NOT RADIO - BIKE (CB650R)

HONDA CB650R NEO SPORTS CAFE

Back in the 70's I was a scruffy little toe-rag with big dreams and little money. As a teenager, I'd stand outside our local motorcycle shop (Charlie Robinson) and stare open-mouthed at the beautiful CB400/4 displayed in the shop window, dreaming of the day that I could afford to own such a monstrously gorgeous machine. My heart actually ached - it was my first love 💖😅

Honda's 400/4 was one of those rare bikes that comes along now and then which is just very, very special. The main features which stood out for me were the simple, almost slab-sided fuel tank void of tacky decals and that drop dead gorgeous 4-into-1 exhaust. Eventually (years later), I got to own one and in later life I even restored one - resulting in a concours machine which actually ended up going back home to Japan, 33 years after leaving.

Anyway, fast forward to 2023 and I'm looking at the equally gorgeous (in my eyes) CB650R NEO SPORTS CAFE which nods its head to the old 400/4 by having a similar 4-into-1 exhaust system.

The 2023 650/4 is a very compact and simple bike, much the same as the old 400/4 and unlike many modern bikes, it has no ride-by-wire throttle, no engine mapping modes and only rudimentary traction control and ABS. 

What it does have though, is a high revving 4 cylinder, DOHC engine with a redline area between 12,000 and 14,000rpm producing around 95BHP and 50 lb ft of torque. Now that's my kind of engine! I know that parallel twins are quite popular these days, with their grunty mid-range, but I'm just not a twin kinda guy. I like a screamer! 😲 I am addicted to the wailing banshee sort of sound that comes from working an IL4 hard. I find parallel twins quite boring.

 

Honda's 'NEO SPORTS CAFE' styling fits in well with the bike and the round headlight harks back to a bygone era (even though it's actually a very modern LED unit). I also love those two offset air-scoops either side of the fuel tank. I'm not sure though, why Honda hint that it’s a Cafe Racer because it doesn’t have a mono seat and it doesn't have clip-ons - in fact the handlebars are wide and the dual seat is quite generous!

Unlike the 70's Honda, this bike is built in Thailand and to a very high standard if appearances are anything to go by. The paint finish, enamelling and anodising all seem to be extremely well done and you only have to examine the switchgear to see that this isn't a 'cheap' bike, despite it's relatively budget price of £7699. When I first saw that it was a Thai Honda I was a little sceptical because of my experience with the CBF1000 back in 2006. The finish on that Thai built bike wasn't the best, but having said that, it was 17 years ago and it was the cheapest 1000cc bike you could buy, so I guess things have moved on considerably.

It's fitted with 'Big Piston' upside down Showa forks at the front and a Showa spring at the rear. Thankfully, for 2023 Honda have changed the colour of the rear spring to red from the old (dreadful) pale yellow. There is no adjustment on the front suspension but there are pre-load options on the rear. There's also twin radial brakes at the front using 4-pot Nissin calipers.

I have to say that I find the ride quite harsh - especially the front end. It really is quite stiff and you feel every bump in the road - it's like you've pumped up your front tyre to 60psi. Now bear in mind that I've previously owned the CB1000R, three Fireblades and a CBR600RR which are all very sporty but none have felt as stiff as this one.

The 'dashboard' is a simple LCD panel which has inverted colours (white on black), showing the speed, the revs, the fuel, the temperature, the time, the mileage and a very handy gear indicator! It can sometimes be a little difficult to see in bright sunlight compared to the very latest TFT screens, but overall it's fine. On the right side of the screen is a bank of warning lights and a long vertical strip which flashes as you approach the rev limit to tell you to change gear.

At the point of sale, I blagged a free QuickShifter from the salesman worth around £285 fitted. The bike already has a beautifully slick gearbox but the addition of a QuickShfter really adds to the fun of fast riding. It should be noted however that this is an UpShifter only, where some bikes (eg Suzuki's GSX 8S) have Up/Down Shifters.

The fuelling on the CB650R is great - no doubt due to the fact that it has good old fashioned throttle cables instead of ride-by-wire. It behaves very well in slow traffic around town, with no on/off surging. The engine pulls well at low revs in city traffic but for rapid acceleration you do need to get that rev-counter swinging.

Out and about on faster roads, you will notice that there are some tingling vibrations around 6,000rpm - they're very noticeable through the footpegs, so you learn to avoid 6k like the plague. Other than that, the engine is super smooth - as you'd expect from Honda.

Something I don't particularly like on the CB650R is the riding lights - the orange indicators stay illuminated (around 50% brightness) as you ride along. This is a very American thing and something I wish could be turned off.

The bike weighs 200kg and is therefore a true middleweight - it's not the lightest out there, but coming from a tourer, it feels amusingly light to me. The seat height is just under 32" which is just about right for me and I'm comfortable with the peg-height. I can also just about get both feet flat on the ground (even though I've got a shorty 29" inseam).

Sadly, there's no center-stand, so you're going to have to invest in a separate stand for doing your chain maintenance, etc. I already own an Abba Stand, so I only needed to pay for a small fitment adapter. I believe there are some paddock stand adapters that can be fitted to the swingarm but not the usual screw-in bobbins.

My first outing on the bike (enroute home from the showroom) was smile-inducing. It was so nice to have something so light and nimble and agile between my legs 😂. It felt like the bike reacted to the mere thought of changing direction. And the acceleration was perfect for British roads. I always remember the owner of Charlie Robinson's Honda Shop back in the 70's telling me that anything more than a 400/4 was a waste on our roads. And you know what? He wasn't far wrong!

After breakfast in Lytham, I spent the day flirting around all my usual haunts in Lancashire and North Yorkshire, going from Blackpool to Glasson, Lancaster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Sedburgh, Hawes, Kettlewell, Grassington and then back to the caravan to let my wife have a look at it.

The seat isn't the plushest I've sat on, but I doubt one would be travelling for many hours at a time on a bike like this. A comfort break every couple of hours is required. It's about that time you'd be stopping for fuel anyway.

I'm extremely pleased with the bike and can see many a happy outing over the next few years.

Regards, Tom.

UPDATE : Made some mods to the bike - nothing too drastic. Added Heated Grips, Puig Retro Screen, SatNav, Bagster Tank Cover, etc...