CB650R CBR650R Headlights

AlexS · May 1, 2019

Hi Forum,

I noticed that when I have the headlight turned ON my front signals are on as well, however the rear once are not. Was wondering if some of the 650R owners noticed the same thing. Just a note turning the signals on and off using the switch or emergency lights works as intended.

Thank you.

bishop · May 1, 2019

AlexS said:
Hi Forum,

I noticed that when I have the headlight turned ON my front signals are on as well, however the rear once are not. Was wondering if some of the 650R owners noticed the same thing. Just a note turning the signals on and off using the switch or emergency lights works as intended.

Thank you.

That is normal for Canadian riders. For the rest of the world I'm not sure.

Some of my motorcycle friends have converted their rear blinkers to also be running lights, but I was told that is illegal.
The used something called the blinker genie.

More info at https://www.customled.com/products/blinker-genie

Jerry · May 1, 2019

Before the 650R's I had never heard of running lights. Am I right in assuming that your turn indicators are always on while riding and they start to blink when actually indicating a turn? If so, what's the purpose? Won't that only be confusing? I see orange in my peripheral vision and assume someone is going to take a turn?

miweber929 · May 1, 2019

bishop said:
That is normal for Canadian riders. For the rest of the world I'm not sure.

Some of my motorcycle friends have converted their rear blinkers to also be running lights, but I was told that is illegal.
The used something called the blinker genie.

More info at https://www.customled.com/products/blinker-genie

That is also normal operation in the US and converting to the solid on rear indicators is illegal in most states.

norcorider · May 2, 2019

It's common on Japanese bikes. I have seen it on Yamahas as well e.g. check out R3.

I think it's a good features, enhances visibility of the motorcycle to other vehicles.

Jerry · May 3, 2019

norcorider said:
It's common on Japanese bikes. I have seen it on Yamahas as well e.g. check out R3.

I have never seen it on a bike here so I think it's more of a North American thing than related to Japanese brands.

bishop · May 3, 2019

Jerry said:
I have never seen it on a bike here so I think it's more of a North American thing than related to Japanese brands.

Honda Groms in Canada have them on too in the front.

JohnnyM · May 4, 2019

I have never had running lights before , definitely more noticeable, especially when seeing the reflection in the backs of cars.

cbr650r1234 · May 4, 2019

JohnnyM said:
I have never had running lights before , definitely more noticeable, especially when seeing the reflection in the backs of cars.

Johnny noticed your UK based are your front signal lights on as well ? Mine aren't and haven't seen any others in the UK on as well on the CBR models.

Enrico · May 4, 2019

Front and rear turn signal lights are only used for indicating turning ,or as hazard warning lights , in this country when they flash.

hotrob · May 6, 2019

Enrico said:
Front and rear turn signal lights are only used for indicating turning ,or as hazard warning lights , in this country when they flash.

Well the front indicators on my UK CB650R (bought on 29th March) are always on. So when indicating it flashes off rather than flashing on, and the other indicator remains constantly lit. I've not checked closely enough to see if it is brighter when indicating - it might be. I've only just noticed it as a reflection on the back of a van in front of me.

Enrico · May 6, 2019

' Well the front indicators on my UK CB650R (bought on 29th March) are always on. So when indicating it flashes off rather than flashing on, and the other indicator remains constantly lit. I've not checked closely enough to see if it is brighter when indicating - it might be. I've only just noticed it as a reflection on the back of a van in front of me.' -- What , that can't be right. Since when did indicators light up apart from when indicating to turn when they flash (or as hazard warning lights when they are all flashing ) What does flashing off mean - they turn off to indicate you are turning - how can that work ? As far as indicators as running lights are concerned , surely not. This whole thing seems ridiculous to me - the purpose of indicators is straightforward.

miweber929 · May 6, 2019

Enrico said:
' Well the front indicators on my UK CB650R (bought on 29th March) are always on. So when indicating it flashes off rather than flashing on, and the other indicator remains constantly lit. I've not checked closely enough to see if it is brighter when indicating - it might be. I've only just noticed it as a reflection on the back of a van in front of me.' -- What , that can't be right. Since when did indicators light up apart from when indicating to turn when they flash (or as hazard warning lights when they are all flashing ) What does flashing off mean - they turn off to indicate you are turning - how can that work ? As far as indicators as running lights are concerned , surely not. This whole thing seems ridiculous to me - the purpose of indicators is straightforward.

