Riding Honda CB650R E-Clutch | First Ride Review

Honda strikes a balance between heritage, performance, and fun with its inline-four-powered CB650R Neo Sports Café naked bike ($9,399). It offers more versatility than its CB300R ($5,149) single-cylinder sibling yet is more nimble and easier to ride than the premium CB1000R ($12,999). With plenty of pep to engage experienced street bike riders without being overwhelming for beginners, the CB650R caters to a broad range of riders. For 2024, it includes innovative powertrain technology that makes it easier to operate.
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[@CaptainFeathersword]

All the focus on the e-clutch, when the real gem of this bike is the silky inline-4, which I prefer to any of the parallel twins that are taking its place.

[@RoeShamBoe]

elect better leaders they only do this because of ridiculous emissions laws when commercial activity is responsible for 97% of the global carbon footprint not personal vehicles... so elect better leaders

[@DearMajesty]

It's such a lame inline 4. No torque, not much HP, very soggy feeling motor. Much prefer the twins taking it's place.

[@CaptainFeathersword]

@@DearMajesty Thank you for expressing your opinion...mine differs.

[@DearMajesty]

@@CaptainFeathersword just curious, what twins have you tried in it's class?

[@CaptainFeathersword]

@@DearMajesty Honda Transalp (Hornet is not available where I live), Suzuki GSXS-8S - the only twin I really enjoyed was the KTM Duke 790....I like the inline 4 because I can drive the bike sedately at low RPMs, and access the power when I want it by revving hte bike out....I honestly do not need a lot of low-end torque....the Transalp and GSXS-8S are very disappointing on the highway...you get to a certain speed and suddenly the bottom drops out on power....that is a bummer to me.

[@joeblow5037]

Thanks Adam! Beautiful roads. And unlike California (burnt down), there are TREES!

[@georgecarlin2879]

There's one category of people I belong to that U've not mentioned who will be looking at the E-Clutch bikes- those of us who have pain in our fingers from health issues. I used to love riding bikes, now on a scooter. Now I have a chance to get back into an inline 4 engine bike! :)

[@sommebuddy]

I could see it being great for new riders and Urban riding. Not my cup of tea, I am a little old school, and a clutch keeps me engaged in the riding experience.

[@ohfreakout]

you can still use the clutch

[@sommebuddy]

@@ohfreakout I understand that, I just would not pay the premium for the E-clutch.

[@hansolo3946]

It's not more expensive ​@@sommebuddy

[@kevindice5373]

also this is good for those who daily ride in traffic jam

[@kevinthailand2567]

EClutch is an option in Thailand. I went without. The display is set wrong in the video but is excellent. Mine is black on a white background for easy legibility and there's a huge tach racing across the screen to 14000 rpm in full colour. 😊

[@CraigSmith568]

I really miss the days of analog speedometer and tachometer. I may be wrong, but I believe the e-clutch turns on automatically every time you power up the bike. You have to turn it off manually every time if you don't want it.

[@jamesballard6564]

Agreed and correct.

[@marsipio1733]

Love the way this bike looks. I'm neither here nor there for the e-clutch but I can see how it could be useful.

[@bensouthgate7512]

I’m over in the UK and have had my CB650 for about 3 months. Very odd that you haven’t got a tachometer on this. Mine is across the top of the screen, would be strange for Honda to remove it from the US models. Maybe it’s something that can be changed in the settings. I will check next time I’m on it. The E-clutch is pretty great to be fair. I’m a very new rider and it’s allowed me the confidence me to join some friends on ride outs much earlier than I would have without it. I turn it off most of the time to hone my road craft more. However, it’s fun (the quick shift option particularly) and in traffic it’s a blessing on my commute.

[@williamwintemberg]

For me, this bike would be a no. That said, Honda may have something. This bike may be a gateway for new riders that have had no experience with manual transmissions. Good honest review Adam.

[@The.JZA.]

I agree with you about the display UI. Honda is a huge company, surely they can hire some graphic designers and user experience experts to make a really cool looking dash with an easy to use/navigate UI? It's a real downer since that is something you look at every time you use the bike. So many other companies offer way better UI. Even a Duke 390 has an amazing UI with cool graphics, easy to read fonts, logical layout of data on the screen, cool tachometer style etc and then if you want to look at an amazing UI then look no further than BMW. I really wish Honda put more effort into finishing their bikes. They make such cool machines, reliable, fun, balanced etc and then slap on boring displays with no cruise control. Even the CB1000 Hornet doesn't have cruise control which is a brand new 2025 model motorcycle. WTF Honda?!?

