There’s Four Reasons to Own the 2018 Honda CBR650F

Honda’s CBR650F is an inline four supersports motorcycle which is mostly misunderstood by a lot of people, including riders owning naked bikes and full-fairing types. But here, we will give you 4 great reasons as to why the CBR650F is a wonderful motorcycle not just for riding but a joy to own one too.

We are using the 4 alphabets of the Honda's acronyms – CBR-F model designation to describe the said reasons…

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C is for Commuting

One of the many advantages the CBR650F has is commuting – as in using the motorcycle on a daily basis. How many supersport machines above 500cc that one could think, which can be utilised for such a purpose on a daily basis?

Many sportsbikes, especially those with 600cc to 1,200cc engine displacements are of course much faster than Honda’s CBR650F where sprinting from 0-100km/h is concerned.

But try riding any of them for daily commuting, and you will find these powerful machines aren’t that suitable for that kind of riding, so to speak.

This is where the Honda CBR650F really shines over the rest. It is slim enough to ride thru most traffic congestions without the need to really revving the engine on higher RPMs, unlike most sportsbikes.

This is because its DOHC 649cc liquid-cooled inline four engine is tuned for usable midrange than outright speed, giving riders a smooth powerband that's better than any kapchai could produce and still ahead of the 200-450cc motorcycles!

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And its ultra smooth engine allows the rider to maneuver his/her way out of a congestion via lane filtering with incredible ease! Furthermore, the rider won’t get tired easily as the CBR650F’s seating position vis-à-vis toward the clip-on handlebars is akin to a sports tourer than most supersport bikes.

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B is for Benefits

Benefits? What kind of benefits are we referring to here? There’s plenty, actually. For starter, it is easy to cruise around in most kind of traffic situations with the CBR650F than, say a kapchai or a 250cc bike, as the extra power it has over those bikes make it easier to accelerate out of slower stretches faster and more efficiently.

A kapchai could travel at 90-100km/h on 5^th/6^th gear but to power out of some tricky situations on those gears won’t be as efficient as the CBR650F, which has enough grunt to accelerate out of the way easily while still on 5th or 6th!

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Apart from that, fuel economy is another hallmark of the CBR650F. Granted that all supersports consumed huge amount of fuel whenever they are ridden at moderate and higher speeds, but cruising on this Honda at between 60-155km/h doesn't burns more fuel than necessary.

One couldn’t do this with most naked and supersport bikes out there. Another benefit of the CBR650F lies in its amazing agility in tackling twisty roads particularly those featuring multiple S-Curve segments. More on this later.

In fact, from its 17.3-liter tank, one could get close to 365km mileage on cruising speeds and approximately 285km if the rider goes for full throttle execution.

We find the CBR659F could negotiate these segments much faster than most bikes, using the appropriate speeds/RPM levels, all without breaking a sweat or getting tired from riding those routes. Now, isn't this sounds wonderful?

R is for Reliability

There’s no prize for guessing that Honda produces one of the most reliable powerplants ever made for any motorcycle, and the CBR650F’s engine is one of such well-made items. Due to the reliability factor, the CBR650F will give the rider years of reliable services provided the bike is never abused.

This includes not messing with the bike’s original equipment, such as switching the original exhaust pipe/muffler for any 3^rd-party version. It could withstand long hours of uninterrupted riding (as long as there’s fuel remaining) with the engine/exhaust note won’t feel nor sound any difference after that.

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Cooling is quick as too, where the engine would return to normal temperature within minutes once the engine has been switched off. The low angle placement of the exhaust muffler has its own advantage too – there’s no risk of accidentally getting the rider’s or pillion’s right leg scorched by the hot pipe as it is well below the footpegs!

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F is for Faster

This is probably the most interesting aspect of any top performing motorcycle particularly when a rider is looking to buy a new model. You probably have read it elsewhere that the CBR650F isn’t a fast machine. Well, that’s a myth, really.

Whoever says that is probably based his assumption from riding other 600cc-1200cc bikes – where their acceleration are faster than what the CBR650F could achieve, such as 0-100km/h sprint in 3-second (or less) and a top speed well above 265km/h!

Coming from those faster bikes into the midrange performance found on the CBR650F isn’t going to change the fact the latter feels somewhat slower. However, riding the CBR650F on its own merits does give the rider a pleasant surprise.

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A novice rider may not feel the CBR650F being slower but could be too powerful for his/her preference while an experienced rider would have the opposite effect altogether. An experienced rider could ride this Honda to go faster if he knows how to utilize the bike to the maximum ability of his skill, topping out at the CBR650F's highest speed of 252km/h!

And there you have it, the four reasons to own the Honda CBR650F as outlined above.

UPDATED: While we were reviewing the 2018 CBR650F, Honda had just announced the 2019 successor to it, which has been designated as the newer CBR650R. This 2018 CBR650F, like the Model Year CBR1000RR before it, is the last of the CBR Hondas that have no electronic aids built-in.

Its upcoming 2019 successor features electronic aids like Traction Control (TC) which Honda calls it as “Ride By Throttle” instead of the usual term used by other makers, which is “Ride By Wire”.

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