- Jan 8, 2022
- Riding Since
- 2011
Hi everyone, I'm extremely excited to be here.
I picked up my 2021 CB650R yesterday in Los Angeles. As far as I can tell it was the only one for sale in the entire State of California. My first bike was a 1995 CBR600 F3 I bought used with LSL handlebar risers. It's never let me down and I love the bike but when I moved from Ohio to California I left it there in my parents garage. It'd been over two years since I'd ridden at all when I got an offer a couple months ago to ride a Harley Davidson Livewire. I was intrigued about electric motorcycles and the Livewire was amazing. I wanted it. I still want it, but that's another story. I couldn't afford it. I decided to buy something else.
I considered Ducati Monsters and Streetfighters, the SV650 a bike I've liked but never ridden for 20 years and a few others including a CB1000R. Ultimately even though I've been riding for quite a while now I haven't ridden in years and I felt a bit awkward at the start of my ride on the Livewire. I didn't want to jump straight to a 1000cc 140 horsepower bike with roll on wheelies and what not.
I've loved the way the new CB1000R looked since I first saw it and then I discovered the CB650R. On paper the bike is almost identical to my beloved F3. It makes torque a bit lower, doesn't rev quite as high and doesn't make quite as much top end power. I fell in love with the looks of the matte black 2021 bike and determined I had to have one. I never even test rode one before I was on my bike with 0.1 miles on the odometer, but I was right, the bike felt instantly at home and familiar.
That was a good thing as I'd failed to find a 2021 for sale in California and almost gave up and bought a used red one from a shop in LA. I spoke with the sales guy on the phone and informed him that I was really looking for a 21. Then he casually mentions they have a new sitting in his shop. I asked how I could get it to the Bay from LA (we're about 350 miles apart) He suggested I ride it home. I was a bit reticent about this. I haven't really done a road trip on a motorcycle anywhere near that long. I told him I'd think about it.
The more I thought about it the more I thought it sounded like an awesome adventure and a great experience. I bought it from LA Cycle Sports, located near LAX across the street from the famous Randy's donuts. Finally I called back the dealer and told them I wanted it the next day. We finished up the paperwork via email and I bought a plane ticket for Saturday to pick the bike up in the morning.
350 miles and some mild hypothermia later (being fairly new to CA I often forget how cold it gets once the sun goes down... and intended to be home before then in any event.) I didn't count on the stops I'd have to make for fuel and ergonomic reasons, as well as to warm up once the sun started setting. The trip was a tremendous experience. I got some first hand lessons on lane splitting from the LA bikers on the 405, and I've never gotten out of LA and on to the freeway so painlessly. Later I ran into a pair of MC looking guys on giant black faired Harleys cruising at a steady 100 mph. They flashed me the strange two finger motorcycle sign than I've been using since I started but still don't understand all 3 times they passed me. I figure I must have making pretty decent time if I passed them twice.
The bike was great on the trip, moving effortlessly through traffic, but I really underestimated how fatiguing being in an 80 or 85 mph wind for 350 miles would be. And I estimated it would be extremely fatiguing.
The bike feels and sounds so much like my CBR that I almost wonder if they have the same engine with a different stroke. The new bike definitely feels more torquey down low, no doubt thangs to fuel injection and 50 extra cc's. I had a bit of trouble getting used to the clutch. I've been driving stick shift cars and riding bikes for 22 years. I don't want to toot my own horn too much but I'm good at it. I'm a guy who can usually jump in any stick shift car or bike and get it moving without trouble on the first try. I can heel toe and rev match every downshift on the street.... I'm insane... but I digress. The clutch has very little feel and the engagement point seems far too late in the travel. I eventually got used to it, but definitely slipped it quite a bit more than I wanted a few times.
The suspension is the biggest difference from my old bike. In every situation my CB650R eats up bumps and is extremely confidence inspiring in corners. It's almost like potholes and manhole covers don't exist at all. I rise up on my pegs a bit and brace for an impact that never comes.
On my trip I never really gave the bike the beans on my road trip. The manual says to avoid heavy acceleration during the first 300 miles and this bike doesn't have to work very hard to slice and dice through traffic. By the time I'd finished 300 miles I was so cold and tired I didn't have the energy to see what it could do.
This morning it occurred to me that maybe I'd made a mistake buying the 650 instead of the 1000. The thing I love about my F3 is that it can be very docile (helpful as it was my first motorcycle) and if you choose to, it can scare the living shit out of me, accidentally merging onto the highway at 125 when I think I'm doing 80 or 90 and the like. So I took it out this morning on some empty backroads, let it warm up and started flogging it. I was wrong. It's fast enough. It feels like it's about to roll on wheelie at full throttle in lower gears, and it might if it weren't for my instinctual reaction of getting low and forward on the bike when I give it the juice. Perhaps I'll give it a try when I'm slightly more experienced on the bike and not so worried about scratching my beautiful new bike. I've never come close to laying a bike down, but perhaps because it's always on my mind.
I'm a tinkerer and I love modifying bikes and cars. I'm not sure what if anything I'd change on this bike. Perhaps some wind protection if I could find something that wasn't ugly. I was thinking I might do an exhaust, but the stock muffler sounds good to me and is at least as loud as my F3 with a micron can. It also looks awesome in my opinion and I haven't seen an aftermarket one I've liked better.
Bottom line. I absolutely love the bike. I love it. People stare at it wherever I go. My friends who are girls think it's pretty. It seems just about perfect so far.
