2025 Honda CB650R

The Automatic That Still Feels Like a Motorcycle

Honda's E-Clutch is the thing the rest of the industry is going to copy within five years. DCT removes the clutch entirely and loses the shifter. Ducati's quickshifter-assist and BMW's ShiftCam tech are incremental. Honda's E-Clutch is the clean solution: it's a normal motorcycle, with a normal shift lever, and a normal clutch lever. But if you don't pull the clutch, the bike figures it out for you and doesn't stall.

Chase's mid-ride verdict, paraphrased: "Honda with its E-Clutch is doing the best job for everybody because this is the only bike that still feels like a motorcycle." You can ride it like a traditional manual (pull the clutch, shift, release), ride it fully automatic (never touch the clutch), or toggle between the two mid-corner and the bike just rolls with it. For a new rider learning to shift, it's the best training-wheels system on the market. For an experienced rider commuting in Atlanta traffic, it's a hand-saver. The CB650R is the second bike Honda has put it on. And the pairing makes this inline-four's whole city-bike argument.

Performance highlights

649cc inline-four, 94 horsepower, 47 lb-ft of torque, 456 lb wet, 4-gallon tank, 31.9" seat. Throttle response scores 5. Sleepy off the bottom. "It needs to get spooled up before you can really start getting power in it." A parallel-twin of the same displacement would have 10-15 more lb-ft down low; the inline-four trades that punch for upper-rev character. Problem: to rev the inline-four into its power band, you have to live past 7,000 rpm where the bike starts vibrating. So the rider stays in the torque-poor low range, by preference.

Acceleration earns 6. The 40–80 pull in second was "not bad". Chase expected worse, got average. The inline-four revs out smoothly, and once you're past the sleepy zone it's fine. But fine-not-thrilling is the read.

Agility is 7. Light-ish for a four-cylinder at 456 lb. Flickable in traffic, easy to change direction, not razor-sharp. The handlebars sit in a position that Chase specifically called out as city-friendly. Lots of use to move through tight lanes.

Brakes rate 5. Nissin calipers, soft initial bite, wants-to-break-in feel. "They lack a little bit of... bite. I want more punch." This is a 38-mile-on-the-odo break-in observation; fresh pads haven't bedded yet, so the street score could come up with miles.

Suspension is 6 but is actually the pleasant surprise of the bike. It's a Showa big-piston fork, the same fork family used on liter-class super sports, on a $9,399 middleweight naked. "Holy, that's a nice suspension for a bike sub-$10,000. No wonder it feels good." Non-adjustable, soft-tuned, but genuinely premium hardware.

Rider experience & tech

Comfort is 7. Wide-ish but firm seat that Chase estimated would handle 5-6 hour rides before fatigue (he'd logged extensive press-launch miles on the same bike). Upright body position, slight forward lean, arms relaxed. No wind protection. Your stomach catches air on the highway, which Chase flagged as the biggest knock for any attempt at touring.

Tech scores 7 and the E-Clutch carries this category alone. You also get a small TFT-ish LCD dash (with distracting black bezel real-estate that could've been screen), adjustable levers, LED lighting, and Honda's compact D-pad control cluster. What you don't get: cruise control, ride modes, TFT. For the price, reasonable trade. For long-distance work, a real limitation.

Ease of use is 7 and is the CB650R's real mission. The E-Clutch removes the single biggest new-rider intimidation. Stalling at a red light. "The easiest way to learn manual shifting without fearing of stalling." A rider who's been sitting on the fence about learning to ride can pick this bike, leave the clutch alone entirely, and still learn to shift properly. The graduation path from "never touch the clutch" to "shift it yourself" is seamless because the shifter is still there. That's the genius.

Versatility is 7. City: excellent. Literally built for it. Highway: survivable but cruise-control-free and windy. Canyon: approachable. Track: no (not that anyone was asking). Touring: no. Commute: genuinely one of the best commuters at the price. Fun-for-the-money is 7. $9,399 for an inline-four naked with E-Clutch, a big-piston Showa fork, and legit Honda reliability is a defensible value proposition for the intended audience.

The Chase Score & final thoughts

With a Chase Score of 64/100, Good Tier, the CB650R is a case of "the bike's score reflects what it's trying to be, not what a liter-bike rider would want from it." 29 ride points + 35 usability points = a balanced machine that's clearly designed around accessibility rather than thrill.

Buy it if you're learning to ride, if your commute is city-heavy, if a stalled clutch in stop-and-go traffic is your personal nightmare, or if you're a veteran rider with a hand injury who needs the E-Clutch relief. Skip it if you want torque-rich low-end punch (the CB750 Hornet parallel-twin is the same money with more grunt) or if you need cruise control and wind protection. Chase's close: "I think I'm more of a fan of the E-Clutch than I am the actual motorcycle." That's the honest read. The tech is genuinely class-leading. The bike around it is a perfectly competent vehicle for the E-Clutch to ride inside of.