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Upgraded from a Dominar 400 to a Honda CB650R: My initial observations

3rd November 2022, 14:22 by Dev Shah

The intention to sell my Dominar 400 came after test riding the CB500x . Bur the dealership refused to take bookings and asked me to wait indefinitely.

BHPian Sman99 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone. Maneesh here. This post is all about my recent purchase of a CB650R and my experiences with it.

My previous rides were:

CBR250R - 94k kms clocked and sold.
Dominar 400 - 72k kms clocked and sold.

The intention to sell my Dominar came after test riding the CB500x (after the price cut news came in). But unfortunately by the time I sold my Dominar and tried to book the CB500X, the Bigwing dealerships were not taking any bookings for the same and asked me to wait indefinitely. I was disappointed and left without a ride.

We have a Versys 650(my uncle's dad's brother) at home and hence I was not interested in adding one more to the garage. After touring on the Dominar, I was thinking to upgrade to a middle weight sport tourer which weighed not more than 200kgs. Thats the reason I looked for CB500x.

The bikes I considered and test rode:

The Versys 650 - Was top heavy.
The Vstorm 650 - Was too heavy and bulky for my physique. I'm 50kgs and slender.
The Tiger Sport 660 - Felt disconnected to me because of the ride by wire throttle and more over out of my budget.
Trident 660 - Since I went to the Triumph showroom, I test rode the Trident 660 as well. Same throttle feel. Not my cup of tea. I also didn't like the placement of indicators in the rear mudguard for a tidy tail look.
Kawasaki Z650 - A little vibey engine and I wont be able to add a handle bar riser with ease. Parts were costly.

Then, one day I visited the Honda Bigwing Topline (Chennai) to check if they would sell me the CB500x test ride vehicle they had. They said they can't. By then I happened to test ride the CB650R. That's when my heart started singing to my mind to book it. Went home and thought about it for few days. Since I pretty much didn't like any motorcycle other than that, I decided to book it even though it was out of my budget. Since a 3 month waiting period was quoted, I thought of saving a little more before the bike arrived which would make up for the shortage. But Honda surprised me by increasing the price by almost 50k 40 days after booking. My bad!

Vehicle arrived almost after 70 days as promised. As soon as I was informed, I went there and chose one among the 4 vehicles that arrived. Finally the wait was over and the vehicle was delivered just before Diwali.

My observations with it so far:

Likes:

Its a Honda. Reliable.
Super smooth engine.
The inline 4 symphony which only you can hear without disturbing the public.
Can ride in 6th gear all day long as long as you are not below 50kmph.
Simple electronic package just with ABS and HSTC.
Precise dashboard data - mileage, fuel guage, speed.
23kmpl mileage for an inline 4.
Cheap service cost (I believe so).

Dislikes:

Price Rs. 10,30,000 on road without extended warranty and RSA.
The torque could have been a little more extra, atleast matching the kawasaki's parallel twins.
The foot pegs are a little higher to my liking. I feel like I'm siting on top of the motorcycle tank due to the position of the pegs. Its also sightly rear set but that's ok.
No proper mudflap for tail and dirt/water gets sprayed all over the tail light and the indicators.

Posted 2 pictures for now. I will keep updating regarding the accessories I had added and the cost.