Might seem ridiculous to you but here in North America the front signals double as running lights and the look and work great.

@hotrob is slightly incorrect in their operation, however, as the running lights are dimmer, like 5 watts, and the signals flash ON at 21w only to return to the low wattage running light after the signals are cancelled. So it sort of seems they go off but that’s not the case.

GJP · May 7, 2019

UK based here and mine are always on, seems a good idea, pretty sure I heard somewhere you can have them turned off

hotrob · May 7, 2019

Enrico said:
What , that can't be right. Since when did indicators light up apart from when indicating to turn when they flash (or as hazard warning lights when they are all flashing ) What does flashing off mean - they turn off to indicate you are turning - how can that work ? As far as indicators as running lights are concerned , surely not. This whole thing seems ridiculous to me - the purpose of indicators is straightforward.

"Since when" - since the model changed to the 650R! Have a look at EnglishBikerDan's YouTube review (https://650f.bike/threads/2019-honda-cb650r-review.1461/). At about 1m 40secs he turns on the ignition on his parked bike so you can see the front indicator lights are on (it's only the front indicators that stay on, not the rear ones).

"Flashing off" - I mean that normally (on most bikes) the indciators are off until you indicate and then they flash on and off, whereas on the new 650R they are on constantly and therefore you could consider that when you indicate they flash off and back on again. As I suspected, and miweber929 confirmed above, when indicating they do flash at a brighter level than when they're in Daylight Running Lights mode (and they don't actually turn completely off at all).

I agree that it is weird, and not something that we're used to in the UK. I'm not keen on it myself.

Enrico · May 7, 2019

Well , I've learnt something there then , new to me but I'm not keen on the idea myself either.

User31 · May 17, 2019

hotrob said:
"Since when" - since the model changed to the 650R! Have a look at EnglishBikerDan's YouTube review (https://650f.bike/threads/2019-honda-cb650r-review.1461/). At about 1m 40secs he turns on the ignition on his parked bike so you can see the front indicator lights are on (it's only the front indicators that stay on, not the rear ones).

"Flashing off" - I mean that normally (on most bikes) the indciators are off until you indicate and then they flash on and off, whereas on the new 650R they are on constantly and therefore you could consider that when you indicate they flash off and back on again. As I suspected, and miweber929 confirmed above, when indicating they do flash at a brighter level than when they're in Daylight Running Lights mode (and they don't actually turn completely off at all).

I agree that it is weird, and not something that we're used to in the UK. I'm not keen on it myself.

Good clarification, thanks! This is definitely new to the UK and I think it’s a great safety enhancement. Yes, road users’ attention is drawn to orange lights because it indicates turning, but that means they’ll have more chance of seeing you because their senses will be heightened.

IMO any opportunity to be noticed more when riding is a good thing!

I get my UK 2019 CBR650R next Friday so will let you know if my front indicators are set as running lights as standard.

User31 · May 23, 2019

Engine running, lights on (dipped beam), front indicators off and not acting as running lights. Maybe there’s a setting for it, but this is how mine came from the garage.

Nithesh · May 24, 2019

or maybe some bikes meant to be shipped to the US was redirected to UK/EU. US regs started that trend of flashing lights staying on back in 2014 when the 650F came out iirc

miweber929 · May 24, 2019

Nithesh said:
US regs started that trend of flashing lights staying on back in 2014 when the 650F came out iirc

Honda has been doing the “running” lights in the front signals since the 80s; it’s also not a regulation, some manufacturers do and some don’t. Honda is just one that does.

And so it’s perfectly clear, they are not full brightness “signals staying on” but are 3-wire signal lights with a much dimmer 5w running light and the turn signal is the full 21 watts. It’s easy to see the difference between the two lights.

CB650R CBR650R Headlights

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