According to a report on Autocarpro.in, Mr YS Guleria, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, has confirmed that they will launch the CBR650F sportbike by the fourth quarter of financial year 2015-2016 in India – which means a period between Jan to March 2016. Honda had first showcased the bike at this year’s Auto Expo and had confirmed that they will start producing it in India by next year.
The more interesting fact is that the bike (in all possibility) will become the least expensive sportbike with an inline four-cylinder engine in India. So all you hummmm exhaust note fanatics, this could be the cheapest you can have one! At present it is the Kawasaki’s naked Z800 that is the most affordable inline four, but at INR 8.05 lakh in Delhi (ex-showroom) it still remains out of reach for many.
The CBR650F’s engine is a 649cc, inline four-cylinder unit with 67 mm bore and 46 mm stroke. The engine breathes through 16 valves operated by dual overhead camshafts and produces 86 PS and at 11,000 rpm and 63.04 Nm torque at 8,000 rpm. A six-speed gearbox takes care of transmission duties while dual 320 mm discs at the front and a 240 mm disc at the rear provide the anchoring power. It comes with a 17-litre fuel tank, which, along with a relaxed riding position (as compared to the Honda with an ‘RR’ suffix) should appeal to the touring brigade as well.
Honda sells this bike in America for a dollar figure equaling around five lakh rupees in India for the non-ABS model while opting for the ABS-equipped variant would mean an additional forty thousand rupees. The CBR650F will come in as a CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits and will be assembled at one of Honda’s plant in India. If Honda is able to price it at around INR 5.5-6 lakh on-road then it would be one sought after motorcycle in this segment.
Also, we told you a couple of days back that Honda has delayed the launch of the new 160 cc motorcycle that was earlier scheduled to go on sale this September. There is a possibility that Honda may launch it by December this year.
Related: List of 7 Upcoming 350-700cc Middle-Weight Bikes in India
