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.

[georgecarlin]

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! :)

[joeblow]

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

[kevindice]

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

[rcfreakamit]

I had a Yamaha 600 radian back in the day. The relatively compact inline four cylinder was a huge fun to ride.

[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.

[CraigSmith]

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.

[marsipio]

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.

[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?!?

[kevinthailand]

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. 😊

[dougmaverick]

"2014 model year????
What in the world have you been smoking?? 😆 🤣 😂 😹

[ashirashraf]

Hi There, a query, how does this e-clutch work on stop and go traffic on a slop or steep road?

[greensandbeansgaming]

Can you permanently turn off the e-clutch or do you have to go into the computer every time you start the bike to turn it off? Another wards when the bike is turned off does it reset to on mode again?

[bensouthgate]

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.

[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.

[brianm]

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

[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.

[ibeast]

just how many times did you say 'clutch', dammnnn

[Roy_Godiksen]

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

[SMGMPA]

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.