,
19:26 a good middle ground for someone looking for a machine after, you know, one of those lightweight
19:36 displacement bikes, um, like a 300 or 400, but not quite ready to step up to a big displacement
19:43 machine like a CB1000 or FZ10 or something like that. Now, that being said, this Honda CB1000R
19:53 retails itself for $9,199. And what you get is a premium fit and finish, as we talked about,
20:01 a very entertaining inline-four 649cc power plant. You have the, uh, Neo Sports Cafe styling
20:10 that Honda has given this. And as we noted in our reviews, this 2021 model comes with a number of
20:17 revisions, um, that have not only improved the performance of this machine, but also
20:22 improved the functionality, like the dashboard, the handlebars, a little bit more neutral position.
20:29 Overall, I really enjoyed my time aboard the 2021 CB650R, and I hope that you guys enjoyed it just
20:37 as much. Now, if you guys liked this video, like it, comment, we want to hear from you, and subscribe
20:42 to the Motorcyclist YouTube channel. Head over to MotorcyclistOnline.com to read the full story,
20:48 and we'll see you guys next time.
20:50 [end]
20:51 MotorcyclistOnline.com - www.motorcyclistonline.com/motorcycle/tips/cab.html