At long last, the wait for the Honda CBR650F is
over. The 649cc, in-line-four Honda CBR650F will officially launch in
India in about ten days from today. Now, the bad news: it will be priced
way higher than expected. That said, we still can’t help but feel
excited at the prospect of seeing another four-cylinder sports-tourer
around.
The motorcycle’s inline-four produces 86bhp and 63Nm, and is mated to a six-speeder. The sports-tourer has a steel twin-spar frame and aluminium swingarm, and is equipped with a 41mm fork up front and a preload adjustable monoshock suspension at the rear. ABS will be standard. The 650F will only be available in the red-white-blue Honda racing livery, for now.
Honda showcased the motorcycle at the 2014 Auto Expo, and its appeal was enhanced by its expected pricing, which was supposed to be around Rs 5.5 lakh. This would’ve helped Honda undercut the Benelli 600GT, and made the 650F the most affordable four-cylinder powered, faired motorcycle in the country. The pricing would have also meant that the twin-cylinder Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the four-pot Benelli 600GT would have had to contend with a rapidly gaining Honda in their rear-view mirrors.
But Honda’s plan for an aggressively priced motorcycle took a nose-dive after the company reportedly failed to meet the originally planned level of localisation for the 650F. So, while the CBR650F will be assembled in India, localisation is expected to be only around 5 percent. The result? The price is expected to get yanked to around Rs 8 lakh.
While the price hike has dampened our enthusiasm a bit, Honda can possibly take consolation from the fact that the current prices of litre-class bikes is nearly double the cost of the CBR650F. And, a capable Honda 650cc should find takers who won’t really mind the revised pricing.
The motorcycle’s inline-four produces 86bhp and 63Nm, and is mated to a six-speeder. The sports-tourer has a steel twin-spar frame and aluminium swingarm, and is equipped with a 41mm fork up front and a preload adjustable monoshock suspension at the rear. ABS will be standard. The 650F will only be available in the red-white-blue Honda racing livery, for now.
Honda showcased the motorcycle at the 2014 Auto Expo, and its appeal was enhanced by its expected pricing, which was supposed to be around Rs 5.5 lakh. This would’ve helped Honda undercut the Benelli 600GT, and made the 650F the most affordable four-cylinder powered, faired motorcycle in the country. The pricing would have also meant that the twin-cylinder Kawasaki Ninja 650 and the four-pot Benelli 600GT would have had to contend with a rapidly gaining Honda in their rear-view mirrors.
But Honda’s plan for an aggressively priced motorcycle took a nose-dive after the company reportedly failed to meet the originally planned level of localisation for the 650F. So, while the CBR650F will be assembled in India, localisation is expected to be only around 5 percent. The result? The price is expected to get yanked to around Rs 8 lakh.
While the price hike has dampened our enthusiasm a bit, Honda can possibly take consolation from the fact that the current prices of litre-class bikes is nearly double the cost of the CBR650F. And, a capable Honda 650cc should find takers who won’t really mind the revised pricing.
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