Honda CB650R Does The Quarter Mile In 11.80 seconds
The Honda CB650R is the naked sibling of the CBR650R and the direct replacement for the earlier CB650F.
The CB650R and CBR650R were introduced in 2019 and remain on sale today, competing against a strong field of capable middleweight motorcycles.
They share the same revised 649 cc inline-four engine, which produces a claimed 94 horsepower at 11,500 rpm.
The CB650R is aimed at both new and experienced riders who want an attractive, comfortable and practical naked bike that still delivers genuine big-bike straight-line performance.
Honda enjoyed considerable success with this formula in the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s with the popular CB600F Hornet.
The Honder Hornet is a naked motorcycle powered by the bulletproof Honda CBR600F engine.
In its slightly detuned form, the Honda Hornet produced a claimed 96 horsepower at 12,000 rpm.
It was a quick bike that thrived on revs and could reach well over 140 mph on a good day in the right conditions.
The Honda CB650R can be seen as the modern successor to that phenomenally successful Hornet, which sold in huge numbers across virtually every market.
The Hornet was even popular enough to have its own dedicated race series in the UK.
While the two bikes look quite different, both are attractive and have a distinctive, funky character.
I would say the CB650R is a worthy successor to the Hornet. It produces more or less the same peak power, but thanks to the extra 50 cc and a slightly softer state of tune, it delivers noticeably more torque.
On paper at least, the CB650R should be a more capable and usable engine on the road in most everyday situations.
Honda CB650R Dyno and engine performance
The Honda CB650R uses the same 649 cc inline-four engine as the CBR650R and carries the same claimed output of 94 horsepower
On the dyno, our test CB650R produced a healthy 80 horsepower at 10,500 rpm and 42 ft-lb of torque at 9,500 rpm.
This was slightly lower than the figures we recorded from the previously tested CBR650R, with marginally less power and torque throughout the entire rev range.
I am confident Honda has not made any internal changes to the engine between the two models.
The small difference is most likely due to day-to-day dyno variations or minor differences between individual motorcycles.
It is a little down on peak power compared with the old Honda Hornet, which typically produced 5–7 horsepower more at the top end.
In isolation, you would barely notice the difference, but it might become apparent if you rode the two bikes back-to-back.
This minor top-end deficit is more than compensated for between 3,000 and 8,000 rpm, where the CB650R is considerably stronger – most likely thanks to the extra 50 cc of capacity.
The CB650R’s engine is also stronger than that of one of its main rivals, the Yamaha MT-07, but only in the upper rev range.
The Yamaha has more grunt in the bottom and mid-range.
Either way, the Honda engine is excellent. It is exceptionally smooth in the typical Honda fashion we have come to expect, yet still exciting like many high-revving inline-fours that beg to be taken right to the limiter.
Honda CB650R in gear acceleration curve
Like the CBR650R, the CB650R delivers a welcome kick as the turbine-like thrust spools up from around 6,000 rpm and drives you forward with good urgency all the way to 12,000 rpm.
It is not quite a litre-bike surge, but it is strong enough to get the blood flowing and put a smile on your face.
The engine’s smoothness and flexibility are excellent. You can even chug around town in fifth or sixth gear without it complaining, and it will still pick up reasonably well when you need to make progress.
Being a racy four-cylinder, it naturally feels most at home between 5,000 and 9,000 rpm, where it responds crisply to the throttle whenever you want to get a move on.
With the same engine, power output and broadly similar weight, the straight-line performance of the CB650R is very close to that of its more aerodynamic, fully faired sibling, the CBR650R.
Honda CB650R Speeds in gear at 5000 rpm
| Speed at 5000 rpm | CBR650R |
| Speed 1st Gear | 25.4 mph |
| Speed 2nd Gear | 33.1 mph |
| Speed 3rd Gear | 41.3 mph |
| Speed 4th Gear | 50 mph |
| Speed 5th Gear | 56.9 mph |
| Speed 6th Gear | 64.2 mph |
Just like the CBR650R, you should turn the traction control off on the CB650R. In warm, dry conditions, the bike simply does not have enough power to spin the rear tyre to a point where the rider notices or where performance is hindered.