[@PeterAqualung]

I could not care less about the display and UI. I’m always puzzled why reviewers spend so much time on the display and always want/praise color TFT. To me display is a distraction from the road. The old 650r display is fine. It’s not hard to read. It has speed, revs, gear and fuel level. And a bunch of idiot lights - fine. Maybe I am a Luddite.

[@The.JZA.]

@ Agreed, I prefer the old display too and I also prefer the old bike styling, that’s why I ran out and bought a brand new 2022 CB650R for a discount when I saw what they did to the 2024 model but that being said, if they are going to put a TFT on it, at least do something interesting with the graphics like BMW, KTM and even Yamaha and Kawasaki have better graphics than Honda.

[@FrankBonessa]

Funny how all of these new innovations do nothing for me. Have a '22 Z900- no QS and just bought a new GSXS1000GT which has a quickshifter. I turned it off. Really enjoy shifting manually. How did we ever enjoy riding without all the tech? I'd even be happy riding a '69 BSA Rocket Three. Talk about archaic. LOL.

[@St.FighterZ]

I agree. The only thing i would want for this bike is a different headlight. I dont think it fits the revvy nature of the bike. I prefer kawasaki type headlights, more streamlined and fast looking.

[@FrankBonessa]

@@St.FighterZ I also agree. My Z9 has one of the coolest looking headlights. Much better than the '25 Z9 imo.

[@St.FighterZ]

@@FrankBonessa yep i have a 23 z400 and thought the same about the new z500 headlight. Theyre going for the split eye look now but i prefer the larger cyclops. Now its still better than what yamahas doing with the mts or suzukis 8s. I cant stand the small flashlight thing. Bad for road presence imo.

[@evolvingguy2766]

“ for the 2014 model year” 0:52

[@brianm5753]

Sub 80hp from 4 cylinders? Honda never ceases to amaze with restricting power

[@vioss]

Probably due to 650cc euro5

[@polok890]

1991 gsxr750 is the best motorcycle

[@The.JZA.]

I wouldn't mind if this was on my bike because I can just turn it off if I don't like it or just keep using the clutch as and when I chose to. The one thing that would stop me from getting it is the ugly cancer on the side of the engine. This is 1st gen though and I bet next year or the year after, Honda will integrate it within the engine casing so it's not visible from the outside.

[@Roy_Godiksen]

One year warranty? It's 5 year warranty as standard in Norway. One year is ridiculous.

[@SMGMP7A1]

It is a cool system as an intermediate between auto and manual. It is not for me and many riders, I genuinely hope that this is only and option not a standard feature. I will say as a current owner of a '19 CB650R, if you know what you are doing, it is an incredibly easy bike to clutchless upshift. Though I have noticed that it finds a lot of false neutrals(yes, with proper shifting). I talk to 2 different CB riders that mention the same thing. One rider of a 2021 CB650 and the other on a CB500F, I didn't verify his claim but he started that the 500F and 650R transmission was a similar design. I have experience false neutrals between every gear. It is a "quirk" but I need to see if there is a fix.

[@St.FighterZ]

No tachometer?? That is crazy. Thats kinda a deal breaker imo

[@PotPotChuan]

❤❤❤❤🎉

[@MrWhitelightning73]

“vehicle” 😂

[@trevor2830]

Wow early ☕️😎

[@bfarm44]

E clutch, a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist

[@Fred-p9z]

like people with disabilities who want to ride again?

[@yahord]

Hard to listen to a guy that talks so staccato. It's like there's random punctuations in the middle of his sentences.

[@FrankBonessa]

Still one of my favorite bike reviewers. Cool and on point. Adam rocks.

[@2009captainpaul]

Or worse, the guy can’t seem to talk without flapping his left hand constantly in the wind. I’m assuming he’s a professional long time rider due to the “Motorcyclist Magazine” title and he comes to a full stop at stop signs and even made a point of saying “the organisation obey all rules of law in the United States” unlike other riders in the group. But yet, pretty much all of this lengthy video his left hand was rarely on the bars. Even during fairly speedy sections of road with numerous side roads etc etc. not to mention the no hands at all on the bars at 10:29. 100% sure that’s not legal in any country. I had to get out of the video coz of the anxiety of knowing how this guys day, or life, could end badly any minute now. Note to Mr Motorcyclist Magazine… if you can’t speak without using your hands mate, then don’t ride and speak. Do a voiceover after the ride, it’s much safer and less annoying than flapping your hand about the whole ride. Your funeral I guess 🤷‍♂️

[@rj9617]

​@@2009captainpaul😅

[@ldmooney7270]

You guys are absolute dweebs

[@SHELBYGT645]

7 hours ago only 1k views that should let you know how we feel about watching adam waheed dudes cringe asf and his reviews are not good at all

[@AcmeRocket]

And yet, here you are.