This 2019 Honda CBR650R is the mini-Fireblade of the middleweight class, a fully-faired sporty inline four that’s easy to mistake for its litre-bike big brother, and it’s the only bike of its type still offering a four-cylinder engine at this capacity. The 2019 model was the launch year of the CBR650R, the point at which Honda replaced the softer CBR650F with sharper styling, a more aggressive riding position and inverted Showa Separate Function Big Piston forks.
The 649cc liquid-cooled inline four makes 94 bhp with a smooth, easy-going delivery low down and a genuinely spirited top end once you feed it revs. What stands out day to day is the beautifully light assist/slipper clutch and the slick gearbox that swaps ratios with the faintest touch. Twin ram-air scoops give it a small edge over the naked CB650R, and it revs out with the classic inline-four howl.
The steel diamond frame and Showa suspension make it a very sweet handler, agile, composed and set up perfectly for sporty road riding, so much so that Honda used the CBR650R at the Ron Haslam Race School. Braking is strong from twin 310mm discs with four-piston radial calipers and ABS.
This example features tail tidy, adjustable levers, after market clip ons, datatag, two keys and service book with a partial service history.