The CB650R does not have the grunt to break traction under normal acceleration, yet even an aggressive clutch dump or slip will trigger the TCS.
The system then cuts power abruptly, making the engine bog down as if it has run out of fuel.
With the traction control switched off and thanks to Honda’s light, well-weighted clutch with good feel, it is relatively easy to get the CB650R off the line consistently.
After several attempts, we achieved a 0-60 mph time of 3.39 seconds — just 0.09 seconds slower than the CBR650R.
In reality, both machines are equally capable from a standstill. The small difference in times comes down to conditions, rider effort and a bit of luck on the day.
Honda CB650R 0-60 mph in 3.39 seconds
60 mph is reached in first gear, as is typical for most 600 cc-plus motorcycles.
For European, Canadian and Australian riders, the CB650R covers 0-100 km/h in 3.55 seconds.
These are brilliant times for a naked entry-level motorcycle and are quicker than many sports cars and supercars.
From 60 mph onwards, the faired CBR650R gradually pulls away. The CB650R reaches 0-100 mph in 8.24 seconds, at the top of third gear.
For the quickest 0-100 mph time, shift into second gear at around 12,400 rpm and into third at approximately 12,300 rpm.
Honda claims a 0-200 km/h time of 14 seconds for the CB650R, but we recorded 15.11 seconds.
This is still a strong performance, although the fully faired CBR650R is noticeably quicker at 12.50 seconds
.The CB650R is impressive over the quarter mile, running 11.80 seconds with a terminal speed of 115 mph.
It edges out one of its main rivals, the rowdy Yamaha MT-07, by a fraction of a second.
Anything that runs a quarter-mile in the 11-second bracket is seriously quick by any standard.
Above 80 mph, the fact that the Honda CB650R is a naked bike starts to work against its 80 horsepower.
This is exactly why the fully faired CBR650R pulls ahead as speeds rise.
You can mitigate the effect slightly if you are small and able to tuck in tightly, but nothing beats a proper fairing and screen for cutting through the wind.
While the CBR650R does have a fairing and screen, the screen is quite low, so it still offers only moderate protection.
Even so, it is noticeably more aerodynamically efficient than the naked CB650R.
After several runs, we achieved a flat 137 mph in top gear with the revs sitting just under 11,000 rpm.
I suspect the CB650R has a little more to give, so your results may vary. As with any naked motorcycle, you are very much at the mercy of the conditions and wind on the day.
A realistic real-world top speed for most riders is around 130 mph (210 km/h). You will often run out of road before the bike runs out of steam on that final stretch.
The CB650R is nearly as quick as the CBR650R, but a fairer comparison is against the Yamaha MT-07.
We previously compared the CBR650R with the MT-07, as we did not have the CB650R available at the time.
Among the many entry-level sports and naked bikes currently available, the Honda CB650R sits right up there with the fastest.
From the traffic lights, you can smoke all but the quickest cars, and you can keep up with friends on a wide variety of motorcycles – provided you nail the launch.
It is only on motorways or long, fast straights that its 80 horsepower and lack of bodywork allow bigger bikes and faster cars to pull away.
That said, the CB650R has the edge over the Ninja 650 and MT-07 in pure straight-line performance, and it will easily leave the smaller-capacity Ninja 400, CB500R and CBR500R behind.
Honda CB650R top speed 137 mph
| Honda CB650R Acceleration | |
| Speed | Time |
| 0-10 mph | 0.44 |
| 0-20 mph | 1.10 |
| 0-30 mph | 1.65 |
| 0-40 mph | 2.24 |
| 0-50 mph | 2.78 |
| 0-60 mph | 3.39 |
| 0-70 mph | 4.29 |
| 0-80 mph | 5.16 |
| 0-90 mph | 6.50 |
| 0-100 mph | 8.24 |
| 0-110 mph | 10.10 |
| 0-120 mph | 13.37 |
| 0-130 mph | 20.22 |
| 60-120 mph | 10.02 |
| SS/QM | 11.80/115 mph |
| SS/KM | 22.445/132 mph |
| SS/Mile | 32.43/135 mph |
| Top Speed | 137 mph |