I did take some pics on my trip.
I picked up my 2021 CB650R yesterday in Los Angeles. As far as I can tell it was the only one for sale in the entire State of California. My first bike was a 1995 CBR600 F3 I bought used with LSL handlebar risers. It's never let me down and I love the bike but when I moved from Ohio to California I left it there in my parents garage. It'd been over two years since I'd ridden at all when I got an offer a couple months ago to ride a Harley Davidson Livewire. I was intrigued about electric motorcycles and the Livewire was amazing. I wanted it. I still want it, but that's another story. I couldn't afford it. I decided to buy something else.
I considered Ducati Monsters and Streetfighters, the SV650 a bike I've liked but never ridden for 20 years and a few others including a CB1000R. Ultimately even though I've been riding for quite a while now I haven't ridden in years and I felt a bit awkward at the start of my ride on the Livewire. I didn't want to jump straight to a 1000cc 140 horsepower bike with roll on wheelies and what not.
I've loved the way the new CB1000R looked since I first saw it and then I discovered the CB650R. On paper the bike is almost identical to my beloved F3. It makes torque a bit lower, doesn't rev quite as high and doesn't make quite as much top end power. I fell in love with the looks of the matte black 2021 bike and determined I had to have one. I never even test rode one before I was on my bike with 0.1 miles on the odometer, but I was right, the bike felt instantly at home and familiar.
That was a good thing as I'd failed to find a 2021 for sale in California and almost gave up and bought a used red one from a shop in LA. I spoke with the sales guy on the phone and informed him that I was really looking for a 21. Then he casually mentions they have a new sitting in his shop. I asked how I could get it to the Bay from LA (we're about 350 miles apart) He suggested I ride it home. I was a bit reticent about this. I haven't really done a road trip on a motorcycle anywhere near that long. I told him I'd think about it.
The more I thought about it the more I thought it sounded like an awesome adventure and a great experience. I bought it from LA Cycle Sports, located near LAX across the street from the famous Randy's donuts. Finally I called back the dealer and told them I wanted it the next day. We finished up the paperwork via email and I bought a plane ticket for Saturday to pick the bike up in the morning.
350 miles and some mild hypothermia later (being fairly new to CA I often forget how cold it gets once the sun goes down... and intended to be home before then in any event.) I didn't count on the stops I'd have to make for fuel and ergonomic reasons, as well as to warm up once the sun started setting. The trip was a tremendous experience. I got some first hand lessons on lane splitting from the LA bikers on the 405, and I've never gotten out of LA and on to the freeway so painlessly. Later I ran into a pair of MC looking guys on giant black faired Harleys cruising at a steady 100 mph. They flashed me the strange two finger motorcycle sign than I've been using since I started but still don't understand all 3 times they passed me. I figure I must have making pretty decent time if I passed them twice.
The bike was great on the trip, moving effortlessly through traffic, but I really underestimated how fatiguing being in an 80 or 85 mph wind for 350 miles would be. And I estimated it would be extremely fatiguing.
The bike feels and sounds so much like my CBR that I almost wonder if they have the same engine with a different stroke. The new bike definitely feels more torquey down low, no doubt thangs to fuel injection and 50 extra cc's. I had a bit of trouble getting used to the clutch. I've been driving stick shift cars and riding bikes for 22 years. I don't want to toot my own horn too much but I'm good at it. I'm a guy who can usually jump in any stick shift car or bike and get it moving without trouble on the first try. I can heel toe and rev match every downshift on the street.... I'm insane... but I digress. The clutch has very little feel and the engagement point seems far too late in the travel. I eventually got used to it, but definitely slipped it quite a bit more than I wanted a few times.
The suspension is the biggest difference from my old bike. In every situation my CB650R eats up bumps and is extremely confidence inspiring in corners. It's almost like potholes and manhole covers don't exist at all. I rise up on my pegs a bit and brace for an impact that never comes.
On my trip I never really gave the bike the beans on my road trip. The manual says to avoid heavy acceleration during the first 300 miles and this bike doesn't have to work very hard to slice and dice through traffic. By the time I'd finished 300 miles I was so cold and tired I didn't have the energy to see what it could do.
This morning it occurred to me that maybe I'd made a mistake buying the 650 instead of the 1000. The thing I love about my F3 is that it can be very docile (helpful as it was my first motorcycle) and if you choose to, it can scare the living shit out of me, accidentally merging onto the highway at 125 when I think I'm doing 80 or 90 and the like. So I took it out this morning on some empty backroads, let it warm up and started flogging it. I was wrong. It's fast enough. It feels like it's about to roll on wheelie at full throttle in lower gears, and it might if it weren't for my instinctual reaction of getting low and forward on the bike when I give it the juice. Perhaps I'll give it a try when I'm slightly more experienced on the bike and not so worried about scratching my beautiful new bike. I've never come close to laying a bike down, but perhaps because it's always on my mind.
I'm a tinkerer and I love modifying bikes and cars. I'm not sure what if anything I'd change on this bike. Perhaps some wind protection if I could find something that wasn't ugly. I was thinking I might do an exhaust, but the stock muffler sounds good to me and is at least as loud as my F3 with a micron can. It also looks awesome in my opinion and I haven't seen an aftermarket one I've liked better.
Bottom line. I absolutely love the bike. I love it. People stare at it wherever I go. My friends who are girls think it's pretty. It seems just about perfect so far.
I did take some pics on my trip.